eMeals Adds Coca-Cola VP of eCommerce John Carroll to Advisory Board & Launches New 'Digital Endcap' Partnership Strategy for CPG Brands

Advances Ability of eMeals Platform to Address Rapidly Changing Grocery Shopping Landscape

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Feb 25, 2019, 09:02 ET

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Feb. 25, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- eMeals, a subscription-based meal planning service that leverages the existing in-store and online grocery supply chain for ingredient fulfillment, today announced the addition of grocery industry veteran John Carroll to the eMeals advisory board. Carroll, most recently General Manager and Vice President of eCommerce for Coca-Cola, will help advance a new eMeals CPG partnership initiative to help food and beverage brands access the direct-to-consumer digital marketing capability of the eMeals meal inspiration and grocery shopping platform.

The partnership program launches this month with the Francis Ford Coppola Winery. Select Coppola wines will be recommended for pairing with eMeals' weekly meal plans as well as in national brand and retailer promotions. The first Coppola campaign features a food and wine-themed Occasions plan menu with party recipes created for Hollywood's biggest awards night.

With a tap, eMeals subscribers will be able to add the recommended Coppola wines to their eMeals-generated shopping carts for easy self-shopping or online grocery fulfillment by Walmart, Kroger, Amazon, Instacart and Shipt/Target stores that carry the Coppola brand. eMeals' technical integration of curated content with grocery delivery serves as the perfect "digital endcap" for food and beverage brands looking to increase their online sales.

'Hitting the Bulls' Eye'

Carroll has more than 30 years of experience in Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) and food & beverage as well as packaging and manufacturing. He has held a series of leadership positions at both Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble across brand, sales, commercial and operations. As a 25-year veteran of Coca-Cola, he most recently led the development and overall management of Coca-Cola's eCommerce vision and roadmap, including commercial and marketing strategies, customer development and new business models.

"We are witnessing the biggest retail revolution in the history of the food and beverage industry -- from how people decide what to cook, eat and drink, to how they get their groceries," Carroll said. "Consumers want variety, convenience and simplified shopping. Brands and retailers need new ways to get in front of shoppers who no longer base purchase decisions solely on coupons, print ads and retail shelf placement. eMeals hits the bulls' eye on all fronts, and joining this advisory board gives me an opportunity to help food and beverage brands bridge the gap between the online and brick-and-mortar worlds and achieve visibility in this new grocery landscape."

Forging Brand Relationships

eMeals' CPG partnership initiative marks the latest evolution in a business that began more than a decade ago as a meal planning service for busy families, added online grocery integration over the past several years, and is now expanding its mission to help food and beverage brands address the challenges of operating in an increasingly digital decision-making and purchasing environment.

"Our platform is an ideal vehicle for CPG brands to actively reach today's digital consumers, activate promotions with grocery retailers, and link their products to our curated recipe content in order to increase sales and cart sizes," said eMeals CEO Forrest Collier. "John will be instrumental in helping us foster the right partners for this program and ultimately assist brands, retailers and consumers alike in optimizing the digital-driven grocery shopping process."

About eMeals
eMeals is America's leading meal planning service and meal kit alternative. Offering 15 food style meal plans with 100+ new easy-to-follow recipes every week that can be mixed and matched from plan to plan, the service automatically generates a weekly shopping list based on the subscriber's meal choices that can be self-shopped or sent in one click to AmazonFresh, Walmart, Kroger, Instacart and Shipt for fast pickup or home delivery. eMeals has helped more than 1 million families put healthy home-cooked meals on the table quickly, affordably and creatively. Life is hard, make dinner easy. Visit www.emeals.com to sign up for a two-week free trial.

SOURCE eMeals