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W M ~WAI'ERI1X)CHRONI(1E°Wedneoday, luly 29. zois Right to your front door ‘ ' ‘l ‘ New startup Grocera delivers local food fiom the farm to your home 1 Bit [Jaimie Swim, ' ‘ a. . [or Mr? (‘hronicle , _, . f, , 1 . l ‘ “ < u . r , V '7 “ I hile some tech compa- , ‘ ~ , y.” ». J. _ u . I, , I Wnies in the area arecreat- - . - - if if i l i 5 If! t Z 1 ing robotic arms and 3-D ~ . ‘ . ‘ r ‘3 " .1 a ,3; < : printers. a new startup is using .3 _ , 'k " ‘~ 5 ‘ . their tech skills to create a more ’ ~ a, " v“‘~\ (I if E accessible local food market. With E _ W "“ “ -. . wings) A " the launch of(irocera. - I‘- a t. i H. . , "“ '.‘ g l “It's tech-infused with 3 (us; A ‘ " ' , ' a; I l tomer-hased service," (iroct‘ra co- q‘ f: V. V._~,-( “‘Ji' . " g - . l founder Patrick Valoppisaid. : M g "'7 -'- : (:rocera allows customers to 5 ‘1 ; ; . .,...‘;“,'f.'_ _. l . add local. farm fresh food items to y ‘ " . _ fl is H“ » their online can ~â€" anything from ' i A ' ; plums. broccoli. sweet treats. milk , ' and more, Then. after using the ‘2 ' secure checkout, they choose a " ’ ' delivery date and time. and wait v for delivery an (1 "Well dl'll\'(’l it right to your . door mth a smiling (at e.' Valoppi “ ‘5 - ’1 s. " ~ . I l _' ;« . , said ;( ' x'-' ,1- L" l And its that milkman relation p.573: . .5“;._ § ship the (”founders are aiming to 3 it . in waste. said Niket Soni. the other 7 if». 3' 2;, f. 3 V ' - haliofthe partnership. . - ~ ‘-’ 5" ‘ [he way the tech industry is ‘ ““ '3 7 going. everything is becoming NiketSmiandPatrickValopplhumedasurtupultedGrocuatMtMlldeliverlocalprodtxeandfoodrighttomhontdoov, input-noon: more and more hands off, Iherr-‘s less human interaction overall,‘ the core of our business. so Niket It was that experience he was “He realized I wasn't a night» hours ~ that is helping them \oni said and I are doing the deliveries and looking {or after graduating from mare to work with so we went from shape their goals for the company “We‘re actually going against learning the insandouLs." the University of Waterloo with a there.“ Valoppi said with a laugh. and make connections with ven- thi- gram there because where we The day oi the delivery. cus biomedical sciences and nutrition ”Not only am I keeping my skills dots such as lierrle's Country Farm tirllvt’t. it's going to he the same tomers will receive an alert on degree back in 20l2. sharp. but I'm also really passion Market and Sabletine Fine Pastries person every week You’ll get to their phone, which they can track “I (realized) there was a gap in ate about local food." 'We picked Kitchenerâ€"Waterloo know that person.‘ in realAtime to see just how close the marketplace where local food He added the timing couldn't as a base because it's a good test t urrently. deliveries are made the delivery vehicle‘n wasn't that accessible. People want have been better. since he was market It's a growing demograph- bv \‘aloppt and 50m from 4 pm. to ”At the end of the day. sure it's to eat local but don't have time," he fresh off a marketing and husinas ic that has the type of people we‘re 9 p m, Itii-sdays through Thurs tech. but it‘s the customer service said. so he quit his iota in R-hruary development gig at Microsoft and targeting , affluent. people that days But as they work through the that really sets us apart." Soni said. to create a solution to that path had just started dabbling tn start» don't have time. and tech savvy logistics of picking up supplies And the startup life is quite a lemon afull-time basis. tips “In the startup world. you're people." Soni said. from surrounding farms. they are chatty- from the job Soni left at the But one month in. Niket said he giving up a lot. You're going to Their next target market already also working on expanding some (anadian lood Inspection Agemy reamed he needed some market devote yourself to putting 60 or 70 has that type of established clien~ times and adding the tint round oi (Lil/M, working on recalls as a ing help r so he bronco inValop» hours a week into something that tele. 'The next nmket we're going newemployees. food safety specialist. pi. a recent Wilfrid Laurier Univer- may or may not succeed." Soni to conquer is Toronto. We're going ‘We firmly believe in, it were ‘I got this crazy amount of 5in business admiri'ntration pad. said. todothat “summer." going to have someone do our knowledge about the food indus~ to takeoverthoseduties But it's their understanding of (Root-n currently delivers with- work. we want to he doing it first.‘ try. working with (chain grocers) It didn‘t take long More Valop- me market's demographics â€" stir in a l3v to IS-kilometre radius Vaioppi said. all the way down to the little guys.‘ pi's enthusiasm and potential dents without vehicle; busy tami- from the city core. To access the ‘ ”We really want to understand Vini said madehim colounde'r. lies. professionals working long online store. VB“ grocer-am l ATTEN‘I10N BUSINESSES“ '-~"" 1 I I u I, F~~~ 2‘ ‘ as . E?” ‘ \Ka .W t :1... , nu“- ‘ ‘ i :":‘ - ’- ""' FE?! . . . 7 ‘ a - « IMPRESSION ~:-.. A; i. â€" 421$: ‘ - “It i. l >“ u b ‘ ‘ . - I r.” _ ._. .â€"â€"â€"â€"â€"- V I " l “I ll“ ,I. ' 1.“t.l 1 ~"“ Wimmm r ummmomsooomzaz ’ ‘ t