Big Y Rolls Out Kiosks and Online Ordering Across All 79 Stores

All 79 Big Y Foods locations now run in-store kiosks and online ordering for made-to-order meals, powered by FoodStorm, Instacart's order management technology for prepared foods. The New England grocer and Instacart announced the rollout Tuesday, October 20, 2026.

Big Y customers can customize meals at the kiosks, place made-to-order and catering orders online for pickup, prepay, or order delivery through the Instacart Marketplace. That covers the full range of convenience scenarios: plan catering days ahead, or grab a made-to-order meal on the go.

What can customers actually order?

FoodStorm supports three distinct ordering experiences at Big Y:

• In-store kiosks featuring the made-to-order kitchen menu, including 'Wich Way sandwiches, wraps or bowls, pizza, fresh fried seafood meals and sushi
• A dedicated online storefront for both on-demand and advance orders for in-store pickup
• Delivery through the Instacart Marketplace app

The kiosk menu leans on Big Y's signature prepared-foods program rather than a generic catalog — a detail that suggests the grocer wants prepared foods to drive the convenience play, not just replicate shelf items online.

What does the tech do behind the counter?

For store teams, FoodStorm provides a centralized digital workflow that manages production across all order types. According to the companies, it helps improve accuracy, streamline kitchen operations and provide better visibility into demand before peak periods.

That last claim — demand visibility before peak periods — is the one worth watching. Prepared foods live and die on labor scheduling, and neither company quantified how much the workflow tool improves accuracy or throughput. There's no pilot data, no baseline numbers, no stated reduction in order errors. The promise is real; the proof isn't published yet.

Still, the logic holds: when kiosk, pickup, catering and marketplace delivery orders all feed one production queue, kitchens stop juggling separate ticket streams. For a 79-store chain running pizza, fried seafood and sushi programs simultaneously, consolidation alone could cut friction.

The deal also extends Instacart's reach beyond its marketplace roots. FoodStorm positions the company as grocery infrastructure — the order-management layer under grocers' own prepared-foods brands — rather than just a delivery middleman. For Big Y, it's a way to compete on convenience without building the tech in-house.

The rollout is live now at all 79 Big Y locations across Massachusetts and Connecticut, meaning the next test is whether made-to-order demand actually scales — and whether Instacart shares the performance data to back its workflow claims.