SAN FRANCISCO — Instacart is partnering with Aldi on a pilot program that will allow Electronic Benefit Transfer and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (EBT SNAP) participants order fresh food and pantry staples from Aldi via Instacart’s same-day delivery and pickup services.

The multi-phased launch will begin in the coming weeks with more than 60 Aldi stores in Georgia, with plans for expansion to more than 570 stores across Illinois, California, Florida and Pennsylvania in the coming months.

“At Instacart, our mission is to create a world where everyone has access to the food they love and more time to enjoy it together,” Instacart president Nilam Ganenthiran said. “As the nation continues to grapple with the effects of COVID-19, we recognize Instacart has an opportunity to increase access to fresh, nutritious food and pantry staples by unlocking EBT SNAP payments for online grocery delivery and pickup services in communities across the country.

“It’s incredibly important to us to support the communities in which our own employees live and work, so we’re excited to start this program in Georgia, which is home to our Atlanta-based customer and shopper care team. We’re proud to partner with Aldi on this important initiative and are committed to being a long-term solution for EBT SNAP households and connecting everyone, no matter who they are or where they live, to the groceries and essential goods they need.”

Aldi began offering delivery service via Instacart back in 2018, and Instacart currently delivers nationwide from more than 2,000 Aldi stores. Aldi pickup via Instacart is now available in nearly 700 Aldi stores.

“Enabling customers to use their SNAP/EBT benefits for their grocery delivery and curbside pickup orders is an important extension of our in-store payment policy,” said Aldi U.S. co-president of Brent Laubaugh. “While the option is only available in select markets at the moment, we’re eager to roll out this update broadly as quickly as possible.”

Instacart says that bringing EBT SNAP capabilities to its platform is another step in the company’s ongoing commitment to supporting communities facing food insecurity. Earlier this summer, Instacart launched the #GiveFromTheCart Challenge, a giving campaign to benefit Feeding America and fight rising hunger in the wake of COVID-19. As part of the campaign, the company donated 1 million meals to Feeding America.

“At Feeding America, we believe that strong federal programs are critical for families struggling to get access to nutritious food,” says Robert Campbell, managing director of policy at Feeding America. “Improving access to food for people with lower incomes is something we’ve long supported and we are glad Instacart is helping connect communities to food in innovative ways.”

As part of the Aldi commitment to Feeding America, it will donate approximately 30 million pounds of food to local Feeding America Food Banks all across the country this year. In addition, Aldi is proud to have made a $500,000 donation to Feeding America to support food insecurity.