New services make beer run obsolete
The leader of such a service in Houston says he welcomes the competition and publicity from H-E-B’s new offering By Andrea Leinfelder
Beer and wine can be at your door in less than an hour, thanks to a partnership by Favor and H-E-B that opens a new front in the grocery delivery wars and matches a service already offered by the app HopDrop.
F AVOR and H-E-B are bringing beer and wine to Houstonians’ front doors, their first joint offering since H-E-B acquired the on-demand delivery company earlier this year.
Home delivery is quickly becoming the next battleground for grocers. On Tuesday, Amazon began delivering groceries from its Whole Foods Market stores in the Houston area.
Walmart, the nation’s largest grocer, last month began delivering groceries in Houston. And Kroger, the nation’s largest supermarket chain, recently inked a deal with British robotics company Ocado to automate warehouses to optimize grocery deliveries.
“This is definitely a space that is going to continue to grow, and it’s going to be big,” said Jag Bath, Favor CEO and H-E-B chief digital officer. “But it’s all driven by consumer behavior.”
Favor, founded in Austin in 2013, prides itself in delivering almost anything in under an hour. But until now, beer and wine — long the No. 1 request from customers — was among the missing.
Favor finalized all the proper permits and licenses to deliver beer and wine in
late 2017 or early 2018. But it was the partnership with H-E-B — and the grocery company’s wide selection — that made the delivery service possible, Bath said.
Favor will offer H-E-B’s entire beer and wine selection with no minimum order size. Because every H-E-B store is tailored to its neighborhood, the selection will vary by city. Houston-area selections will include such craft brands as Buffalo Bayou Brewing, No Label Brewing, Lone Pint Brewery and 8th Wonder Brewery, and wines from the Texas Hill Country.
This isn’t the first beer delivery service in Houston. HopDrop launched late last year to provide local craft and hard-tofind beers.
Oftentimes, it delivers brews that are available only on draft.
HopDrop also provides ondemand delivery in under an hour. Customers place an order online, and a driver is dispatched to a partner bar. That bar fills a 32-ounce can, called a crowler, with beer and gives it to the driver for home delivery. HopDrop has partnered with bars throughout the Houston area, from Spring to Katy, from downtown Houston to Webster, to ensure customers receive their orders in less than an hour.
The delivery fee is $5.99 plus the cost of beer. HopDrop also offers a monthly subscription service that waives the delivery fee and provides customers sameday orders from any partner bars throughout the greater Houston area. This allows a customer in Katy to get beer from a bar in Spring.
Its focus on beers typically unavailable in grocery stores will differentiate HopDrop from the new delivery service provided by Favor, co-owner Steven Macalello said. He isn’t worried about the competition. In fact, he thinks it’s good publicity for beer delivery overall.
“They have a much broader reach than we do, obviously, so that allows people to know that alcohol delivery is a thing,” he said.
Grocery stores have largely intensified their plans for home delivery since Amazon bought Austin-based Whole Foods Market last year. Online grocery delivery service is already available at 33 Kroger stores, 26 H-E-B stores and all Walmart locations in Houston.
In February, Amazon began rolling out its Whole Foods delivery service in select markets, including Austin and Dallas. Houston this week joins 18 other cities, including San Antonio, where Amazon is offering the service.
Favor is rolling out its new service in more than 30 cities across the state, with free delivery on beer and wine orders through Labor Day. Customers will have to pay at least a $2 runner tip. The delivery fee after Labor Day has not been set.
To order, customers can download the Favor app and tap on the “H-E-B Beer & Wine” banner or can go online at favordelivery.com.
“It shows how competitive the supermarket business is,” said Ed Wulfe, chairman and CEO of Houston-based retail brokerage Wulfe & Co. “And they have to be competitive and meet what their competitors are doing.”
H-E-B has been increasing its market share, Wulfe said, and will be sure to protect that by providing customers with the products and services they’re demanding.
Beer and wine delivery in Houston and Pearland will be available 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 12 a.m. on Saturday and 12 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Sunday.
Beer and wine delivery in Katy, The Woodlands, Sugar Land, and Lake Houston areas will be available 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 12 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Sunday.
And customers should expect more joint offerings from Favor and H-E-B, Bath said.
“This is just the beginning.”