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The perfect last-minute gift for ‘foodies in the boonies’

What do you get your friend who has everything? How about the original Boston cream pie from the Omni Parker House Hotel? Or a cheesy deep dish pizza from Gino’s East in Chicago?

Goldbely offers a painless — and pricey — way to deliver regional culinary gems throughout the US, and it could be the perfect way to impress the food fanatic in your life this holiday season.

Backed by Y-Combinator in 2013, Goldbely raised $3 million in seed funding and has 300 partners that ship nationwide. Co-founder and CEO Joe Ariel was previously at the helm of delivery.com and eats.com. His extensive experience in the food delivery industry highlighted one niche that desperately needed to be filled.

“I’ve loved food for a long time. Eats and Delivery are focused on the hyperlocal space. What I realized over time is that outside of that really hyperlocal loop, there are so many people that want great foods from great bakers, artisans, farmers and iconic restaurants outside of their neighborhood,” he told Yahoo Finance.

Pittsburgh's Primanti Bros. sandwich // source: Goldbely
Pittsburgh’s Primanti Bros. sandwich // source: Goldbely

Though many of the goodies, like Momofuku Milk Bar cakes or Ess-a-Bagels, are New York City delicacies, some of Goldbely’s most popular offerings hail from Louisiana, Wisconsin and Ohio.

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Oftentimes, people who reside in San Francisco or New York are consumed in their own bubbles, even when it comes to food, says Ariel. By offering regional delicacies like brisket from Louie Mueller’s in Taylor, Texas, muffaletta from Central Grocery in New Orleans or deep dish pizza from Chicago, Goldbely caters to people who may crave their favorite childhood treats or want to share them with their loved ones.

But some of the company’s key consumers are “foodies in the boonies,” who don’t have access to a wide selection of high-end treats you can find in major urban centers.

The Price for Premium

You can order items directly from some of the sites, but many, like the viral star of Brooklyn’s Smorgasburg, Raindrop Cake, redirect you to Goldbely’s site.

Raindrop Cake // source: Goldbely
Raindrop Cake // source: Goldbely

Goldbely is convenient and aesthetically on point, though it will cost you a pretty penny to indulge your gastronomic desires. But Ariel says premium products — across all industries — always come at a premium price.

“Consumer innovation really starts with premium products, whether you’re buying an iPhone, a Tesla, a new clothing line, whatever it may be,” he says.

Many of the items are at a higher price point, and shipping is either baked into the listed price or varies based on your zip code. Take for instance, the priciest item on the platform, the iconic Pumpecapple Piecake — a pumpkin pie in a pumpkin spice cake, a pecan pie in a chocolate cake and an apple pie in a traditional spice cake, all layered into one — from Houston-based Three Brothers Bakery. It retails for $399 on the website including shipping. The Pumpecapple is $250 through Three Brothers’ site, but it’s not available for delivery directly.

Still, Ariel acknowledges that his ultimate goal is to bring the price point down, and currently Goldbely falls into the “treat yourself” category. “Over time, as we scale, and [bring on] more regional foodmakers, we’ll be able to compress shipping prices, and things will be more open to a greater amount of people,” he says.

Beyond satiating the consumer, Ariel says there’s incredible upside for smaller, artisanal creators to engage with Goldbely. “We empower you to not have to worry about technology and building your own website, customer service, managing shipping and logistics — all serious pain points for artisan food makers across the country,” he says.

Though Goldbely doesn’t have a standard rate card for its partners, Ariel attempts to find a price point that’s palatable for all parties.

Goldbely has a team that travels around the country and seek out potential vendors. He likens them to a football scouting team but for food.

“We’ll seek the vendors out and at a certain point we’ll start doing test shipments to our offices in San Francisco and New York, coach them through the process and try to get it to a point where they feel good, we feel good that our customers will feel good. If the product can be 90% as good as it is when it’s in the shop and you have it locally, that’s a green light for us.”

If you’re still looking for that last-minute surprise gift, Goldbely could be the perfect gift. But you have only until Wednesday or Thursday if you want the goods to arrive in time for the holidays.

Melody Hahm is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering entrepreneurship, technology and real estate. Read more from Melody here & follow her on Twitter @melodyhahm.