Unilever is spreading ice cream delivery to more areas of the country through a new partnership.
The maker of brands like Ben & Jerry’s, Breyers, Magnum and Talenti is set to be delivered from restaurants through on-demand delivery app ASAP.com. The service, which is owned by Waitr, will also deliver from Unilever’s The Ice Cream Shop, which is a virtual storefront where shoppers can pick from Unilever's ice cream selection. The service will be available at more than 2,000 locations, including a recent expansion that will bring it to New York’s Tri-State area.
The partnership will extend the number products offered through ASAP, and enable a new revenue stream for restaurants that partner with the delivery service, the companies said.
“We are thrilled to begin this partnership with ASAP as Unilever continues to expand the many ways customers across the country can enjoy our frozen treats,” said Russel Lilly, General Manager of North American Ice Cream, in a statement. “It’s not only exciting to further grow The Ice Cream Shop’s customer base with ASAP, but we are also honored to build out restaurant partners’ menus with our variety of offerings to bring something sweet to every customer.”
Unilever is making a concerted effort to spread ice cream delivery, which makes on-demand particularly important given the risk of the product melting before it arrives. The consumer goods company launched pilots earlier this year to deliver ice cream via RoboMart in Los Angeles, as well as by drone in North Carolina and Texas. By the end of summer, it made delivery from The Ice Cream Shop accessible nationwide through Instacart. Magnum ice cream has also made an appearance in the metaverse through a gallery in Decentraland.
For its part, ASAP CEO Carl Grimstad called the move “a high-profile implementation of our new business model to ‘deliver anything’ to consumers, same day, from any type of business.” ASAP said it operates in 1,000 cities around the United States.
