DoorDash has begun a new initiative to “boost” tiny businesses that are owned by basically any person– except straight white men. The program called the DoorDash Accelerator for Local Goods is defined in their press release as “an educational program designed to uplift local consumer packaged goods businesses owned by entrepreneurs who are women, transgender, immigrants, or people of color.” Soo… it’s racist on its face.
The press release, acquired by Timcast.com, revealed that they will be helping “50 entrepreneurs by giving them important resources, education, and funding to bring their local products to market for distribution via DashMart.”
The program aims to help the neighborhood businesses with a totally free program for supply chain management, wholesale vendor relationship administration, taking care of cash flow and organization growth– and provide them $5,000.
“Beyond the educational component, participants will receive a $5,000 grant to support their business needs, access to marketing and sales support from DoorDash, and the guarantee to sell their products via DashMart – a DoorDash-owned and operated grocery and convenience store. First introduced in 2020, DashMart is a new type of neighborhood store, brought to you by DoorDash offering customers thousands of fresh groceries, household essentials, local treats, and more — delivered right to their doorsteps,” the press release continues. “DashMart offers local businesses a new channel to reach customers, transforming how merchant partners can sell their products across the country. With DashMarts nationwide, DoorDash already supports over 400 local and regional producers from coast to coast.”
After the entrepreneurs complete the training course, their items will certainly be bought by DoorDash to market with at the very least one DashMart location.
“Local businesses generate a substantial amount of economic return for the communities they thrive within, while also creating notable job opportunities for residents,” said Tasia Hawkins, Social Impact Program Lead at DoorDash. “By developing the DoorDash Accelerator for Local Goods, we are equipping aspiring entrepreneurs with the educational and financial capital to become wholesale-ready and create an even stronger relationship between local businesses and consumers residing in the community.”
Sellers, provided that they aren’t straight white guys… will be qualified to apply for the DoorDash Accelerator for Local Goods “if they are a registered and actively operating packaged food local business in New York City, Chicago, or the greater Washington DC area, if they have twenty or fewer employees, if they have generated less than $1M in revenue in fiscal year 2021, and they must have been in business for at least two years.”
It remains to be seen if DoorDash will face any civil suits for discrimination, however, the limitation of this offer to the New York and DC metro areas seems strategic, as any dispute over this policy would be confined to these venues presided over by a heavily left-biased bench of judges and prosecutors.
H/T Timcast
