SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - Instacart and Whole Foods are parting ways, according to a report from Reuters. Instacart has announced it will stop delivering groceries for Whole Foods early next year. 

Reportedly about 350 of the company’s 1,415 part-time delivery employees at 76 Whole Foods locations will be laid off in February 2019. 

Whole Foods and Instacart teamed up in 2014. The recent announcement ends the partnership that has been strained ever since Amazon bought the upscale grocery chain for $13.7 billion in August 2017, a move that immediately created concerns about the Instacart relationship. The announcement is no surprise to some industry observers.

“Amazon’s intent from day one ... was to integrate Whole Foods with its own grocery-delivery efforts, such as Amazon Fresh and Prime Now,” said Tom Forte, an analyst with D.A. Davidson.

In February of this year, Whole Foods began testing in-house delivery at a Cincinnati store. Whole Foods “pickers” prepare the orders and pass them on to Amazon Flex drivers, who make the deliveries. As a bonus to customers, Amazon pushed the pedal on delivery speeds, offering one- and two-hour grocery delivery options that compete with Instacart and other delivery services.