14
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, APR. 22-28, 2022 BXR
Online grocery service FreshDirect eyes expanded reach
BY ROBBIE SEQUEIRA
When FreshDirect finalized
its relocation
from Long Island City to
the South Bronx in 2018
— erecting a state-of-theart
facility in Port Morris
with shadows of One World
Trade Center and Manhattan’s
iconic skyline in the
background — the move
was initially met by vocal
opposition from local community
groups and environmentalists.
In response,
the online grocery delivery
service honored a job creation
pledge to the city by
adding 1,500 Bronx workers
to its workforce.
And since the COVID-19
pandemic, FreshDirect
has seen its impact in the
city materialize into expansion
opportunities beyond
NYC’s borders as supermarket
inflation prices
drive patrons away from
their aisles and food insecurity
becomes a rising
trend.
In the words of Fresh-
Direct’s Vice President of
Public Affairs Larry Scott
Blackmon Jr., FreshDirect’s
distribution, as its
name suggests, relies on a
process that involves partnerships
with local producers
and immediate distribution
to customers.
“We’re not a supermarket
where your food comes
in and it sits … and goes
from the farm to the distributor
where it sits in the
back, then it goes to the distributor
to the local supermarket
where it sits until
you pick it,” said Blackmon
Jr. “With FreshDirect,
that (food) comes from the
producer straight to us,
thanks to great relationships
with our partners,
and then straight to you so
you’re tasting it while it’s
fresh.”
Overall grocery prices
soared 6.5% in 2021, marking
the biggest increase in
13 years and it’s just another
uptick in prices caused by
record-high inflation in the
U.S. Compounded by a 1 in
4 food insecurity rate in the
Bronx, lack of fresh food access
is exacerbating issues
in the borough. It’s also an
issue for underserved areas
throughout New York state
where food scarcity has declined,
and disparities in
food access are wider than
ever.
Data obtained by the
Bronx Times from the state
shows stark racial ethnic
disparities in access to
food, with 29% of Latino
and 20% of Black adults
reporting household food
scarcity, compared with 8%
of Asian-American and 5%
of white households. Closing
those food gaps could
lead FreshDirect to widen
their availability throughout
the city and state.
“Growth for Fresh Direct
means deeper penetration
in the New York market,”
said Blackmon, who
estimated FreshDirect delivers
100,000 grocery boxes
each week. “People look at
us like this type of Googlesized
company, but we’re
really a large small business
and there’s so much
more room for a FreshDirect
in the New York market
and surrounding areas
like New Jersey, upstate
New York.”
While New York City is
a main focus for the company,
FreshDirect also has
a footprint in Philadelphia,
Connecticut, New Jersey
and Washington, D.C.
When Dutch company
Ahold Delhaize acquired
FreshDirect in January
2021, the acquisition gave
the Dutch retailing giant
(2020 revenue hit 75 billion
euros) a foothold in the the
U.S. online grocery market,
which generated $8.7 billion
in sales during February.
Instacart is still the king
of that market, commanding
45% of online grocery
sales in New York compared
to 21% for FreshDirect,
according to a report
by Earnest Research from
last year. When it comes
to preference in the online
grocery market, patrons
prioritize low or no delivery
fee ahead of price of
items, in-stock availability,
product quality, product
assortment and delivery
speed in that order, according
to retail research firm
Coresight.
To compete with other
online food grocery giants
such as Amazon and the
aforementioned Instacart,
FreshDirect’s growth strategy
under the leadership of
one-time interim CEO Farhan
Siddiqi, included the
lowering of prices and doubling
down on the New York
market through small, automated
warehouses in the
region to speed deliveries
of wine and other popular
items.
Ahold Delhaize’s online
sales increased 114.7% in
the third quarter of 2020,
which the company attributes
“largely to the COVID
19 outbreak,” that saw
the mass appeal and necessity
of online or app-based
food delivery from grocery
to dining services.
And the retailer also
boosted its product assortment
by 25% over that time
frame.
FreshDirect, however, is
still battling an undercurrent
of dissension from local
environmental groups,
who cite their presence in
Port Morris as a reason for
heightened levels of auto
traffic on the highways near
the warehouse in Port Morris
— just north of the Harlem
River Yards — which
also includes a pair of
mixed-use residential units
that border the river yard.
According to environmental
justice group
South Bronx Unite, a traffic
analysis of roads in the
area bounded by East 138th
Street, Lincoln Avenue, Walnut
Avenue and the Harlem
River Yards — home
to roughly 17,200 people —
showed traffic congestion
and “traffic-related sleep
disturbances have increased
since the Port Morris warehouse
opened in 2018.”
FreshDirect officials
said they are working evergreen
with city partners,
including local environmental
groups, and those
efforts include sustainable
shifts in both their environmental
practices and
workplace wellness. Fresh-
Direct has also built partnerships
throughout the
borough and citywide with
food source organizations
and local food banks.
“We’ve delivered on all
our promises and the community
and neighborhood
has embraced us as a result,”
Blackmon Jr. said.
The 40,000-square foot
facility includes an environmentally
friendly and
energy-efficient campus
equipped with robotic pick
towers, smart routing technologies
and nine miles of
conveyor belts. The atmosphere
inside the FreshDirect
warehouse includes
sanitation efforts, various
wellness and private spaces
for employees to take a break
or commune, and Blackmon
Jr. says that workers are “a
part of a family.”
Internally, FreshDirect
employees joined the New
York City’s sweeping labor
movement becoming the
latest NYC employee workforce
to unionize, as employees
ratified a collective
bargaining agreement with
the United Food and Commercial
Workers (UFCW)
last week. Approximately
1,800 Fresh Direct employees
will be represented by
UFCW Local 342.
FreshDirect employees
had tried once before to
unionize in the late 2000s,
but those attempts failed.
“UFCW 342 President
Deana Abondolo and the Local
342 organizing department
have been involved in
this ongoing campaign for
over 15 years,” the union
said in a statement. “We are
proud to say that on Thursday,
April 14, 2022, the members
of FreshDirect overwhelmingly
ratified their
contract. Welcome Fresh-
Direct members.”
A few FreshDirect employees
told the Bronx
Times that while they feel
FreshDirect is a great
employer — particularly
thanks to a low buy-back
option for workers for unfulfilled
orders — but that
unionization and the company’s
support of those efforts
is a pathway to continued
morale in the company.
“Growth for FreshDirect means deeper penetration in the New York
market,” said Larry Scott Blackmon Jr., who estimated FreshDirect
delivers 100,000 grocery boxes each week. “There’s so much more
room for a FreshDirect in the New York market and surrounding
areas like New Jersey, upstate New York.” Photo | Robbie Sequeira
VAN NEST ASSEMBLY OF GOD
755 Rhinelander Avenue
Bronx, NY 10462
Corner of Holland
2 blocks from White Plains Road
SERVICE TIMES
SUNDAY:
8:30am Morning Service
10:00am Morning Service
11:30am Morning Service
4:00pm Afternoon Service
SUNDAY NIGHT:
7:00pm Evening Service
TUESDAY:
12:00pm Prayer Meeting
WEDNESDAY NIGHT:
7:30pm Prayer Meeting
FRIDAY NIGHT:
8:00pm Family Night
(Groups for all ages)
11:00pm Prayer Meeting
...plus special services for high holy days —
and other celebrations.
MANY KINDS OF GROUPS AND
MINISTRIES THROUGHOUT THE WEEK
MINISTRIES
• Children
• Youth Group
• Young Adult Ministries
• Adult Ministries
• Outreach
• NY District School of Ministry
• Berean School Of The Bible
• Vacation Bible School
• Music Ministry
A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL NATIONS • A CARING CONGREGATION
WHERE WILL YOU BE ON SUNDAY…AND OTHER WORSHIP DAYS?
WELCOME TO OUR FAMILY!
PRAYER-FILLED, PRAYER GUIDED • SPECIAL MINISTRIES FOR ALL AGES
A VIBRANT, SUPPORTIVE COMMUNITY!
A multi-cultural, multi-generational evangelistic church with fi ve services every Sunday,
and various ministry programs and activities throughout the week. Several churches have been
planted in the Bronx from Van Nest, including the African Assemblies of God Fellowship, which is
now a network of African AG churches throughout the USA.
Rev. David Hernquist, Pastor
T. 718-824-4067 • F. 718-904-8193 • davidhernquist@aol.com
Rev. Rosemarie Brown, Assistant Pastor • Jesus Goyco, Youth Pastor
www.vannestassembly.org
OUR MISSION STATEMENT:
Van Nest Assembly of God is a body of Believers empowered by the Holy Spirit, called to worship God in Spirit and Truth, to walk in the light of the
Word of God in all aspects of life, and to be witnesses of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, through word and deed, to the ends of the earth.
The Holy Spirit has clearly shown us that we are called to be a church led not by a program or a personality, but by the presence of the Lord. This is
really why God’s hand of blessing and increase has been upon us all these years. As we look to the future, we know that His presence will lead us in
a continuous increase of souls and expansion of facilities; for our true desire is to glorify Jesus Christ.
/www.vannestassembly.org
/www.vannestassembly.org
link
link