Gopuff launched a wellness brand, Goodnow, and marked a big delivery milestone

As we enter cold and flu season in the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, instant needs delivery company Gopuff announced this week it’s launching a private label of wellness products.

The news follows another milestone for the Philly company, after months of big changes.

Introducing Goodnow

The company’s new brand, Goodnow, produces a spread of over-the-counter medications, sleep aids and at-home diagnostic test kits that customers can order to be delivered in Gopuff’s signature 30 minutes or less.

Consumers had already been turning to Gopuff for OTC medicine needs, per a press release, which convinced the company to develop its own line of products. Gopuff has also had at-home COVID-19 testing kits in its product catalogue since December 2020.

“Health and wellness — an $80+ billion market in the U.S. — has been one of Gopuff’s fastest-growing categories,” said Jessica Glendenning, director of private label at Gopuff, in a statement. “As consumers become increasingly interested in private label products, Gopuff is uniquely positioned to develop new brands curated specifically for our customers.”

The Goodnow products are manufactured in third-party facilities and include pain relief (ibuprofen, acetaminophen, naproxen, headache relief); allergy (loratadine, cetirizine, diphenhydramine); cold, flu and sinus congestion relief; sleep aid products; and at-home diagnostic test kits for UTIs, BV and herpes, the company said. Electrolyte drinks, bandages, antihistamines, antacids and other products will roll out in coming months.

Gopuff aims to grow its private label brands, following the launch of basics brand Basically in January and plant-based snack brand Good Eat’n with NBA star Chris Paul in September.

Other big moves for Gopuff

This announcement comes a few weeks after the 2013-founded company opened a new micro-fulfillment center in the former Philadelphia Ball & Roller Bearing Co. building at Sixth and Callowhill streets, and celebrated its 10 millionth delivery in Philly. Cofounder Rafael Ilishayev said the new building was needed because Gopuff had been running out of room at other fulfillment centers in the region. The company is also expanding to a larger facility in West Philadelphia after it closes an existing warehouse on Chestnut, the Philadelphia Business Journal reported.

Although Gopuff was previously rumored to be prepping for an IPO this year, the market changed those plans.

The company had a rocky spring and summer, first laying off 3% of its workforce in March, then another 10% in July. In a memo to investors, shared with Technical.ly by a spokesperson in July, cofounders and co-CEOs Ilishayev and Yakir Gola wrote that the instant needs industry is at an “inflection point.” As Gopuff prepared for a period of economic downturn, it aims to focus on profitability, they said.

Ilishayev reiterated that sentiment to the Business Journal last month, saying the company was targeting profitability before going public.

“Thankfully for us, we have a massive balance sheet and the ability to keep private for as long as we wish to stay private,” Ilishayev said of the heavily venture-backed company. “We’ll continue to evaluate. As the macro changes, our opinion will change.”