One of the biggest issues plaguing the nation, and more specifically, New Jersey, is food insecurity. Many people struggle with easy access to healthy food. Beyond affordability, it often comes down to a lack of nearby supermarkets for those without transportation.
Chrys Camacho, based near Sicklerville and a graduate of New Jersey Institute of Technology, was working within the food and beverage industry for about 10 years as a construction manager. Camacho saw all of the available food, but also saw that many customers couldn’t access it. After some further hands-on with the logistics that go into the making of products and their distribution, he came up with the idea of Gogo Grocer.
Gogo Grocer, launched in 2025, is a mobile grocery service that provides on-site services for residential communities that are located in food deserts. At the moment, they are partnering with Avalon Bay apartments located in Maplewood and Union. They come every Tuesday and Saturday. The service provides a way for supermarkets to expand their reach without having to build a new store. Gogo Grocer has an agreement with supermarkets to utilize their inventory twice a week to run their route, much like a bus schedule.
Chrys Camacho at Avalon Maplewood with Gogo Grocer
Camacho took inspiration from his time living in Oakland a few years ago. In a city of 200,000 people, he said, there were only three supermarkets. He went out one day to shop and found that the closest grocery store was a 25-minute walk, making food access difficult in a city where residents depend a lot on public transportation. It was this experience that led him to learn more about the food insecurity crisis.
Gogo Grocer partnered with Avalon Maplewood through a pilot program to ensure it is something that will be utilized by members of the community. They do not charge a delivery or membership fee, but rather bring the truck as a complimentary service to the residents (residents do pay for the groceries). Camacho wants to make the lives of the residents easier so that they can stay within their community.
Camacho’s background in engineering, project management, and entrepreneurship helped in the startup of Gogo Grocer. Project management provided him with an understanding of customer needs and wants. While his time in food and beverage allowed him to understand just how and why certain products are distributed where they are.
“This made me understand better that more organic products, healthy products end up in more affluent neighborhoods because the population there can afford it. While I guess the less healthier products end up in communities that maybe the population economically is not doing as well. So there’s a whole entire logistics and justification as to what products goes where and why,” said Camacho.
The Gogo Grocer truck is packed with bins dedicated to different produce from their supermarket partners, Mini Market Zoyalta in Roselle Park and Lakay Deli & Grocery in Irvington. The truck provides fruits, vegetables, dairy products, and much more. The truck has a refrigeratorsfor milk, butter, cheese, and water. Coming soon: a freezer to start carrying chicken, beef, and deli meats.
The day-to-day operation starts by communicating with the vendors about what they would like to have for the week in advance. The driver picks up the vehicle and proceeds to the supermarkets to pick up the products, makes sure everything is secure, and updates the mobile app so that customers know what is available. Then it is off to the Avalon Bay communities in Maplewood and in Union to bring residents their groceries.
Co-founder, COO, and driver of the Gogo Grocer truck, Steevens Delices, joined the operations team after working with Camacho on a previous project. They had similar interests and sparked up a relationship. Two years later, Camacho reached out to Delices about joining him on Gogo Grocer. Together, they painted the truck, purchased the setup, and reached out to communities and supermarkets to get the business off and running.
Delices spoke highly of his time working with Camacho and the team.
“It’s been really phenomenal because everybody gets to put their own ideas up front, and then we all discuss and have a biweekly meeting where we figure out what the next step is, what we want to accomplish, how we want to accomplish it, and things of that nature,” said Delices.
The community aspect is an important part of how it all works. Gogo Grocer provides monthly surveys to Avalon Maplewood residents for feedback and to determine the best products to bring to the residents.
The surveys combined with the in-person interactions they get with their customers have allowed for constant improvements to the service. Camacho and the team are happy to be giving back to the Maplewood and Union residents who are impacted by these issues.
Inside the Gogo Grocer truck with Chrys Camacho
“It really feels good watching something that your team and yourself created, and people being able to actually benefit from that. So it’s been very much a covering moment for us,” said Camacho.
It is even deeper than that. Camacho wants to be accommodating of all in the Maplewood and Union communities — including more foods that are preferred by Latinx abd African American communities. A major goal is to be culturally sensitive about the products they are providing, which can sometimes be a challenge with limited funding.
For the future, Camacho would like to expand Gogo Grocer statewide, dedicating a vehicle to each section of New Jersey. Make their reach to help out communities that are in need of fighting back against food insecurity. Not just any, but firstly, access to healthy food.
“We want to hire more people. We would like to have a centralized facility where we can better accommodate the distribution and logistics of our vehicles and services. What’s in it for us is really what we call growth phase. We’ve proven our product and service is needed and in demand. So right now, it’s just to grow and expand and hire more people, raise more money, and feed over two million people in New Jersey,” said Camacho.
To find out more or sign up for Gogo Grocer, click here.
