HANOVER, Md. — Demand for home delivery is skyrocketing as coronavirus continues to spread, according to Gregg Dorazio, the director of e-commerce at Giant Food.
Giant Delivers, which has made about a million grocery deliveries in the DMV in the past year, is experiencing a huge spike in demand, Dorazio said.
The company is currently looking to hire more warehouse workers and drivers, as well as expanding its fleet of 100 trucks serving the region as quickly as possible, Dorazio said.
"Our intent is to stay in operation and honestly add more capacity," he said.
Dorazio said Giant has quickly flexed with new safety measures to protect its workers from the Coronavirus. Drivers are wearing gloves and in-person signatures from customers are no longer required.
Giant is joining Amazon, UPS and the US Postal Service -- among many other home delivery services -- in trying to meet new demand from millions of people trying to maintain social distancing by staying at home.
"I think the delivery people are playing a very important role," Richard Ahern of Berwyn Heights, Maryland said as he watched his mail carrier bring items including prescriptions and shoes to the neighborhood.
Mail carriers reported they have been instructed by managers on social distancing and have been supplied with gloves and sanitizer to use during deliveries.
"I feel really good right now," mail carrier Sean Hammond said. "I feel appreciated by the customers I serve."
Dorazio said pre-planning grocery deliveries is important because it is taking as much as a week or more to fulfill some orders from the company's delivery warehouse in Hanover to more than 300 zip codes in the greater Washington area.
Dorazio added that Instacart offers an online grocery shopping service that partners with neighborhood Giant stores to fulfill orders.
"We're really much more on the front lines now," Dorazio said. "To be mentioned now daily in the same context that hospitals and other first responders, it's a recognition that I think the job we are doing is an important one."