An app for artisan grocery products co-founded by the creator of secondhand fashion platform Depop is launching a chef-made own-label range.
Delli was launched early last year, initially offering users a curated selection of food and drink products from a small number of independent makers. In September, following a $7.2m fundraise, the platform opened up to all independent creators be they chefs, small businesses or home cooks, as long as they are registered food businesses.
The brand – co-founded by Depop founder Simon Beckerman and former Depop VP of markets Marie Petrovicka – is now launching an own-label range of sauces and dressings.
Chefs from the kitchens of seafood restaurant Orasay, smoke-cooked specialist restaurant Smoke at Hampton Manor, Soho Japanese eatery Humble Chicken, and Brixton bistro Naughty Piglets are behind the new Delli label products, and named on item labels.
A nutty dipping sauce, garlic dressing, spicy miso sauce and lemongrass tomato pickle make up the range, which will be available to purchase as a collection or individually from later this month.
Like other products on the platform, they can be collected directly from producers or sent for delivery across the UK.
Delli is described by the company as “a new online community-marketplace retail concept that reinvents the way food-lovers are shopping”. The app allows users to follow ‘makers’, chat directly to them, as well as comment on, like and share their ‘drops’.
“Delli is much more than an app that talks about ingredients and shifts products,” said founder Simon Beckerman. “It’s about people, and connecting us to different cultures. Yes, the products have to taste delicious, but we take pride in giving our makers a platform to share their stories and their heritage alongside their products. Community first and foremost. Service second – and that’s not to say we don’t care about the packaging, our packaging looks great too.”
The Delli team are hoping to emulate the success of Depop – which has around 45 million users globally – where many of them formerly worked. Depop has raised $100m in funding and employs a 400-strong team across offices in New York, Sydney and Manchester. It was acquired by Etsy in 2021 for $1.63bn.
“We’re still in our infancy,” said Delli founding team member and marketing chief Natalie Lee Joe, “but already you can see trends forming across our maker community, like tapping into heritage and telling stories of their culture through food.”
“Building a community and seeing first-time makers find their people on Delli is such a trip,” she added.
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