Strack & Van Til, the Highland, Indiana-based grocery chain, has eliminated price markups on its third-party delivery channels, meaning customers ordering through Instacart, DoorDash, or Uber Eats now pay the same prices they would find walking the store's aisles.
The move targets one of the most persistent consumer complaints about online grocery delivery: that platform markups can quietly add 10–15% or more to a basket before fees and tips even enter the picture. By absorbing or renegotiating those costs, Strack & Van Til is betting that price parity will drive delivery volume and deepen loyalty among value-conscious Midwest shoppers.
Operator Implications
For grocery and foodservice operators watching delivery economics, this kind of pricing parity commitment carries real strategic weight. Third-party platforms have historically funded their retailer-side economics in part through item-level markups — a practice that has drawn growing scrutiny as household budgets tighten and consumers comparison-shop across channels. A regional grocer willing to flatten that gap signals confidence that incremental delivery orders will offset the margin concession. It also raises the bar for competing regional chains that have not yet addressed the markup issue publicly.
The decision also reflects a broader recalibration happening across grocery and foodservice delivery: operators are increasingly treating delivery not as a premium add-on but as a core fulfillment channel that must be competitively priced to retain customers who now move fluidly between in-store, curbside, and on-demand options.
Regional Competitive Context
Strack & Van Til operates in the competitive Chicago-area and Northwest Indiana market, where national chains, discount grocers, and warehouse clubs all compete aggressively on price. Removing delivery markups positions the banner as a price-integrity player — a differentiation angle that resonates particularly in grocery, where trust around shelf price is foundational to the shopper relationship.
The simultaneous presence on three major platforms — Instacart, DoorDash, and Uber Eats — also reflects the multi-platform approach now standard among operators serious about last-mile grocery and restaurant delivery coverage. Rather than consolidating with a single delivery partner, Strack & Van Til is maintaining reach across the platforms consumers already have installed, while using consistent pricing as the through-line.
As delivery penetration in grocery continues to grow, moves like this one will likely push other regional operators to re-examine their own platform pricing agreements — or risk ceding the value-focused delivery customer to chains that have already made the commitment.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
