Posted December 2021

WhatsGood, an innovative technology provider for online orders at local farmers markets, is opening the first in a series of Chicago-based Farm Shops in Lincoln Park on December 7. WhatsGood’s Farm Shop is a small footprint grocery store with an array of locally curated products that will provide Chicagoans with in-store shopping and on-demand delivery. WhatsGood’s team can deliver everything you’d expect at the farmers market in about an hour.

WhatsGood has operated in Chicago since 2018 in close partnership with Green City Market, South Loop, and other of Chicago’s best farmers markets. During the pandemic, WhatsGood provided critical eCommerce and home delivery services to help connect Chicago to its local food sources. More than 30,000 Chicagoans use WhatsGood to connect with more than 400 farmers, artisans, and chefs from Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan. Now WhatsGood is developing services and technologies to empower local food and beverage makers to sell direct to customers in local communities with Farm Shop; essentially filling a gap when farmers markets aren’t available. The company plans to open a WhatsGood Farm Shop in every neighborhood in Chicago and New England over the next two years.

Farm Shop products are locally sourced from farms and producers within a maximum of a 3-hour drive to the store. Shoppers will find produce from dozens of farms and makers like Jacobson Family Farms, Smits Farms, and Garfield Produce Company. Consumers will be able to pick up fresh bread baked daily from bakers like Bennison’s, Verzenay and fresh pasta from Empoli Chicago. They will also be able to grab high quality grass-fed beef, pastured pork, free-range chicken, heritage turkeys, artisan cheeses, granola, and prepared meals from a variety of local chefs. Every purchase will provide local food producers with 6-8 times higher margins than a traditional grocery store.

The WhatsGood mission is to localize our food system by making fresh, nutrient dense, local food more accessible and convenient. Based on its home delivery and eCommerce technology that built partnerships with Chicago farmers markets (over 3 years ago), Farm Shop grocery stores are the next evolution in how WhatsGood accomplishes its mission and provides communities in Chicago with better access to high quality, local food. WhatsGood is developing services and technologies to empower local food communities and offer a better future for our food supply.