US online giant Amazon on Thursday unveiled plans to launch grocery delivery to a number of US cities for its Prime subscriber using its recently acquired Whole Foods supermarket chain.

While Amazon has previously offered limited grocery delivery, the new Prime Now service offers a wider selection of fresh items with service in one or two hours, stepping up competition against rivals such as Instacart and Peapod.

It is the first major effort to integrate Whole Foods -- a chain of 460 stores -- into Amazon's e-commerce effort.

The service was available as of Thursday in Austin and Dallas, Texas; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Virginia Beach, Virginia. But Amazon said it has plans to expand the service to other cities soon.

Customers can order "fresh produce, high quality meat and seafood, everyday staples and other locally sourced items from Whole Foods Market" using a mobile Prime Now application from Amazon.

Prime Now will also deliver from other grocery stores and restaurants in the markets where it operates.

"We're happy to bring our customers the convenience of free two-hour delivery through Prime Now and access to thousands of natural and organic groceries and locally sourced favorites," said John Mackey, Whole Foods Market co-founder and chief executive.

Amazon Prime members receive two-hour delivery for free and delivery within one hour for $7.99 on orders of $35 or more, according to a statement.

Amazon, which has grown from its origins as an online bookseller to a global behemoth in retail, cloud computing, online video and other services, has made founder Jeff Bezos the world's richest individual.

Related Links
Farming Today - Suppliers and Technology

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Sweet route to greater yields
Harpenden UK (SPX) Feb 08, 2018
Three years ago, biotechnologists demonstrated in field trials that they could increase the productivity of maize by introducing a rice gene into the plant that regulated the accumulation of sucrose in kernels and led to more kernels per maize plant. They knew that the rice gene affected the performance of a natural chemical in maize, trehalose 6-phosphate (T6P), which influences the distribution of sucrose in the plant. But they were keen to discover more intimate details of the relationships gov ... read more