How this pioneering Black-owned grocery store is tackling food deserts and pandemic fears all at once: ‘Provide the access that they need’

Jamie and Jilea Hemmings didn't originally set out to create Nourish + Bloom Market, the U.S.'s first autonomous grocery store — meaning customers walk in, scan items, pay online and leave with food without ever waiting in a line — and the first Black-owned version in the world. Instead, their journey into food and technology started with a simple mission: to help their son.

Their first business venture offered frozen vegetarian meals. "It stemmed from our oldest son Jabari being on the autism spectrum," Jamie tells Yahoo Life. "When we looked at the research, we saw that all-natural, organic meals, minimally processed, actually help with the behavior for children that are on the spectrum. So we wanted to create a product that wasn't out there at that time."

The couple would soon apply what they learned to Nourish + Bloom Market, a futuristic grocery store, complete with Jetsons-like robot delivery service, focused on selling healthy, high-quality food. Launched in Fayetteville, Ga. in January 2022, the store provides a way for the couple to feed the community — which faced not only the fact that it was an urban food desert, which is an area severely lacking in fresh and healthy food options, but, like the rest of the world, was grappling with the pandemic and its restrictions.

"You saw people not wanting to go out, they were looking for touchless opportunities as much as possible," says Jilea. "We wanted to build a solution that was all about community, where the technology was being utilized to help us increase access."

Technology, in this case, helps customers get what they need in record time — while never touching anything but the food they are buying.

"All you have to do is just download the Nourish + Bloom app. From there you will register, you'll put in your payment information and then you'll receive a QR code. Once you have that QR code, you just come up to the turnstile, you scan your QR code and then the doors will open up," explains Jamie.

Scanning the QR code gives shoppers a basket ID, so as they walk through the store, the system can identify who they are. Weighted shelves allow the store to track products, and after picking up the items they want, shoppers simply walk out of the store.

"You don't have to check out, tap out or anything like that. You just walk right on out and you'll receive a receipt. It's really just that simple," says Jamie.

For even more incredibly modern convenience, the couple can deploy two delivery robots, named Nourish and Bloom, to deliver products in temperature-controlled compartments to homes within three miles of the market. "They are truly the celebrity of the neighborhood," says Jilea.

Shortly before the start of the pandemic, the Hemmings moved from Chicago to Fayetteville to be near Jilea's father, who was sick. They quickly realized that they were living in a food desert. That's when Jilea, with a background in software and technology, and Jamie, who is a driven entrepreneur, realized that their food market could also serve a deeper purpose.

"We have the Nourish + Bloom Foundation, and our whole focus is addressing food deserts," Jilea says. "What we have learned and what the research has shown is that if you give folks better options, they take those better options. They are products of what they've been given, and instead of criticizing them, provide the access that they need."

In order to reach more people, the Hemmings, who are seeking to add to their locally-raised private funding and small-business loans, have big plans: to build 1,000 Nourish + Bloom Markets across the nation — and, by partnering with Microsoft, to train local citizens to work in them. They also plan to build "container stores" — modules made from 40-foot shipping containers that are able to be placed in hard-to-reached locations — and deploy smart vending machines, all to increase access to healthy food for people living in food deserts. As they grow, Jamie and Jilea plan to use their foundation to raise money to offset the cost of food, ensuring that customers will spend the same budget on healthy options as they did on unhealthy ones.

Together, Jamie and Jilea hope that their innovative and tech-forward approach to tackling food deserts will inspire others to look for ways to use technology to solve problems in their own community.

"My wife and I have this opportunity to … just change the food habits of these areas that do not have access to healthy food," Jamie says. "We definitely want to be the pioneers to go out there and make it happen."

—Video produced by Jacquie Cosgrove

Want lifestyle and wellness news delivered to your inbox? Sign up here for Yahoo Life’s newsletter.