03/21/2023

More Coborn’s Banners Accepting EBT SNAP Payments via Instacart

Program participants can get groceries delivered in as soon as an hour

Managing Editor

The USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service recently approved the Coborn's, Cash Wise and Marketplace Foods banners to accept EBT SNAP payments online in areas where Instacart is available.

Coborn’s Inc. has revealed that it will now accept Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program (SNAP) payments online for delivery via Instacart. This move enables EBT SNAP participants to use their benefits to access fresh food and pantry staples from the Coborn’s, Cash Wise and Marketplace Foods banners when shopping with the Instacart website and mobile app. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service recently approved the banners to accept EBT SNAP payments online in areas where San Francisco-based Instacart is available.

“Bringing food access and fresh food options to our guests has always been a top priority for us, and we are thrilled to finally offer this long-awaited enhancement in collaboration with Instacart,” said Dennis Host, Coborn’s SVP/marketing and communications. “We are always looking for ways to offer our guests a quality online shopping experience, and the opportunity to offer EBT SNAP payment options online removes transportation barriers that many families in our communities are faced with. This will allow them greater access to fresh food faster.”

Once the customer selects their preferred store, an Instacart customer profile is created where they can enter their EBT food card information as a form of payment in their profile. Customers will need a secondary form of payment for nonfood items such as taxes, tips and fees, in accordance federal SNAP guidelines. Once items are added to their cart, customers can choose how much of their benefits they’d like to allocate to the order. Orders for delivery and pickup can be placed by customers for receipt in as fast as an hour or scheduled several days in advance. Delivery fees will be waived on the first three EBT SNAP orders for customers using a valid EBT card associated with their Instacart account.

Last September, Coborn’s Hornbacher’s banner began accepting EBT SNAP payments for delivery and curbside pickup orders placed via Instacart.

St. Cloud, Minn.-based Coborn’s Inc. is a 102-year-old employee-owned grocery retailer with nearly 10,000 employees and 66 grocery stores across Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin and Michigan under the Coborn’s Cash Wise Foods, Marketplace Foods and Hornbacher’s banners. Coborn’s also owns liquor, fuel and pharmacy locations. To support its 130 various retail business units, Coborn’s Inc. operates its own central bakery, dry cleaning facility and grocery distribution center. The company is No. 82 The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2022 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America. In 2023, the company was recognized by PG as one of the Top 10 Regional Grocers in the United States.