WhatsGood to Bring Farm Fresh, Local Food to Customers Year-Round with Chicago Retail Store

WhatsGood, an technology provider for online orders at local farmers markets, is opening the first in a series of Chicago-based Farm Shops in Lincoln Park on Dec. 7, 2021. WhatsGood’s Farm Shop is a small footprint grocery store with an array of locally curated products that will provide Chicagoans with in-store shopping and on-demand delivery. WhatsGood’s team can deliver everything you’d expect at the farmers market in about an hour.

“WhatsGood’s Farm Shop draws inspiration from the intimate relationship between food, community and neighborhoods. These unique stores will showcase the finest foods and beverages locally produced by farmers and artisans. We are so passionate about locally sourced food that we want customers to be able to shop seasonally and locally all year long,” said Erin Tortora, WhatsGood’s chief operating officer. “Shoppers will find fresh, healthy and organic food from sources they can know and trust.”

WhatsGood has operated in Chicago since 2018 in close partnership with Green City Market, South Loop and other of Chicago’s best farmers markets. During the pandemic, WhatsGood provided critical e-commerce and home delivery services to help connect Chicago to its local food sources. More than 30,000 Chicagoans use WhatsGood to connect with more than 400 farmers, artisans and chefs from Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan.

Now WhatsGood is developing services and technologies to empower local food and beverage makers to sell direct to customers in local communities with Farm Shop; essentially filling a gap when farmers markets aren’t available. The company plans to open a WhatsGood Farm Shop in every neighborhood in Chicago and New England over the next two years.

Farm Shop products are locally sourced from farms and producers within a maximum of a 3-hour drive to the store. They will also be able to grab high quality grass-fed beef, pastured pork, free-range chicken, heritage turkeys, artisan cheeses, granola and prepared meals from a variety of local chefs. Every purchase will provide local food producers with 6-8 times higher margins than a traditional grocery store.

“The WhatsGood platform saved our business during the pandemic. If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t have survived 2020. Our products are in front of so many more people because of WhatsGood. The creation of the store is fantastic, now you will be able to grab and get our Finn’s Ranch eggs, beef and pork anytime,” said Alex Finn, Finn’s Ranch.

“Our Farm Shop makes it possible for more people to experience what a farm fresh egg tastes like or to bite into a locally grown apple and taste what fresh really is,” explained Tortora. “It’s not just in the name. We want people to reconnect with their food and the farmers who’ve worked so hard to grow it and understand that against challenges like a pandemic or rising food prices, local food systems will demonstrate resilience as they did in 2020.”

The WhatsGood mission is to localize our food system by making fresh, nutrient dense, local food more accessible and convenient. WhatsGood is developing services and technologies to empower local food communities and offer a better future for our food supply.

For more information, click here WhatsGood.