Dive Brief:

• Kroger announced Tuesday that it’s expanding its on-demand delivery of sushi and floral bouquets from its Bloom Haus brand to the Uber Eats marketplace.
• Floral delivery became available Tuesday and sushi delivery will be available starting Thursday from more than 1,400 stores through Uber. 
• The marketplace expansion builds on Kroger’s initial move into floral and sushi delivery at the end of last year through DoorDash. 

Dive Insight:

By partnering with another major third-party delivery partner, Kroger can grow the reach of its sushi and floral delivery offerings as it continues to roll out new innovations in grocery e-commerce.

Uber Eats customers will be able to buy custom-wrapped Bloom Haus bouquets and freshly prepared sushi, including rolls and combos, along with dumplings, poke bowls, bottled sauces and more.

The announcement noted that special promotions will be available to eligible customers from Tuesday until June 30 for Uber Eats customers who want to get the sushi and floral delivery from Kroger. Additionally, UberOne, the membership program for Uber Eats customers, will offer the Bloom Haus floral bouquets and sushi selections with discounted delivery and service fees, per the announcement.

The announcement comes less than two weeks before Mother’s Day — one of the top holidays for floral purchases.

"Now with Uber Eats, our customers have more options to quickly and easily order a California Crunch Roll for dinner tonight or send a fresh, premium floral bouquet just to say, 'I'm thinking about you,’” Stuart Aitken, senior vice president chief merchant and marketing officer at Kroger, said in a statement. 

In December, Kroger unveiled on-demand sushi and floral delivery through DoorDash from over 900 of the grocer’s locations that sell sushi and 1,600 of its stores that carry flowers following a pilot in the fall. Those items are also available through DoorDash’s membership program, DashPass.

Kroger teamed up with Olo, a restaurant software technology company, to help power the nationwide expansion of its sushi and floral delivery offering with DoorDash. 

Kroger now offers multiple online ordering options, including rapid delivery through Instacart and its own branded delivery in states like Florida and Texas. Uber, meanwhile, has struggled to keep pace with marketplace competitors Instacart and DoorDash in grocery, and last year retooled its platform to make it more enticing for shoppers and retailers.