UK – Unilever has partnered with ASAP, the on-demand delivery brand of Waitr Holdings, for nationwide delivery of its ice cream products including Ben & Jerry’s, Breyers, Good Humor, Magnum ice cream, and more.
In the undersigned agreement, ASAP will deliver frozen treats to its consumers and will also work with some of its restaurant partners to add Unilever’s ice creams to their menus.
In addition, ASAP will also deliver from The Ice Cream Shop, Unilever’s virtual storefront, featuring fan-favorite products from beloved ice cream brands Ben & Jerry’s, Breyers, Magnum ice cream, and Talenti.
Customers can order from The Ice Cream Shop at more than 2,000 locations across the country, including the New York Tri-State Area, where ASAP just debuted.
Beginning a home delivery service in New York is the latest substantial step for the company, as it builds its brand in the Tri-State area.
The British multinational consumer goods company said the partnership provides new options for customers, as well as a new revenue stream for restaurants.
The partnership could further boost Unilever’s ice cream division, which numbers show the company receives comfortable profits and growth from the segment.
While ice cream is the smallest division, with 6.9 billion euros in sales ($6.8 billion), it’s seen a good rate of sales growth — its 5.7% growth in 2021 was second only to the beauty and wellbeing division.
Momentum in ice cream has accelerated in the first half of 2022, with sales in the division increasing by 8.6%.
The company’s Ice Cream Now teams (ICNOW) work in more than 40 countries with on-demand delivery of Unilever’s treats, according to the company.
Business in this segment grew 60% in 2021, offering consumers new ways to add ice cream to delivered meals and groceries, as well as building access to virtual ice cream stores.
Meanwhile, ASAP, one of the smallest delivery app companies, bringing in less than 1% of all restaurant deliveries, according to Bloomberg statistics, is seeking to use this kind of partnership with one of the biggest names in ice cream to get a boost to play up its potential as a virtual ice cream store.
As of June 30, 2022, ASAP.com operates in approximately 1,000 cities throughout the United States.
Unilever also works with some of the larger delivery apps, both through encouraging delivery add-ons and with some areas being able to order from its virtual Ice Cream Shop.
The ICNOW teams worked with Grab during the pandemic to turn neighborhood ‘mom-and-pop’ grocery stores into Ice Cream Virtual Stores so consumers could purchase Wall’s ice creams via the app and have them delivered in minutes.
Grab is South East Asia’s leading super app offering consumers food and grocery deliveries, taxis, car and bike rides, financial services, and more.
In the US, ICNOW is working with Robomart to offer consumers the chance to hail a virtual ice cream store as easily as an Uber.
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