Dive Brief:

• FastAF, a delivery service for premium products, announced last week its expansion into the frozen category.
• The app now carries items from frozen dessert brand Coolhaus, Chloe’s Fruit Pops, craft ice cream company Marco and others in all of FastAF’s markets: San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles and Miami.
• In the coming weeks, FastAF plans to add more products, like savory meals and snacks from Chef Bombay, Nuggs, Cappello's and more, to its frozen category, according to a press release.

Dive Insight:

With its frozen category launch, FastAF is taking on a segment that has long faced stigmas around offering unhealthy but affordable options, and spotlighting high-end products appealing to different customer values for healthy, diverse or globally inspired brands. 

For example, Chloe's Pops markets its products as plant-based, dairy-free items free of stabilizers, additives and artificial ingredients and flavorings. Marco's aims to appeal to people seeking gourmet, internationally inspired ice cream flavors, while Coolhaus is a women- and LGBTQ-owned company. 

The frozen category saw sales growth last year after the pandemic encouraged more at-home cooking and easy-to-prepare meals. High-frequency frozen food shoppers are placing more emphasis on taste and quality, according to a report published by the American Frozen Food Institute and the Food Industry Association. 

Frozen joins FastAF’s other categories of beauty, apparel, health, fitness, pantry and wellness. “Our goal is to be in every category that is essential to our daily lives and with the launch of Frozen Eats, expansion into frozen consumer goods is another step in that direction,” Lee Hnetinka, founder and CEO of FastAF, said in the press release.  

Based in San Francisco, FastAF curates essential items for shoppers and delivers them in two hours or less, offering free delivery for orders over $35. 

Since parent company Darkstore launched FastAF last summer, the delivery service has expanded its geographic footprint and brand partners. In November, it debuted in New York City, offering more than 350 brands, and then arrived in Miami and San Francisco in the spring, adding 100 more brands. The service now works with more than 600 brands, according to the press release. 

FastAF’s sales doubled from the fourth quarter of 2020 to the first quarter of 2021, per a blog on its website. In April, FastAF said its customers were placing an order every three days and that the company was growing 63% week-over-week. 

Despite its name, FastAF's promised delivery in two hours or less is not as fast as other startup delivery services boasting 30- and even 10-minute delivery. In a seeming nod to how quickly customers get their orders, FastAF noted in a recent blog post that its average delivery time is around 30 minutes and that it aims to get deliveries to customers “within minutes.”

FastAF highlights its premium selection, exclusive brand partnerships and localized selections as what make the company stand out from competitors. “The selection of brands and products are deliberately specific to your location in order to create a marketplace that is more local than global. This means, in each FastAF city, the app experience will be uniquely the fabric of that city,” per the announcement about FastAF’s launch last year.