Break bread to build bridges: how instacart and Ghetto Gastro showed up for the Bronx this summer. Last Updated: Jul 21, 2026 Every summer, 21 million kids across the country lose access to the free school meals they depend on. And in places like the South Bronx - one of the most food-insecure neighborhoods in New York City - that loss hits hard. Instacart is teaming up with Ghetto Gastro - the Bronx-born culinary collective and creative force co-founded by Jon Gray, Pierre Serrao, and Lester Walker - as part of Instacart's largest-ever Summer Hunger campaign, in partnership with Feeding America(R). The Instacart x Ghetto Gastro collaboration centers on three things: developing accessible, nutritious recipes, showing up in communities through a live cooking event, and rallying people to donate through Community Carts. Summer Hunger hits the Bronx. Jon Gray grew up in the Bronx. And every summer, he watched the same thing happen. Among New York City boroughs, the percentage of adults (39%) who experience food insecurity is highest in the Bronx, and every summer, the pressure builds up. When school lets out, the free breakfasts and lunches that so many kids depend on disappear overnight. For children in communities like Hunts Point, Mott Haven, and Melrose, that gap is immediate and real. "It's easy to not know who's dealing with it," Gray says. "But it affects more people than you think - including people you know." Showing up close to home. On July 11, Ghetto Gastro joined City Harvest, New York's first and largest food rescue organization, at their St. Mary's Mobile Market(R)- a bimonthly, farmers' market-style free food distribution that provides fresh produce to 550 community members in the South Bronx - alongside Instacart for a live cooking demonstration. The recipe du jour, Fire Ants on a Log, was meant to show community members how easy it can be to make nutritious, delicious food with accessible, everyday ingredients. Gray lives ten blocks from St. Mary's, so for him, this one was personal. He grew up in this community, used to get free school breakfasts in the summers as a kid, and knows firsthand that seeing someone from your own neighborhood making something meaningful can shift something in you. "This is my neighborhood," he says. "I hope people walked away from the Mobile Market feeling nourished, but more than that, I hope they felt inspired." All in, they distributed 400+ samples of Fire Ants on a Log to community members, while volunteers distributed 11,250 lbs of fresh produce to 550 New York City families. Three recipes, one philosophy: nourish and inspire. The recipes Ghetto Gastro developed for Instacart are designed for the whole family to enjoy - built around what's accessible, nutritious, and real. Fire Ants on a Log - Jon Gray's remix of a recipe he made as a kid in after-school programs. Simple, familiar, and nutritious - with a Ghetto Gastro upgrade. Shop the recipe | Watch on Instagram. Yam & Cheese - Pierre Serrao's go-to snack, something he makes with his daughter at home. It requires minimal ingredients and delivers maximum comfort. Shop the recipe | Watch on Instagram. Sofrito Soba Noodles - Lester Walker's flavors of the Bronx, reimagined. Sofrito meets soba noodles (or spaghetti - whatever's in the pantry) for something nutritious, delicious, and deeply rooted in their own stories. Shop the recipe | Watch on Instagram. "The goal was always to create something simple and real," Gray says. But the deeper goal was to inspire what happens when a family cooks together. "We're using technology to connect people, but really what we're doing is giving them a reason to disconnect," Gray says. "To be at home, be with family, and nourish each other. The act of feeding yourself and feeding others - that's one of the most beautiful things there is." As Ghetto Gastro puts it: Instacart, Inc. break bread to build bridges. Community Carts: making it real. Its collaboration with Ghetto Gastro is just one way Instacart, Inc. is showing up to support kids and families in need this summer. Community Carts reimagines the traditional food drive - through the Instacart app or at instacart.com/donate, you can find a participating food bank in your community and shop directly from a curated list of items they actually need. Instacart shoppers deliver everything straight to the food bank, and Instacart waives all service and delivery fees on every donation. Ghetto Gastro put the message into action on social too, using each recipe video to call on their followers to give back through Community Carts. Make an impact this summer. Here's how to get involved: Donate through Community Carts - Go to instacart.com/donate and send exactly what a local food bank needs, delivered straight to them with no fees. Share the recipes - Every Ghetto Gastro recipe is shoppable on Instacart. Make them with your family this summer. Go deeper - Volunteer at your local food bank, soup kitchen, or community garden. Get into the spots where community gets built. Every cart counts. Every donation counts. Every family that cooks together this summer counts. That's what showing up looks like. Instacart is the leading grocery technology company in North America, partnering with more than 2,200 national, regional, and local retail banners to deliver from nearly 100,000 stores across more than 15,000 cities in North America. To read more Instacart posts, you can browse the company blog or search by keyword using the search bar at the top of the page.

Manitoba Harvest turns a single investment into multi-retailer scale. Instacart Ads Jul 21, 2026 Manitoba Harvest is a leader in branded hemp and superseed-based foods, recognized as a Certified B Corporation and the first Canadian food company to attain a Carbonzero Certification. Since 1998, Manitoba Harvest has taken a seed-to-shelf approach, committed to quality, sustainability, and consumer wellness. With an extensive product portfolio spanning Hemp Hearts, Whole and Ground Flaxseed, Hemp Protein, Hemp Protein Blends, Hemp Wellness Bars, Hemp Granola, and Hemp Oil, the brand's products are sold globally and in approximately 17,000 retail stores across North America. Driving long-term growth with a disciplined, full-funnel approach. Over three years of advertising on Instacart, Manitoba Harvest has built a track record of consistent, measurable growth - growing media investment by an average of 10% year-over-year while sustaining a strong $3 return on ad spend. Their Instacart sponsored products campaigns have been a particularly effective driver of new customer acquisition, delivering 61% new-to-brand sales annually, while display generated 3.3 million impressions over the past year, 58% of which came from consumers new to the brand. "These results reflect a disciplined, growth-oriented approach that balances efficiency with brand-building at scale," said Rebecca Morgan, Sr. Director of Marketing at Manitoba Harvest. Supporting retail partners and reaching high-intent consumers. With one of the most diverse retail footprints in the better-for-you category, Manitoba Harvest turned to Instacart as a strategic partner to help them simultaneously strengthen relationships with retail partners and connect with valuable consumers at the point of purchase. "Instacart enables us to directly support our retail partners by introducing new, qualified consumers to our products and by efficiently retaining loyal consumers - contributing to competitive retail velocities," said Morgan. By reaching consumers at the exact moment they're shopping for better-for-you products, Manitoba Harvest is able to seamlessly acquire new consumers while retaining existing ones - reducing friction at the point of purchase and making it easier than ever for consumers to discover hemp and superseed-based nutrition. Fueling brand growth everywhere their products are sold. Manitoba Harvest takes a full-funnel approach to their marketing strategy, leveraging ad products to spark inspiration and discovery, like recipes, occasions, and display, and drive conversion, like sponsored products and promotions. This multi-format approach enables them to engage consumers across multiple touchpoints, capturing high-intent search behavior while also extending brand presence across the Instacart Ads ecosystem. Their strategy is rooted in the ability to support multiple retail partners through a single, efficient investment. Rather than fragmenting efforts across isolated campaigns, Manitoba Harvest uses Instacart Ads to drive velocity at the shelf while amplifying its presence across the retail landscape in a coordinated, scalable way. "Instacart is one of our most valued retail media platforms precisely because of the scale and flexibility it provides. Through a single investment, we are able to simultaneously support multiple retail partners with targeted, revenue-driving initiatives - driving velocity at the shelf while reaching high-intent shoppers at the moment of purchase. It is a uniquely efficient tool for amplifying our presence across the retail landscape without fragmenting our efforts," Morgan noted. Working with a trusted growth partner that scales with the business. Manitoba Harvest's relationship with the Instacart team has been a key driver of its ongoing success on the platform. Instacart has consistently introduced new ad formats, analytics tools, and optimizations to help Manitoba Harvest scale its business - allowing the brand to stay ahead of emerging opportunities and continuously refine its approach. This collaborative dynamic has allowed Manitoba Harvest to evolve beyond foundational ad formats and explore contextually relevant placements such as recipe integrations and native ad experiences - that meet consumers in high-engagement moments aligned with their everyday health and wellness goals. As consumer behavior continues to shift toward online grocery, Manitoba Harvest's commitment to meeting consumers at the point of purchase through a full-funnel mix of formats positions the brand well to capitalize on the growing demand for plant-based protein and fiber. For CPG brands looking to grow efficiently while supporting a broad retail footprint, their approach offers a compelling model: invest consistently, diversify ad formats, and leverage Instacart to connect with the right consumers at the right moment. Prior results do not guarantee future outcomes. This post contains third-party claims and descriptions provided by the featured third party brand. Instacart does not make any representation as to the accuracy or suitability of any of the information provided herein by the featured brand. Instacart Ads Instacart Ads has products, tools, insights and automation to help brands of all sizes succeed, from the very large to the mighty upstart. Learn more at ads.instacart.com