Fresh Direct logo (2009)
 

FreshDirect is an online grocer that delivers to residences and offices in the New York City metropolitan area. FreshDirect also offers next-day delivery to most ofManhattan and parts of Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, Staten Island, Nassau County, Westchester County, Fairfield County, Hoboken, New Jersey, Philadelphia and Jersey City, New Jersey. The company was founded by Joe Fedele and Jason Ackerman, a former investment banker who specialized in the grocery industry. FreshDirect custom-prepares groceries and meals for its customers, a manufacturing practice called Just In Time that reduces waste and improves quality and freshness.
 

Introduced to the New York market in 2002, FreshDirect grew popular for its convenience, fresh food and lower prices than many Manhattan supermarkets although less competitive elsewhere. FreshDirect is popular for its distribution of organic food and locally grown items, as well as items that consumers see in supermarkets daily. FreshDirect also delivers numerous Kosher foods and is recognized by the Marine Stewardship Council as a certified sustainable seafood vendor. 
 

Operations

FreshDirect uses SAP AG software to process thousands of orders placed on its website every night. Orders are dispatched to the kitchen, bakery, deli as well as fresh storage rooms, produce ripeningrooms and production areas within the company's refrigerated facility. All order components are custom-cut, packaged, weighed and priced. In the case of dry goods or frozen foods, items are picked from storage before being placed inside bins that travel along conveyors to the sorting area. There, products in a customer's order are scanned and gathered in corrugated fiberboard boxes. The boxes are labeled, recorded and loaded into refrigerated delivery trucks.
 

 

FreshDirect is based in a 300,000-square-foot (28,000 m2) building in Long Island City and is one of the largest employers in the area. Though the website and plant processes were in development for several years before its public launch, the company made its first deliveries to Roosevelt Island on July 11, 2002. FreshDirect has since expanded service to Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the The Bronxand parts of Nassau County, Westchester County and New Jersey. The company now has almost 2,000 employees.
 

In 2011 UK retailer Morrisons bought a 10% stake in the company in order to learn about online shopping in order to launch its long awaited online shopping service in the UK. 

Controversy over unionization vote.
 

Employees at Fresh Direct have made several attempts to unionize. In 2004 and 2005, Teamster Locals ran two unsuccessful campaigns to organize Fresh Direct's 500 delivery workers. Following these failed campaigns, Local 348S of the United Food and Commercial Workers ran a successful organizing drive in 2006 and subsequently negotiated a contract for Fresh Direct's drivers. Although Anthony Fazio Jr., the UFCW local's secretary treasurer, said his union waged a tough fight to win recognition, some plant workers reported that company officials had openly encouraged workers to sign up with 348S. Local 348S has been accused by other unions of providing "sweetheart contracts" to businesses. 
 

The contract negotiated for the drivers includes no minimum starting wage but has a maximum that caps the highest wages the company must pay at $12 to $18. Raises total $2.55 over the life of the 5-year contract. 
 

In the summer of 2007, Local 805 of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters began signing up workers at Fresh Direct's warehouse in Long Island City. UFCW Local 348-S subsequently announced their intention to organize the warehouse workers. 348-S later filed for an election, which was held on December 22 and 23, 2007. Approximately 530 out of the warehouse's 900 employees voted in the election. Of those that participated, 426 workers voted against joining any union, 73 workers voted to join the Teamsters, and 31 workers voted to join UFCW 348-S. 
 

The election, however was mired with controversy. Days before the election, FreshDirect released a memo to its employees asking them to verify their eligibility to work in the U.S., saying it was responding to an audit by federal immigration authorities. As a result, 100 to 300 employees were dismissed, suspended or quit just days before the vote was scheduled. 
 

Union activists and some New York City elected officials have accused FreshDirect and the I.C.E. of intentionally creating an atmosphere of fear and intimidation.  FreshDirect has publicly denied this accusation; a company spokesperson noted that some immigrant employees opposed unionization, and suggested that union had called immigration authorities to drive off workers they had failed to win over. 
 

Proposed Move to the South Bronx

In 2012, Carter spent several weeks “kicking the tires” at FreshDirect to determine if they would be an appropriate client for her consulting company, Majora Carter Group LLC (MCG), before signing a one-year contract to help the company connect with local groups regarding FreshDirect's proposed move to the South Bronx, despite a law suit and boycott campaign by a local community group known as South Bronx Unite!  meant to stop the relocation, charging the City and FreshDirect with failing to conduct a sufficient environmental review and transparent community outreach. An MCG spokesperson described FreshDirect as a "...net benefit, because of their commitment to alternative fuels and because e-commerce and food are both growth industries that provide good jobs." South Bronx youth development NGO leader Maryann Hedaa noted that "(Carter) realizes that fighting poverty has to be a partnership between the public interests and the private interests."
 

On September 27, 2012, Ms. Carter organized a meeting between FreshDirect's CEO, Jason Ackerman, and a variety of Bronx NGO's, during which uninvited guests opposed to the move were also able to participate. Mychal Johnson, a member of South Bronx Unite!, described the meeting as “...a lot of fluff,” and the decision to invite other Bronx groups but not his as an effort to “divide and conquer.” Steve Ritz, the founder of Green for All and director of community partnerships at Hyde Leadership Charter School, said the meeting put him squarely in FreshDirect’s camp, adding “What was really impressive to me was when Mr. Ackerman brought up all the farms he supports.” 
 

When asked about the apparent contradiction between the portion of Ms. Carter's career involved in creating public waterfront access, and accusations that her client's activities would deny similar opportunities, her spokesperson responded that Ms. Carter was "no longer in that line of work". The Majora Carter Group declined to answer questions regarding financial details of the agreement with FreshDirect. 
 

FreshDirect plans to invest $112 million of its own capital with roughly $130 million in tax breaks and grants from the Borough, City and State, claiming the project will create up to 1,000 permanent jobs, with targeted hiring for Bronx residents. FreshDirect recently expanded its delivery service to the Bronx and launched a pilot program that allows some Bronx customers to pay with food stamps. 
 

Following Hurricane Sandy Fresh Direct dumped approximately 60 of their damaged trucks on the proposed lot, inciting outrage among Bronx locals who clam Fresh Direct "feel[s] that our waterfront is a junkyard." 
 

The controversy surrounding Fresh Direct's move to the South Bronx is featured in the documentary film "South Bronx United."