Grocery Connect is a place-based program built on a simple truth: Big Grocery – despite its myriad benefits – will not solve the food access gap facing isolated communities. Launched in 2024, Grocery Connect is piloting a new model of access that combines the scale, logistics, and e-commerce capacity of major grocery retailers with the trust, traffic, and traction of community-based organizations. By leveraging the strengths and incentives of a broad partnership network, we are bringing groceries directly into neighborhoods long overlooked by traditional food retail. But we’re more than just groceries: through digital tools, benefits enrollment, cooking classes, and after-care snack programs, all paired with fee-free delivery, we make everyday life simpler and healthier. Our goal is to prove that equitable food access can be both practical and scalable. We invite attendees to continue the dialogue in a breakout session focused on how we can better engage our customers (“Connections”), and other approaches we can learn from.