Retail & Wholesale Last Mile

Same-Day Delivery for Perishables Suppliers

Starling helps food and perishable brands reliably deliver local orders to retail stores, wholesale accounts, and commercial customers.

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SEE RATES & COVERAGE
SEE RATES & COVERAGE
Two warehouse workers move boxes through an aisle lined with shelves of packaged food cartons and hand trucks.

When your last-mile partner falls short, so do you.

Your customers are counting on their orders to arrive on time, in sellable condition, and ready to support their own operations. When your last-mile delivery partner underperforms, it affects your customer’s bottom line and your ability to keep the account.

THE PROBLEM

Common Challenges

  • Pricing stability is a constant struggle.

    Your customers expect a stable delivered price. But when delivery rates often change or are needlessly complex, maintaining stable prices erodes your margin.

  • Replenishment can't wait.

    Your customers may be managing lean inventory, tight budgets, or fast-moving demand. When they need more product, they need it delivered quickly and reliably.

  • Shipment condition matters.

    Orders need to arrive complete, presentable, and handled with care. Damaged or poorly delivered perishable products are unsellable, leading to chargebacks, penalties, or delisting.

  • Buyers expect dependability.

    Late shipments and missed deliveries undermine confidence in your operation and your reputations as a reliable perishables supplier.

  • Receiving procedures must be followed.

    Retailers have specific delivery hours, staff contacts, and receiving instructions. Miss a step and receive a fine.

  • Delays eat into shelf life.

    For food and other perishable products, shipping delays and time in transit can reduce the selling window your customers expect.

OUR SOLUTION

Retail & Wholesale
Last-Mile Delivery

Starling gives food and perishable suppliers a reliable same-day delivery solution for retail orders, wholesale drops, replenishment runs, and recurring account deliveries. You get a logistics partner that protects product integrity, meets receiving requirements, and acts as an extension of your brand, building trust in you as a supplier.

Man in black cap checking a smartphone beside an illuminated commercial refrigerator stocked with food boxes in a restaurant.

How It Works

Step 1

Book Shipments

Integrate with the Starling Portal to create individual or bulk delivery requests for one-off or recurring orders.

Step 2

We Pick Up

Orders are collected from your location by specially trained Driver Partners and carefully placed in their approved vehicles.

Step 3

Items Are Verified

Proof of Pickup photos are captured for all picked up items and verified against the delivery booking for accuracy and a transportable starting condition.

Step 4

We Deliver Same Day

Driver Partners follow an optimized route to deliver all orders same day, no exceptions. We accommodate all receiver instructions at drop-off.

Step 5

The Drop Is Verified

Drop-zone and item-level Proof of Delivery photos are taken and verified to ensure delivery accuracy and final item condition.

Step 6

We Return Packaging

If you booked reverse logistics services for reusable packaging, it is returned to your location as scheduled.

Service Features

Same-Day Distribution

Send the freshest product with the longest possible selling window. Orders are never stored overnight.

Damage-Free Shipping

Rely on perishables-trained driver partners focused on accurate, damage-free delivery.

Always Guaranteed Timing

Ship orders with accurate, reliable delivery windows that keep arrivals within business hours, never after.

Pre-Flight Checks

Delivery addresses and details are proactively verified and issues resolved before pickup.

Receiver Instructions

Maintain vendor compliance scores by meeting your receivers’ shipping requirements every time.

Proof of Delivery

Receive usable photos you can rely on to confirm each completed shipment.

AI-Powered Quality Control

OUR TECHNOLOGY
CONDITION MONITORING

Keeping watch. Taking action.

We monitor the condition of your shipments through photos captured at pickup, whenever the delivery vehicle is loaded or unloaded, and at drop-off. Visible damage, mishandling, or missing items are identified while there’s still time to respond.

  • Identify visible issues sooner

  • Respond while deliveries are underway

  • Build buyer confidence in your reliability

  • Reduce the risk of losing accounts to delivery issues

Pickup
In Transit
Drop-off
Condition photo at pickup Condition photo at transit stop Condition photo at drop-off
Condition Verified
DROP ZONE VERIFICATION

The Right Place Every Time

A store entrance, receiving door, loading dock, or designated staff member: a delivery can look different at every address. Using AI image and pattern recognition, we verify each drop-off against your delivery instructions and the address-specific delivery fingerprints we build over time. Your shipments get to exactly where they’re expected — every time.

  • Comply with receiving requirements

  • Protect product quality at drop-off

  • Improve delivery consistency

  • Resolve delivery disputes faster

Verifying drop zone
Proof of delivery photo
Drop Zone Verified

Choose the right support model for your business.

SUPPORT THAT WORKS
Starling support agent managing delivery updates at a desk Customer receiving a delivery update by text message
Option 1

Managed
Delivery Support

We handle delivery updates directly with your customers, start to finish.

Brand support team handling customer enquiries at a desk Customer messaging the brand's own support team
Option 2

Brand-Led
Delivery Support

Your team owns customer communication; we work behind the scenes.

GROW YOUR REACH

Supply over 290+ communities.

Instantly expand your supplier reach across Southern Ontario. We’re equipped to go where others can’t or won’t.

CHECK COVERAGE
CHECK COVERAGE

REVIEWS

What our customers’ customers are saying…

  • Loved how they introduced their service to me days before the delivery. And they provided a time frame as well. Package arrived on time. No issues. Loved their service!

    — Silvana P.

  • Wonderful delivery, lovely driver, so polite and friendly.

    — Lynette T.

  • Easy always on-time delivery with pics to confirm. Everything always arrives in good shape! Thank you!

    — Kelley M.

  • Thanks for the delivery! It was on time, professional and friendly! Thanks again.

    — Shelly S.

  • Very timely delivery, in fact earlier than expected. Very reasonable rates.

    — Debbie N.

  • Delivery has been reliable for important next-day birthday purchases.

    — Sarah O.

Delivery worker placing Fresh Harvest boxes at a brick home’s blue front door.

We’re quality-first.

Starling operates with a zero error mindset. Learn about our culture of delivery excellence and the technology that supports our quality-first, food & perishables delivery service.

TELL ME MORE

Frequently Asked Questions

  • No. Starling can support recurring account deliveries, as well as individual orders and additional replenishment runs when demand changes. This allows you to maintain a dependable delivery schedule while responding to unexpected inventory needs.

  • Yes. We can collect multiple orders from your location and route them to serviced commercial destinations. We help consolidate local distribution, reduce the burden on your internal teams, and make frequent replenishment practical across a wider customer base.

  • Yes, in most cases, we are able to support your customer’s loading dock procedures. However, we are unable to book delivery appointments on your behalf.

  • Unfortunately, we are unable to move pallets as deliveries are transported using non-commercial vehicles (e.g., SUVs, sedans, etc.).

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