Company: FreshDirect Website: http://www.freshdirect.com Industry: Online Grocery
BACKGROUND/HISTORY
FreshDirect was founded in 1999 but fully operational in 2001. The company is a New York based and in the online grocery business. All of their customers shop online for their groceries that are delivered to their homes or place of business the next day. FreshDirect offers fresh produce, meat and seafood, shelf stable items and even prepared meals (www.freshdirect.com). The company was founded by Joseph Fedele and Jason Ackerman. Joseph Fedele was the first CEO of many.(Dess & Eisner, p125) Jason Ackerman is the current CEO as of May of 2011. (http://supermarketnews.com/executive-changes/ackerman-named-ceo-freshdirect). FreshDirect’s revenue in 2009 was approximately $250 million. (http://www.dailyfinance.com/2010/03/23/growth-matters-freshdirect-nudges-its-way-to-profits/) In 2010, their CEO at the time, Rick Braddock, indicated “they had been profitable since 2008 and was substantially profitable in 2009." (http://www.dailyfinance.com/2010/03/23/growth-matters-freshdirect-nudges-its-way-to-profits/)
There have been many up and downs for FreshDirect. They set a goal of capturing 5% of the New York grocery market when they started delivering orders. They weren’t able to do this until 2011 when they could expand to a greater part of New York City and other states. (Dess & Eisner, p126) In 2007, workers were pushing to become unionized because of unfair wages based on the amount of work and hours. By the end of 2007, top management announced an immigration audit. This announcement caused their workforce to go from 900 plant workers to almost half that. (Dess & Eisner, p138) As a result, the push to become unionized failed. Through their hardship, they did find success in their chef developed 4-minute meal line and getting celebrities to endorse their service. They also developed a produce rating system to boost