Case Study: Local Roots NYC quadruples delivery fleet and scales deliveries 19x with OptimoRoute

Local Roots NYC Quadruples Delivery Fleet to Feed New Yorkers During COVID-19 Shutdowns

Local Roots NYC, a community-focused CSA and local-food distributor, faced a sudden loss of pickup locations when COVID-19 closures shut down cafés, offices, and other in-person distribution points. With customers relying on weekly deliveries, Local Roots NYC needed to move rapidly from primarily in-person pickup to a full delivery operation — and chose OptimoRoute to help make that pivot.

Using OptimoRoute’s routing and scheduling platform (with API integration into their order system), Local Roots NYC quickly onboarded drivers and staff, launched an online delivery service in 48 hours, and optimized routes to meet strict time-window and weekly-delivery constraints. The result: they quadrupled their fleet, scaled delivery volume by more than 19x (from about 50 orders per week to 400 orders in a single day and over 1,000 orders per week using 13 drivers), implemented contactless deliveries and recycling pickups, and credited OptimoRoute’s support for enabling the rapid expansion.

Local Roots NYC

Camryn Hellwarth

Director of Programming and Community Engagement