Podcast Summary: Winning in Grocery & New Verticals with Fuad Hannon from DoorDash

Podcast: The CPG Guys
Hosts: Sri Rajagopalan (with Peter V.S. Bond absent)
Guest: Fuad Hannon, VP of New Verticals, DoorDash
Date: October 4, 2025
Duration: ~47 mins

Overview

This episode dives deep into DoorDash’s evolving role in the grocery and new verticals space, with guest Fuad Hannon sharing strategic insights on how DoorDash is innovating for both consumers and retailers. The conversation covers everything from the unique needs of grocery shoppers versus other verticals, emerging partnership models, the growing advertising platform, to future-facing ideas for brands keen to thrive in local commerce and omnichannel retail.

Key Topics & Insights

DoorDash’s Evolution in Grocery

• Expansion Beyond Restaurants:

  • DoorDash’s mission is to digitize every local business—restaurants, grocery, convenience, and beyond.
  • "The core of the DoorDash idea was how do you take every business that exists in a local economy ... and help bring that online and give consumers tons of access and choice." (Fuad Hannon, 04:51)

• Grocery Versus Restaurant Use Cases:

  • Grocery orders can be urgent or planned, often involving basket-building and fresh/perishable choices.
  • New capabilities include features like photo verification for perishables.
  • Building trust with regional grocers is a priority to ensure local offerings.
  • "In restaurants, you often open up DoorDash because you’re hungry ... In the case of grocery, ... it's a more involved purchase." (Fuad Hannon, 05:17)

Understanding Grocery Shopper Behavior

• Variety in Consumer Use-Cases:

  • The same consumer may shop for quick late-night snacks and do a weekly family stock-up.
  • "What we've come to learn ... is that the consumer really varies based on the use case or the trip." (Fuad Hannon, 08:52)

• Distinct Shopping Patterns:

  • Grocery shoppers build baskets and seek deals; they also frequent 3-5 different grocers on average.
  • Grocery has a more dispersed ordering pattern across the day compared to restaurants.
  • "There's a different expectation in terms of affordability ... The consumers really care to see [deals] reflected on their digital shopping platform." (Fuad Hannon, 13:39)

Technology & Innovation

• Personalization and AI:
  • Recipe-based fulfillment and AI-driven recommendations are in active experimentation (e.g., suggesting what to cook based on available ingredients).
  • Individual brand preferences need to be accounted for in these models.
  • "This is actually where AI and LLMs can become really, really interesting ... what else can I make with it? ... what else do I need to make this pasta?" (Fuad Hannon, 15:25)

Category Winners in On-Demand Grocery

• Top Performing Categories:
  • Snacks, drinks, ice cream thrive due to need-it-now behavior.
  • Seasonal patterns—e.g., snacks surge during back-to-school, ice cream does well late-night.
  • "Categories like drinks and snacks really resonate on DoorDash ... The other that we see a lot of demand on ... is ice cream." (Fuad Hannon, 17:25)
• Challenges Remain:
  • Deli, meat, and fish counters are still a challenge for optimal online fulfillment.

Key Partnerships & Platform Growth

• Major Announcements:
  • DoorDash is now partnering with Kroger and all banners for full grocery assortment across the US.
  • Currently partners with 6 of the top 10 US grocers (Kroger, Albertsons, Aldi, Wegmans, Meijer, Ahold).
  • "Last week we announced that we’re partnering with Kroger and all of their banners to bring their full grocery assortment onto DoorDash." (Fuad Hannon, 21:11)
• DashPass Adoption:
  • 22 million of 42 million monthly actives are subscription users—a highly engaged, digital-first cohort.

DoorDash Ads Platform: Opportunities for Brands

• Full-Funnel Solutions:
  • Upper-funnel: Brand discovery via in-app inspiration and curated promotions (Super Bowl, DashPass events).
  • Lower-funnel: Sponsored search/products, targeted geographic or trade area promotion.
  • Insights & analytics provided, including path-to-purchase and repeat rates.
  • "Some of the things we end up seeing are there are brands ... looking for impressions ... and DoorDash can become a really strong partner for them." (Fuad Hannon, 24:17)
• Double Dash:
  • Enables customers to get items from multiple places in a single order, boosting merchant and brand visibility.
  • "The way I think of this, Sri, is almost like ... at the checkout aisle that you add ... we can build the digital version of that." (Fuad Hannon, 27:41)

Notable Activation Example

• Kellanova (formerly Kellogg’s)
  • Early adoption of Double Dash, sponsored products, and full-funnel ad campaigns.
  • Co-created new formats and campaign types (e.g., Cardi B Bodega), pushing DoorDash to innovate rapidly.
  • "They have adopted ... the suite of growth products that DoorDash has ... by being early to adopt, they also are early to shape the roadmap." (Fuad Hannon, 28:33)

Differentiation for Grocery Brands

• Why Choose DoorDash for Retail Media:

  • Uniquely broad access to both food/grocery AND convenience/retail consumers.
  • Enables brands to reach customers across traditional grocery, C-store, drug, dollar, and specialty verticals.
  • DashMart (owned dark stores) allows for rapid testing, innovation, and sampling.
  • Demonstrated high incrementality—70-90% of transactions are incremental for merchants.
  • "Because we’re growing quickly, that can drive a lot of incremental growth." (Fuad Hannon, 35:19)

• DashMart Fulfillment Services:

  • Announced partnerships with CVS, Party City, and Kroger.
  • Purpose-built for seamless E-comm operations and extended hours (24/7/365 fulfillment).
  • "...there’s a better way to do E-commerce for grocery and local retail. And we're really excited about the announcement and the partners that we have lined up to date." (Fuad Hannon, 38:11)

Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On door-to-door convenience:
  "Is there a better way than rely on a dasher to bring it to you? Probably not." (Sri, 08:15)

• Grocery complexity vs restaurants:
  "I don’t think anybody’s nailed, including DoorDash, nailed that [meat/fish/deli] shopping experience. That still leaves a lot to be desired." (Fuad Hannon, 18:50)

• On partnership influence:
  "Our partners ... can shape the roadmap. They can say, 'Hey, this is the reporting I want.' ... We can help shape that." (Fuad Hannon, 29:02)

• On incremental sales:
  "We’re the fastest-growing online grocery platform in the US ... We’re growing quickly, and because you're growing quickly, that can drive a lot of incremental growth." (Fuad Hannon, 35:19)

• On advice for brands:
  "See DoorDash as an innovation partner ... if something exists that you want that we don’t offer, you should tell the DoorDash room about it." (Fuad Hannon, 40:56)

Timestamps by Segment

• [04:45] DoorDash’s entry into grocery and differentiation from restaurant fulfillment
• [08:48] Consumer use cases and behavioral differences in grocery shopping
• [11:41] Baskets, deals, and multiple-local grocer loyalty—key insights from grocery order data
• [15:18] Recipe-based fulfillment & personalization experiments
• [17:03] Top-performing product categories and the challenge of perishable categories
• [21:04] DoorDash’s new Kroger partnership and current network scope
• [24:15] Opportunities for brands in DoorDash ads; the app as a full-funnel growth partner
• [27:13] Double Dash explained and how it powers digital impulse purchases
• [28:26] Kellanova case study—how an early partner shaped DoorDash ad solutions
• [31:47] Cardi B Bodega upper-funnel campaign example
• [33:21] How DoorDash differentiates for grocery brands—multi-vertical reach and incrementality
• [36:19] Announcement: DashMart Fulfillment Services and partnership expansion
• [39:19] Advice for grocery brands (market segmentation, price parity, innovation partnerships)
• [42:59] Closing thoughts—DoorDash’s commitment to grocery and partnership innovation

Final Takeaways

• DoorDash is All-In on Grocery:
  No longer a sideline; DoorDash views grocery as central to its platform strategy.
• Flexible, Full-Funnel Solutions:
  Brands can partner for everything from awareness to immediate transactions, with real-time data and insights.
• Built for Innovation:
  DoorDash is actively co-developing features and ad experiences with brands and welcomes new partnership ideas.
• Omnichannel Consumer Reach:
  The unique breadth of DoorDash’s partnerships spans restaurants, grocers, and convenience—giving brands exceptional targeting power.
• Proof in Performance:
  Independently validated incrementality, robust user base, and new fulfillment models position DoorDash as a premier partner for growth-oriented brands.

For brands and retailers looking to ramp up digital, local, and omnichannel commerce, DoorDash presents not just convenience, but a dynamic innovation partner.