Who Owns Amazon Fresh?

Amazon Fresh was launched by Amazon in 2007 as an invite-only grocery delivery service initially available only in select neighborhoods of Seattle, Washington. The service emerged from Amazon's strategic assessment that grocery represented a massive retail category largely untapped by e-commerce at the time, with the potential to drive increased purchase frequency and customer loyalty. The initial model focused on providing customers with fresh produce, perishable items, and everyday groceries delivered directly to their homes, addressing the growing consumer demand for convenience in grocery shopping.

Between 2009 and 2013, Amazon Fresh expanded methodically to additional markets including Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York, always following a careful pattern of building out specialized fulfillment infrastructure before entering a new market. This deliberate approach reflected the operational complexities of grocery delivery, particularly the challenges of handling perishable items and maintaining appropriate temperature controls throughout the delivery process. During this period, the service was exclusively available to Amazon Prime members for an additional subscription fee, positioning Fresh as a premium offering within Amazon's ecosystem.

A significant strategic shift occurred in 2016 when Amazon integrated Fresh more closely with its Prime membership, eventually making it an included benefit for Prime members in eligible areas rather than requiring a separate subscription fee. This integration aligned with Amazon's broader strategy of enhancing the value of Prime membership through additional services while creating a more seamless customer experience across Amazon's various retail offerings. The elimination of the separate subscription fee in 2019 marked Amazon's recognition that grocery delivery represented a strategic customer engagement mechanism rather than simply a standalone revenue stream.

In 2017, Amazon dramatically expanded its grocery capabilities through the $13.7 billion acquisition of Whole Foods Market, which provided Amazon with both an established premium grocery brand and a physical retail footprint in the grocery sector. While Amazon maintained Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh as separate brands with distinct positioning, the acquisition created operational synergies in areas such as procurement, fulfillment, and delivery logistics. This acquisition represented Amazon's commitment to becoming a major player in the grocery category through both digital and physical channels.

Beginning in 2020, Amazon expanded the Amazon Fresh brand to include physical grocery stores, opening its first location in Woodland Hills, California. These stores featured cashierless checkout technology, including "Just Walk Out" technology in some locations and "Dash Carts" in others. The physical store expansion continued through 2024, reaching approximately 20 Fresh stores in the United States and 19 locations in the United Kingdom. These physical locations were designed to complement the delivery service and provide Amazon with additional data about consumer grocery shopping behavior.

In January 2026, Amazon announced a strategic pivot, confirming the closure of all Amazon Fresh physical store locations while continuing to invest in the grocery delivery service. Some former Fresh stores were converted to Whole Foods locations, while others were sold to competitors including Tesco, which acquired five former Fresh stores in London. This shift reflected Amazon's reevaluation of its grocery strategy, focusing on digital delivery while leveraging Whole Foods as its primary physical grocery presence.

Throughout its history, Amazon Fresh has continuously evolved its delivery capabilities, expanding same-day and next-day delivery options across a growing number of markets. By 2026, Amazon announced that its same-day perishable grocery delivery service had expanded to over 1,000 cities and towns, representing a significant scaling of its grocery delivery infrastructure. This expansion demonstrated Amazon's long-term commitment to the grocery delivery segment despite the strategic changes in its physical store approach.