Vida Health and Instacart partner to link nutrition care with grocery access

SAN FRANCISCO — Vida Health has partnered with Instacart Health to help members more easily access nutritious foods that support chronic disease management by combining personalized nutrition guidance with grocery stipends redeemable through Instacart’s platform.

The collaboration enables Vida’s virtual cardiometabolic care team to use Instacart Health’s Fresh Funds technology to provide eligible members with category-specific grocery stipends for foods aligned with their care plans. The companies said the initiative is designed to bridge the gap between clinical nutrition advice and the ability to act on that guidance.

Vida Health provides virtual care for individuals managing obesity, diabetes, hypertension and other cardiometabolic conditions through a multidisciplinary team of physicians, registered dietitians, therapists and health coaches. The company’s dietitians develop culturally relevant meal plans tailored to members’ health needs, budgets and local food availability.

“Building healthier habits takes more than information; it requires thoughtful, culturally relevant guidance and access to good food,” said Amy Mushlin, chief clinical and member service officer at Vida Health. “By partnering with Instacart, the guidance dietitians and coaches provide is now more immediately actionable for members to purchase groceries, making it easier for people to make impactful changes in their lives.”

The partnership is expected to be especially beneficial for individuals living in rural areas, food deserts, and underserved communities, where access to healthy food options can be limited. Instacart said its platform reaches more than 98% of U.S. households, including 95% of low-income and low-access communities.

“At its core, Instacart is a platform built for access to nutritious food, and our Health tools, like Fresh Funds, allow us to connect food and health programs at scale,” said Sarah Mastrorocco, vice president and general manager of Health at Instacart. “Through our partnership with Vida, members managing their cardiometabolic health can now receive Fresh Funds stipends to spend on Instacart to act on the expert guidance Vida’s care team provides.”

The companies said that future phases of the partnership will make Vida’s dietitian-developed meal plans directly shoppable through Instacart and will explore employer-sponsored food benefits as part of broader health and wellness programs.