> There may be a minimum viable scale, but its apparently very close to the minimum-viable-retail-operation-with-any-grocery-items scale.

Yeah, that's where we are seeing things differently. The reliance on the well established store and their ability to accept EBT vs not needing to have that overhead and still being able accept EBT while provide similar goods. If you sell/deliver direct to consumer without going through a store that can accept/process EBT, you still have to subsidize them (unless you just avoid paying taxes, while still not having access to that EBT sponsored).