This company plans to deliver your health and fitness products via electric drones

A drone could deliver your next order of vitamins or supplements. Leading global health and wellness company GNC is joining forces with Zipline to offer all-electric drone delivery in select markets across the United States starting this summer.

Electric drones to deliver GNC health and fitness items

Founded in 2014, Zipline began delivering emergency blood supplies to remote villages in Rwanda via electric drone two years later, saving hundreds of lives and growing to become the world’s largest autonomous delivery system.

Zipline now completes over 1,000 deliveries per day, from vaccines to e-commerce items and food. The company operates across three continents (North America, Africa and Asia) in seven countries, working to deliver goods for Walmart, Toyota, Pfizer, national governments and many others around the world.

GNC is the latest to partner with Zipline after launching its same-day delivery service. Alan Chester, chief supply officer at GNC, commented on the innovative partnership, saying:

Drone delivery is an innovative way to make our fulfillment, distribution and delivery processes more efficient, more effective and faster, for the benefit of our consumers.

Beginning this summer in Salt Lake City, Utah, GNC will work with Zipline to offer all-electric drone delivery for its health and fitness products. GNC customers in the area who wish to use the service can register at https://www.flyzipline.com/gnc to confirm their eligibility.

How does it work

Once you confirm your address, all health and fitness items purchased on GNC’s website will be available for drone delivery via “Zip” (the nickname for the autonomous drone).

GNC will start with Zipline’s Platform 1 long-range delivery system with a fleet of small, fully autonomous drones that silently drop packages by parachute into your backyard.

In 2024, GNC will begin using the company’s recently revealed Platform 2 (P2) system, designed for deliveries in cities that use 97 percent less energy than traveling by car. Additionally, Zipline claims its P2 system can complete deliveries seven times faster than traditional delivery methods.

Zipline CEO and co-founder Keller Rinaudo Cliffton explained:

Over the past decade, global demand for instant deliveries has skyrocketed, but the technology used for deliveries is 100 years old. They still used the same 3,000-pound, human-driven, gas-burning vehicles to make billions of deliveries that usually weigh less than 5 pounds. It’s slow, it’s expensive, and it’s terrible for the planet.

The company’s Zips can complete a 10-mile delivery in about 10 minutes while carrying 6-8 pounds, easily beating the average leading delivery service. And they will automatically redeploy from dock to dock, dynamically responding to peak order times.

Cliffton added that his new service is “the closest thing to teleportation” with a smooth, ultra-fast autonomous delivery system.

In the United States, Zipline currently designs, tests and builds its zip lines in California while serving customers in Arkansas, Utah and North Carolina. Next year, the company will expand into Michigan and Washington, with more expected to be announced soon.

By 2025, Zipline expects to operate more flights annually than nearly all major U.S. airlines as it continues to meet the need for fast, efficient, and sustainable delivery options.