Locale

Locale is a marketplace providing local food products from farms, bakeries, restaurants, and other sources. Established in 2020, the marketplace operates across The Bay Area, Los Angeles, and San Diego.

Locale cofounder Jonathan Friedland

The platform allows users to order local products in their community before Thursday evening to be delivered the following Saturday. Deliveries are made on Saturdays and Tuesdays. Users are able to pick a particular delivery window and be notified of its arrival.

Launched during the Covid-19 pandemic, Locale started in the Bay Area, delivering desired items from bakeries, restaurants, and specialty food stores like Manresa Bread and Wise Sons Deli. The business then expanded to Los Angeles, delivering items from a variety of spots, including Porto’s Bakery and Langer’s Deli.

Locale's model does not include a minimum order charge or sign-up/membership fee. This allows restaurants and businesses to participate and go beyond their standard delivery radius. Locale utilizes in-house drivers and bypasses on-demand meal delivery. The orders are bundled into one box per user and delivered at a flat rate of $5.

Cofounder Jonathan Friedland said in an interview:

It’s very rare that someone would order from just one business. This is a way for people to discover new food. We also want to keep customer trust. The businesses on (our app) are quality, they’re vetted. We get about a hundred applications a week for businesses to be on Locale, and we accept maybe two or three. We try to keep it very curated by asking customers what they want and getting those businesses on our platform.