Update 5/4/21: There is currently an Amex offer for Yamibuy for $10 off $50 in one or more transactions, expiring 6/3/21! I appreciate it if you use my referral link for $5 off. 🙂 Please also check out my Pro Tips for Weee! post.

This is a follow up to M’s post about Weee! (my referral for $20 bonus) back in December. Weee! is an Asian grocery delivery service similar to Instacart and Amazon Whole Foods/Fresh currently serving the SF Bay Area and Seattle. I started using it at the beginning of Shelter In Place since I craved Asian groceries, but the lines at 99 Ranch were sometimes pretty daunting. I’ll also talk about some similar alternatives to Weee!, Yamibuy and Yamimeal in this post.

New Weee! Feature: Bundles

Back in March, Weee! started a new service called “Bundles”. Think of it like Blue Apron but for Asian groceries, and no recipes included. The app contains many reviews for each item where enthusiastic users have shared photos of what they’ve done with the ingredients.

The bundles are themed, such as “Hot Pot” or “Fresh Sea Urchin” (Santa Barbara uni, to be specific) or “Breakfast” or “Japanese Curry” or “Dim Sum Restaurant” (serviced by a local restaurant). Generally, the bundles range in price from $40-70 and contain 6-8 items. There isn’t really much of a bundle discount to speak of, maybe a few bucks.

Delivery is always free for the bundles since they exceed $35 (which is the minimum for free delivery in the app normally). The delivery dates are usually 2-4 days from today, and there are date tabs at the top of the Bundle screen to see what bundle options are available for delivery on that day. The delivery people have the bundles in labeled boxes and go on a route delivering the boxes. There are often multiple people receiving orders in high-rise buildings in the SF Bay Area, so don’t be surprised if your delivery guy has several boxes on his handcart.

Weee! Bundle tab (note the delivery dates available at the top)

I’ve been a huge fan of the Bundle service and I think it’s a very cost-efficient and environmentally-friendly way for the company to distribute Asian groceries throughout the Bay Area. Though the bundles sometimes sell out (especially popular ones like the boba ice cream bars!!), it’s easy to get a delivery slot without having to sit there and refresh your screen a billion times (that was my Whole Foods and Instacart experience…).

Here’s my referral link if you want to try the service!

Competitor: Yamibuy/Yamimeal

Weee! is extremely popular in the Bay Area among the Asian and Asian-American community, but as an Asian-American, I had not heard of Yamibuy (referral) or Yamimeal (no referral available). Incidentally, my mom was the one who told me about it, as she wanted me to place an order of a large amount of produce via Yamimeal to her house. Intrigued, I also placed an order for myself.

Yamibuy carries a lot of imported Asian goods, such as snacks (they have my favorite Japanese cookie – shiroi koibito!), foods, beauty products, home goods, and groceries as well. They mail your goods to you through UPS or USPS, so they deliver throughout the US and Canada. Fresh grocery delivery is more limited and depends on what is available in your area. I would say they aim to be the Asian Amazon and Amazon Fresh for North America.

I will focus on Yamimeal today, which is what my mom and I used to order fresh Asian produce delivery. Yamimeal is kind of like the Ubereats of the Asian community, but there aren’t many restaurants on it yet. I thought they were the same company due to the similar name, but they appear to be different companies. Yamimeal services the West Coast currently.

Yamimeal has a specific supplier on the app called SJ Distributors that I want to highlight. SJ Distributors seems to serve the SF Bay Area all the way down to the Los Angeles/Orange County area and usually sells wholesale meat and produce to local restaurants, but I guess as a result of the pandemic, is also delivering to normal consumers like me. The fresh produce is still in bulk though, I’m talking like huge 2 lb bags of snow pea shoots (my fave!). You can order meat, fruit, vegetables, snacks, milk, eggs, tofu, soy milk, and more. And don’t worry, you can just order one pack of tofu at a time, so not everything is bulk.

For a limited time (though it’s been there since April), SJ Distributors has 5% off all orders, and delivery is free over $40. There are no service fees. And somehow I have another 2% discount that they refunded after my first order with a message saying “for being a SJ employee’s friend” (no idea – I’d not heard of SJ Distributors prior to learning about Yamimeal, and I certainly don’t know anyone there, but I’ll take it!). Update: turns out there’s a $200 off service fee promotion that I just saw on their website:

Promotion for $200 off service fee. Like Postmates, you don’t have to use it all at once.

Yamimeal’s delivery is also efficient with one guy doing a route and dropping off a box. They send a message in the app asking you to please be patient and understand that the delivery guys often don’t speak English. I do recall that a couple times the delivery guys for Weee! and Yamimeal called me to ask how to get to my floor. I realized it was easier if I spoke to them in Chinese. So if you speak Chinese (or want to practice), bonus points!

Yamimeal

Note: For those of you in the LA area, I realize these prices are a little high compared to what you can get at your local 168 or 99 Ranch. But hey, sometimes it’s worth paying a little more for the convenience of getting delivery, especially during these times, right? 🙂

Enjoy your Asian groceries and thanks in advance if you used any of my referral links or find this post helpful!

Weee! – $20 off with my referral link

Yamibuy – $5 off with my referral link

Yamimeal – no referral, but $200 off service fees and 5% off on SJ Distributors bulk produce