Andrew Parkinson to Become Chief Financial Officer of Peapod, Inc.

Business Editors

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 15, 2001

Internet grocer Peapod, Inc. (NASDAQ:PPOD) today announced that Andrew Parkinson, founder of the Company, will become its chief financial officer and will play an integral role in leading the "clicks and bricks" strategy Peapod is pursuing with international food provider Royal Ahold. Mr. Parkinson's new position is effective January 19. The CFO position was previously held by Dan Rabinowitz, who will be leaving the Company to pursue other opportunities.

"I am excited about Andrew's demonstrated ability to help direct the execution of Peapod's focused plan to achieve profitability," said Marc van Gelder, Peapod's president and chief executive officer. "For the past six months, Andrew has done a terrific job leading the project of integrating Peapod with Royal Ahold's operating companies. With this integration complete, I am particularly looking forward to working with him over the coming years in his new role, and to leveraging his financial experience as we execute our plans for growth and future profitability."

Mr. van Gelder continued, "I would also like to thank Dan for his work in the CFO position over the last three years."

Mr. Parkinson co-founded Peapod in 1989 and served as chief executive officer for the Company's first 10 years. During that time, he was responsible for growing Peapod's revenues and customer base while broadening its geographical reach. In addition, he was instrumental in designing and implementing financial strategy for the Company. His achievements include initiating the Company's transition to a centralized distribution model that achieves additional cost and operational efficiencies. From a financing perspective, he successfully led Peapod's initial public offering in 1997, and most recently, secured Royal Ahold as a majority stakeholder in Peapod.

"I believe that Peapod is in a stronger position than ever before, both financially and competitively," Mr. Parkinson said. "I am pleased that Peapod is on track to achieve an operating profit in Chicago and an East Coast market by the middle of this year. Also, I am particularly excited about our relationship with Ahold and our ability to continue to leverage the many advantages of this partnership."

Founded in 1989, Chicago-based Peapod, Inc. is a leading Internet grocer, providing consumers with broad product choices and local delivery services. With 1999 sales of $73 million, the Company currently serves more than 120,000 customers in Boston, Southern Connecticut, Long Island, Washington, D.C., Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area. Peapod also serves customers nationwide through its "Peapod Packages(TM)" service. In addition, Peapod is a provider of targeted media and research services to consumer goods companies, offering its unique medium for targeting promotions and advertising at the point of purchase and conducting cost-effective research. Peapod's shares are traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol "PPOD".

Except for historical matters contained herein, the matters discussed in this press release, including statements herein regarding Peapod's expansion strategy, its market positioning, and its future prospects and profitability are forward-looking and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that these forward-looking statements reflect numerous assumptions and involve risks and uncertainties that may affect Peapod's business and prospects and cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements.