Publix, the largest employee-owned grocery chain in the U.S., and Instacart, the technology-driven, on-demand grocery delivery service, announced plans to strengthen their relationship with a plan to bring same-day grocery delivery to all Publix customers.

Publix and Instacart joined forces to bring same-day grocery delivery to customers in July 2016 via delivery.publix.com and instacart.com. Since then, customers have embraced the service.

Instacart and Publix are now delivering in Florida (Daytona Beach, Ft. Lauderdale, Ft. Myers, Jacksonville, Melbourne, Miami, Naples, Orlando, Sarasota, St. Petersburg, Tallahassee, Tampa and West Palm Beach), Georgia (Atlanta), South Carolina (Columbia), North Carolina (Charlotte, Durham and Raleigh) and Tennessee (Knoxville and Nashville). Instacart has created nearly 2,800 new jobs in these regions.

"We selected Instacart because we knew their approach and expertise would deliver a high-quality experience for our customers," said Laurie Douglas, Publix Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer. "The overwhelming response of our customers has proven that Instacart and Publix are a strong and dynamic team. We are excited to take the next steps in building our unique relationship to dramatically grow the service in our markets."

Publix, with Instacart, is expanding the existing service over the next five months to bring Publix grocery delivery to markets in Alabama (Birmingham, Dothan, Huntsville, Mobile and Montgomery), Florida (Cape Coral, Crestview, Ft. Pierce, Gainesville and Panama City), Georgia (Albany, Augusta, Macon and Savannah), North Carolina (Asheville, High Point, Wilmington and Winston-Salem), South Carolina (Charleston, Greenville, Hilton Head Island, Myrtle Beach and Spartanburg), Tennessee (Chattanooga) and Virginia (Richmond). By 2020, Publix and Instacart are committed to offering same-day home delivery from all Publix market areas.

"Publix has an industry leading reputation for customer service, operational excellence and caring for its communities. We are extremely proud of the Publix Instacart team and the shared success we have seen over the last year. We are excited by the opportunity to bring Publix same-day deliveries to more customers across the Southeast,” said Apoorva Mehta, Founder and CEO of Instacart.