Instacart has announced a new online advertising capability, enabling produce brands to advertise fresh, weighted items – such as carrots, grapes, onions, oranges, sweet potatoes and watermelons – from the produce department across the Instacart Marketplace.
The announcement is in collaboration with the White House event on March 24 that continues the work begun at the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health to help end hunger and reduce diet-related diseases by 2030.
By elevating produce with Instacart Ads, consumers will have more opportunities to find nutritious food as they build daily and weekly grocery baskets, search for a specific ingredient and browse the digital aisles for inspiration.
“It’s essential that consumers have access to fresh, nutritious produce – whether they shop online or in-store,” said Ali Miller, VP of ads product at Instacart.
“Online grocery offers a unique experience, helping brands deeply connect with and engage consumers as they explore new products or their usual staples across the digital aisles. With today’s launch, millions of consumers will now discover more fresh and nutritious options as they shop on Instacart, leveling the playing field for produce and making sure everything from fresh citrus to sweet potatoes are just as discoverable as packaged goods.”
While packaged produce could be advertised before, this new expansion allows random weight items to be advertised through Instacart Ads’ sponsored product offering, which gives brands higher placements. The new capability will be available for all random weight foods found in Instacart’s grocery partners’ aisles, including fresh vegetables, fruits, meats, cheeses, nuts and deli items.
“The ground-breaking ability now offered by Instacart to advertise produce by weight is a terrific opportunity to connect consumers with Grapes from California,” said Alyson Dias, chief marketing officer of the California Table Grape Commission.
“As we enter the third year of promoting California table grapes in partnership with Instacart, this new ability expands marketing opportunities and offers more ways for consumers to make healthier choices when online grocery shopping.”
Since 2020, Instacart has partnered with about 60 packaged produce advertisers to amplify products and elevate the category. On average, Instacart’s packaged produce advertisers see a 30 percent increase in sales, meaning their ads influence more produce purchases.
Packaged produce advertisers can leverage the full Instacart advertising toolkit, including sponsored product, display, shoppable video, promotions and impulse ads. With this enhancement to Instacart advertising and catalog capabilities, produce brands can amplify their full product set, including packaged and random weight produce.
Instacart is working with produce brands and agriculture boards during the pilot stages of random weight advertising, with general availability rolling out over the coming weeks.
