Instacart-Provi deal adds same-day bar and restaurant supplies

By Nathan Brooks

Instacart and Provi will offer same-day delivery of nonalcoholic supplies to bars and restaurants, the companies confirmed to Business Insider on Thursday. The service will include mixers, garnishes and paper products ordered through Provi's website and app.

The partnership excludes alcohol. U.S. law requires alcohol brands to send products to restaurants and retailers through distributors under a three-tier system, the companies said.

Provi CEO Matthew Tucker said the companies aim to deliver urgent items as fast as possible. The target list includes extra limes for margaritas and napkins for special events, Tucker said. Many venues already receive weekly deliveries from established restaurant distributors, so the new service fills a shorter, on-demand gap rather than replacing that supply chain.

Tucker framed the goal as emergency replenishment rather than routine distribution. “What we are trying to solve for is that last-minute out-of-stock,” he told Business Insider.

What does this change for bars and restaurants?

It gives operators a grocery channel for items that can interrupt service. A venue short on herbs, straws or lime garnish can order through Provi and complete the purchase on Instacart, Andrew Nodes, Instacart's vice president and general manager of Business and Supply Chain, said.

Nodes said the service addresses shortages that arise during a shift. “Now, when a bar or restaurant runs out of herbs or straws mid-service, they have a same-day solution that helps them operate smoothly without missing a beat,” he said.

For operators, this is a speed proposition rather than an alcohol-delivery expansion. The partnership brings Instacart into venues where they already shop, Nodes said, while alcohol remains outside the arrangement. The nonalcoholic goods will come from grocery stores, the companies said.

The economics are narrow but material. Drinks tend to be the most profitable items at many bars and restaurants, Tucker said. A missing garnish can prevent a sale of a higher-margin drink, he said, while other essential goods can disrupt service or leave a customer disappointed.

Tucker described the assortment as small. He said its products can help drive sales and avoid customer disappointment, making the channel relevant even if alcohol remains off-limits.

The timing gives the rollout an immediate test. Weeks before Thanksgiving and Christmas produce Provi's highest customer engagement of the year, the company said. It is also the first time Provi is selling nonalcoholic items, Tucker said.

Provi users will see the new option on its platform, then move to Instacart to complete the purchase, Tucker said. That flow keeps the ordering option on Provi while sending the transaction to Instacart for completion, according to the arrangement.

The service also addresses constrained staffing. Tucker said immigration raids have contributed to restaurant labor shortages, leaving many establishments with fewer workers and less capacity for quick grocery runs that keep bars stocked. Same-day purchasing can replace some of that trip when regular distributor inventory runs short, Tucker said.

For Instacart, the agreement expands a business-delivery division the company has operated since 2023. The division's customers include the Four Seasons resort chain and Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, according to Instacart. The company began by bringing groceries to individual shoppers' doorsteps, so the deal extends an existing consumer logistics network into a more specialized wholesale workflow.

For both companies, the immediate test is whether emergency orders become a repeat purchasing channel during the Thanksgiving-Christmas rush. Provi has added a category it did not previously sell, while Instacart has added a way to sell restaurant supplies when regular distributor deliveries fail.