Instacart and Cardenas Markets announced that they will accept Electronic Benefits Transfer and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (EBT SNAP) payments across Cardenas’ 59 stores in California, Arizona, and Nevada.
Cardenas Markets is the first national Hispanic retailer to accept EBT SNAP payments on the Instacart marketplace.
According to a press release, the Hispanic supermarket chain and Instacart partnered to gain approval from the United States Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service (USDA FNS) to accept EBT SNAP payments. With this launch, Cardenas Markets makes same-day delivery and pickup available to more customers.
“We are proud to be the first Hispanic retailer to accept EBT SNAP as a form of online payment via Instacart,” said Adam Salgado, Chief Marketing Officer at Cardenas Markets. “We are consistently looking for ways to make the Cardenas Markets shopping experience even more convenient and accessible for all of our customers.”
Cardenas first partnered with the online grocery platform in December 2020 to offer same-day delivery and has since expanded its partnership across all store locations. The Hispanic grocer recently introduced pickup at select stores in San Jose and Las Vegas via Instacart, with plans to grow in the coming months.
With the addition of Cardenas Markets, Instacart now powers EBT SNAP payments for more than 50 retailers across 39 states and Washington, DC, spanning more than 7,000 stores nationwide.
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“At Instacart, providing people greater access to food is at the core of our mission, and we’re proud to deepen our partnership with Cardenas Markets to provide more families a convenient, accessible way to get their fresh food and pantry staples,” said Sarah Mastrorocco, Vice President of Access to Food & Nutrition at Instacart. “We believe that grocery delivery should be convenient and affordable for all, not a luxury for some. We need to make sure online grocery is accessible to everyone to get there. We recognize the importance of expanding our EBT SNAP offering, and partnering with key Latin grocer Cardenas Markets is an important milestone as we continue to increase access to food and nutrition.”
To subsidize costs for EBT SNAP participants, Instacart will continue to waive delivery and pickup fees on all EBT SNAP orders through March 31, 2022, for customers using a valid EBT card associated with their Instacart account in connection with their purchase. Additionally, Instacart offers support in customers’ preferred language, including Spanish.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, so many members of our community relied on food delivery services to safely shop for their families,” said California Assemblymember Tim Grayson. “By increasing access to online grocery services for individuals utilizing EBT SNAP, Cardenas Markets and Instacart are helping families in Pittsburg and Vallejo – and across California – get fresh and healthy foods to their homes without sacrificing their budgets.”
Instacart pioneered the retailer onboarding process with the USDA FNS and remained the only online platform accelerating retailers’ abilities to certify for EBT SNAP online acceptance. More than half of all federally-approved retailers accept EBT SNAP online through the Instacart platform, serving more than 25 million people experiencing food insecurity across the U.S.
Where available in California, Arizona, and Nevada, EBT SNAP participants can shop from Cardenas Markets via the Instacart website and mobile app. Once an Instacart customer profile is created, customers can enter their EBT food card information as a form of payment in their profile. Customers will need a secondary form of payment for non-food items such as taxes, tips, and fees per federal SNAP guidelines. For more information about EBT SNAP on Instacart, visit www.instacart.com/ebt-snap. To place an order from Cardenas Markets for same-day delivery and pickup, visit https://www.instacart.com/cardenas-marketplace