I order my groceries from FreshDirect, the online grocery store that makes food shopping incredibly easy — here's what it's like

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FreshDirect

• Grocery shopping in New York City or any of its boroughs can be a huge pain if you don't have a car.
• To avoid carrying 40 pounds of food home from the store and irritating my back, I started using FreshDirect, an online grocery store that delivers food right to my door. 
• Below you'll find everything you need to know about how FreshDirectworks, what it costs, and how I deal with not being able to touch or see my food before buying it. 

I don't hate grocery shopping. Quite the opposite actually — I love leisurely strolling through aisles, trying to follow my meticulously curated grocery list while simultaneously allowing myself to get distracted and inspired by everything that's not on it.

Sadly, once I moved to an overpopulated city, this relaxed Sunday afternoon ideal became a perfect pipe dream.

Grocery shopping in Williamsburg, Brooklyn is terrible. I can't get through the produce section without my cart getting hit or my vegetables being blocked by boxes to be unloaded, and after having to weave my way through a hundred people shoved into narrow aisles of a small store, I have to carry home 40 pounds of food. It's not ideal — especially for someone who has back problems (and who grocery shops for a two-person household). 

A few months ago, I started using FreshDirect, an online grocery delivery service that has helped me save both money and time. 

FreshDirect

Here's how it works:

FreshDirect works exactly like any other shopping site. You search the items you want, and add them to your cart in the offered quantities. Once you've finished shopping, you'll select a delivery time with a two-hour window, and pre-pay for your items. You can schedule your deliveries for next-day, or up to a week in advance, but there are no day-of options. Your boxes will arrive in a refrigerated truck, and the delivery person will even bring them inside to your kitchen counter. 

When shopping on the site, you can look for inspiration by browsing sections like "fresh deals" and "top rated" or check out the products with available coupons. You can also search for local ingredients, shop specifically for organic items, or order basic home necessities like toilet paper and Lysol wipes.

And just like a regular grocery store, they have both name brand and generic brand food items, specialty groceries, ready-made items, and party platters (plus wine, beer, and liquor in certain areas). Their array is as vast as any big box store would be — it's just much easier and faster to navigate.  

One feature that I love the idea of but haven't yet used is the "Farm Share" box, which is basically like a one-off CSA box full of a random assortment of produce from a local farm near you. In my area, the option that comes up is a $40 box full of a dozen eggs, one block of cheese, and four to five varieties of vegetables from the current harvest. 

A small portion of FreshDirect's available categories to shop under "vegetables."FreshDirect

Sign up and delivery fee info:

The company only operates in specific areas of New York, DC, New Jersey, Delaware, and Philadelphia, and has different delivery fees for each area (see all cities and fees here). If you live in Manhattan or any of the boroughs, the delivery fee is $5.99 per order, plus an optional tip for your driver.

If you love the service and use it frequently, you might want to invest in the DeliveryPassoption, which is $79 for six months or $129 for a year, and affords you free delivery, exclusive special offers, reserved time slots, and a bonus $5 discount on orders delivered between Tuesday and Friday.

If you were to order from FreshDirect weekly, it would cost you about $311 per year in delivery fees — so the membership is extremely worth it. You'll also always find a discount for signing up as a new customer — right now you can take $25 off your first order of $99 or more with code 'WELCOME.'

Why I like it:

Ordering groceries online has its advantages. It helps me stick to a list so I don't overbuy or get distracted by all the new ingredients I see, and it lets me search deals all in one place instead of running around the store, so I can build my weekly meal plan based on what's on sale. And possibly the most important thing to note is that I don't have to get dressed to go shopping. I can do it all from the comfort of my couch on a Saturday morning with a cup of coffee in my hand and my cat on my lap. 

However, it also has its limitations. You can't touch or smell the produce for ripeness, and you can't just get "whatever looks best," as my mom would say. It can also be risky to get fragile items like eggs (something I know from experience). 

FreshDirect

How I deal with the limitations:

I buy eggs in person when I have time during the week, and I build my list around things I know are in season to avoid unripe or tasteless produce. FreshDirect's produce is, on average, excellent — and if you ask me, the annoyance of getting the occasional batch of unripe bananas in my order doesn't hold a candle to the nightmare that is going to the store and carrying groceries home on a Sunday in the city.

Plus, I know that if anything's wrong with my order, or if I'm not happy with something, I can just message FreshDirect's customer service. They're expedient and efficient, and in most cases, a complaint will result in at least a refund, if not a credit to your account for whatever inconvenience was caused. 

So whether you also hate carrying groceries home, or you just have a hectic schedule that makes grocery shopping a major chore, it's worth giving FreshDirect a shot. 

Amazon Go VPs Share Big Challenges of Cashierless Concept

By Randy Hofbauer - 03/21/2018

L-R: Dilip Kumar, VP of technology, Amazon Go and Amazon Books; Gianna Puerini, VP, Amazon Go; Jeffrey Dastin, technology correspondent, Reuters

Opening a new grocery concept is tricky enough as it is, often requiring adjustments even after the ribbon is cut. Amazon isn't immune to this, even with a store employing technology not used by the competition that seeks to disrupt an entire industry.

That’s arguably the biggest takeaway from the Seattle-based ecommerce giant's Amazon Go store, whose VPs, Gianna Puerini and Dilip Kumar, shared insights into the creation of the technology that fuels the store’s “just walk out” model – which caused the 10-month delay of the store's public opening due to its difficulty in tracking more than 20 people at a time or items moved from their specific shelf space. The VPs' presentation took place March 18 at ShopTalk in Las Vegas.

To give a quick overview of how it works: The store uses technology similar to that powering self-driving cars, employing computer vision, sensor fusion and deep learning to automatically detect when products are removed from, or placed back on, shelves. To use the “just walk out” technology, patrons download and check in via a mobile app, take what they want, and walk out the door, where they are charged for the products they take with them. There are no lines or barcodes to be scanned in the process.

Opening the presentation, Kumar shared three challenges his team faced when creating Amazon Go:

1. The team had to pull off the “just walk out” technology in a way that makes it seamless and effortless.
2. The concept required algorithms that are beyond state-of-the-art for its computer vision and machine learning to solve the problems of who took what. Also required were people shopping close to each other to test everything.
3. The store needed a robust hardware and software infrastructure to support everything.

True, some retailers overseas – such as Alibaba Group, with its Bingobox convenience stores – rely on RFID instead of computer vision for their own “grab-and-walk-out” stores. However, tagging every single item with an RFID label is burdensome and costly, Kumar stressed.

An interesting, unexpected challenge was training consumers to rethink how they shop in general. Puerini noted that when the first Amazon Go store opened to the public, staffers were positioned earlier in the path to purchase to answer questions and assist shoppers. However, the end of the path was in need of significant help: She didn’t expect so many to stop before exiting and ask if it were OK to leave, requiring the staff to post a sign assuring shoppers that they could go without physically checking out. Even she still sometimes thinks twice when exiting the store, as shopping Amazon Go requires changing a behavior consumers have had their whole lives.

It’s easy to think Amazon developed its new Amazon Go concept to cut costs or simply “do tech for tech’s sake” – and there might be a little truth to both. However, Puerini emphasized that retailers looking to employ similar technology in stores have to establish a sustainable business model that comes down to the customer. Grocers must ask themselves: “Who is my customer? What can I do to add value to their life? What am I uniquely positioned to offer them? And if I’m not offering something unique, am I willing to build, buy or go another route to offer it?”

ADDITIONAL INSIGHTS

Other questions and insights Puerini and Kumar brought up regarding Amazon Go include:

• What are customers buying at Amazon Go? The top seller is the chicken banh mi sandwich, although meal kits for dinner, fresh fruit in the morning, and items from Seattle bakeries also are popular.
• What has Amazon changed since opening the store? Learning about what customers like.
• How does Amazon determine what products or brands to introduce and/or discontinue?Customers write in via the Amazon Go app, which also is used to enter the store and pays for the total purchase upon leaving, about the brands and products they wish that the store stocked. When carrying a suggested item or brand makes sense, Amazon listens.
• What are the metrics for the store’s success? Pulling off the just-walk-out part is only part of the battle. Amazon Go is definitely about convenience, but none of that matters if pricing and assortment aren’t to shoppers’ liking. Therefore, primary focus is given to making sure Amazon understands what customers like, listening to their feedback and continually adapting to meet their needs.

Southeastern Grocers Embarks on Restructuring

03/27/2018

As expected, Southeastern Grocers LLC (SEG) has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware to implement a pre-packaged plan of reorganization.

The Jacksonville, Fla.-based grocer revealed earlier this month that it has entered into a restructuring support agreement with a group of creditors and its private equity sponsor regarding the terms of a comprehensive financial restructuring. The company will continue to operate throughout the process.

SEG President and CEO Anthony Hucker noted that the retailer was “taking the next step in the implementation of our financial restructuring plan. This pre-packaged, court-supervised financial restructuring process provides for a clear and expedited path to put SEG in the best position to serve our communities and succeed in the competitive retail market in which we do business.”

Hucker said that the company had “more than 580 stores operating under the Bi-Lo, Fresco y Más, Harveys Supermarket, and Winn-Dixie banners,” minus the 94 locations slated to close under the restructuring, adding: “We are extremely pleased that this process continues to proceed quickly and as planned. With each key milestone reached, we move closer to emerging and making Southeastern Grocers into a true success story for our associates, our customers and the communities we serve.”

According to SEG, the restructuring will lower overall debt levels by more than $500 million and maintain the company’s strong liquidity position under the new post-emergence revolving credit facility. This considerable debt reduction should result in reduced interest expense, enabling the company to invest more cash flow back into the business in the form of more store renovations and new locations. With a deleveraged balance sheet and an optimal store base, SEG can then concentrate on store growth and financial health.

SEG has filed various customary motions to obtain the court approval to continue to support its business operations during the restructuring process, including the continued payment of associate wages and benefits without interruption, all of which it expects to be granted.

The company also recently expanded its Fresco y Mas banner by three stores in two new Florida markets.

Southeastern Grocers LLC, one of the largest conventional supermarket companies in the United States, operates grocery stores, liquor stores and in-store pharmacies serve communities throughout Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina.

New York, Philadelphia and Miami are 2018’s Best Cities for Fresh-Food Access

Boston, Miami and Baltimore Had the Biggest Improvements in Fresh-Food Access since 2014; Oklahoma City, Colorado Springs and Indianapolis are Food Deserts, with the Least Access to Healthy Food

Written by Jon Whitely on March 26, 2018

    

New York is the best city for fresh-food access, with 75 percent of its residents living within a five-minute walk of a grocery store or year-round farmers market, followed by Philadelphia (64%) and Miami (57%). To determine these new rankings, we analyzed Walk ScoreⓇ data for 48 major U.S. cities, excluding San Francisco and Los Angeles, for which there was not reliable data.

“While visiting my grandfather’s hometown in South Carolina last summer, the only grocery store there had burned down and residents had to travel 20 minutes to the next town to get fresh food,” said Redfin chief economist Nela Richardson. “Many in the community didn’t have transportation or were elderly. Neighbors organized carpools just to make sure people had access to food. This is obviously an extreme example, but it illustrates the importance of this basic amenity that many people take for granted.”

Boston, Miami and Baltimore showed the biggest improvements in access to fresh food since 2014, when Walk Score last reported a comparable ranking.

“Wegmans and Market Basket are two grocery store chains that have been expanding and opening up new shops throughout the city of Boston over the past couple years to meet the growing demand,” said Redfin Boston agent David Pollack. “Many homebuyers put a premium on homes that are in close proximity to supermarkets with fresh produce, in-store cafes and hot food services.”

U.S. Cities with the Best Access to Fresh Food

Rank	City	Residents with a Grocery Store or Farmers Market within a 5-Minute Walk (2018)	Residents with a Grocery Store or Farmers Market within a 5-Minute Walk (2014)
1	New York	75%	72%
2	Philadelphia	64%	57%
3	Miami	57%	49%
4	Boston	54%	45%
5	Oakland	53%	49%
6	Chicago	50%	44%
7	Baltimore	49%	41%
8	Washington, D.C.	43%	41%
9	Milwaukee	34%	29%
10	Minneapolis	33%	29%

Food Deserts

Our analysis also identified “food deserts,” cities where few residents have a grocery store or year-round farmers market within a five-minute walk. Oklahoma City topped this list, with just 6 percent of its residents living within a stone’s throw from fresh food, followed by Colorado Springs (6%) and Indianapolis (7%). Of the food deserts we identify below, Tucson and Wichita had the biggest increases in shares of residents with fresh food access since 2014.

“Oklahoma City has been slower than other cities to adapt to having fresh food, gyms and outdoor activities within walking distance, ” said local Redfin agent Linda Huynh. “But keep in mind, our city is the eighth largest in the U.S. by land, with just 1.5 million residents. Things are really spread out and mostly accessible by car only.”

U.S. Cities with the Worst Access to Fresh Food (Food Deserts)

Rank	City	Residents with a Grocery Store or Farmers Market within a 5-Minute Walk (2018)	Residents with a Grocery Store or Farmers Market within a 5-Minute Walk (2014)
T1	Oklahoma City	6%	5%
T1	Colorado Springs	6%	6%
3	Indianapolis	7%	5%
4	Charlotte	8%	6%
T5	Wichita	9%	5%
T5	Mesa	9%	6%
T5	Raleigh	9%	6%
T5	Jacksonville	9%	8%
T5	Nashville	9%	9%
10	Tucson	10%	6%

Methodology

To calculate the percentage of city residents with access to healthy food, we used Walk Score data to analyze 48 cities. Walk Score uses population data and city boundaries that come from the U.S. Census, and the list of grocery stores comes from a mix of Google, Localeze and places added via the Walk Score website. We calculated millions of walking routes for this ranking with our Travel Time API to determine how many grocery stores are within a five-minute walk for residents. Our rankings are proximity based and do not consider the cost of food. Los Angeles and San Francisco were excluded from this report because of unreliable data.

El Super to Acquire Fiesta Mart

Retailer expanding in race to become largest Hispanic-focused grocer in U.S.By Natalie Taylor on Mar. 26, 2018

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Bodega Latina Corp., doing business as El Super—a Hispanic grocer and subsidiary of Mexico's Grupo Comercial Chedraui S.A.B. de C.V.—is acquiring Fiesta Mart, a Houston-based international food retailer, in a push to expand its reach in the Latino grocery sector.   

Fiesta operates 63 stores primarily in the Dallas and Houston areas, with a focus on Hispanic offerings. The transaction will create one of the largest Hispanic-focused supermarket companies in the U.S., with a total of 122 stores across California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas—where more than 50% of the Hispanic population lives—with revenues of approximately $3 billion, according to company officials.

The transaction is expected to close at the beginning of the second quarter of 2018, subject to customary closing conditions. Fiesta stores will continue to be operated under their own banner.

"Combining the strengths of Bodega Latina with those of Fiesta will accelerate the evolution and growth of Fiesta through combining the parties’ scale, geographic reach, talented teams and market knowledge,” said Sid Keswani, CEO of Fiesta, in a statement. 

Fiesta was acquired nearly three years ago by the private-equity firm Acon Investments.

With the rising population and purchasing power of the Latino demographic in the U.S., retailers have been racing to tap into the fast-growing grocery sector through acquisitions and Hispanic-focused store expansions. Southeastern Grocers last week announced the expansion of its Fresco y Mas banner with three new stores in Florida, and in November, Albertsons Cos. acquired an equity stake Latino grocery chain El Rancho Supermercado.

The acquisition of Fiesta allows El Super to expand into Texas through a well-established supermarket operator, said Carlos Smith, president and CEO of Paramount, Calif-based Bodega Latina. “Through the combination of the strengths of our two organizations, we will be well positioned to significantly accelerate our vision of efficiently offering high-quality products at the lowest possible prices,” he said. “We believe this transaction will be beneficial for all of our stakeholders, including customers, suppliers, employees and vendors.”

RBC Capital Markets LLC served as the exclusive financial advisor  to Bodega Latina, and Sidley Austin LLP served as legal advisor. The Food Partners LLC served as exclusive financial advisor and Hogan Lovells U.S. LLP served as legal advisor to Fiesta.

Blockchain is everywhere

In its most basic form, blockchain technology is viewed as “an incorruptible digital ledger of economic transactions that can be programmed to record not just financial transactions but virtually everything of value” according to Don Tapscott, co-founder and executive director at the Blockchain Research Institute.

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Technology in the News

Blockchain is everywhere

By Jeff Berman, Group News Editor · March 27, 2018

In my line of work, I get a lot of e-mail, actually make that a LOT of e-mail. The topics range across all modes of freight transportation, to be sure, as well as policy and technology. One common theme in more than a few e-mails that has come in over the last several months, and even longer, centers around blockchain technology and its impact, or rather potential impact, on myriad aspects of freight transportation, supply chain, and logistics operations.

In its most basic form, blockchain technology is viewed as “an incorruptible digital ledger of economic transactions that can be programmed to record not just financial transactions but virtually everything of value” according toDon Tapscott, co-founder and executive director at the Blockchain Research Institute.

On the surface, that appears to be intuitive enough to get your arms around, but when one sees the ongoing proliferation, and, again, potential, of blockchain, things quickly move to an advanced level, a level in which a lot is being asked of a technology that is still, for the most part, pretty new, while still continuing to gain traction, as well as increasing interest.

At this year’s SMC3 JumpStart conference, which was held in Atlanta in January, keynote speaker Adrian Gonzalez, head of Adelante SCM, explained to attendees that despite the early traction blockchain has received, it is still too early to gauge its impact.

He described blockchain as a technological platform, asking if blockchain was a better mousetrap than what is currently out there today.

“When you look at the technology, the greatest value proposition of blockchain lies today in the supply chain for sectors like food, pharma, and high-value goods,” he said. “We are seeing some of that happening in pilot programs. My fear is that people will view it as a silver bullet solution for supply chain visibility. But the challenges related to supply chain visibility are not related to just software. There is still a lot of [bad] data and data across multiple different standards and computers, with different nomenclatures. There is the challenge of aggregating and cleansing data. Blockchain does not solve that.”

So, no, blockchain is not likely to be a technology panacea by any stretch, and that is coming from one of the foremost logistics technology experts there is, but, at the same time, it is impossible to overlook at this point. If you need further convincing, take a look at my e-mail in box.

But, seriously, over the past few months, blockchain continues to ride a wave showing no signs of crashing. Here are a few quick examples of that:

• earlier this month, DHL has released a trend report in conjunction with on blockchain technology's potential to transform the logistics industry. The report noted that “global supply chains are notoriously complex, with a diverse set of stakeholders, varying interests, and many third-party intermediaries - challenges that blockchain is well suited to address. The report includes initial findings on a working prototype developed by DHL and Accenture, which tracks pharmaceuticals from the point of origin to the consumer, preventing tampering and errors”;
• in January, ocean cargo giant A.P. Moller-Maersk and technology powerhouse IBM announced plans this week for a joint venture (JV). IBM and Maersk said that the objective of this JV is to provide a jointly developed global trade digitization platform that is built on open standards and designed for use by the entire global shipping ecosystem, adding that it will address the need to provide more transparency and simplicity in the movement of goods across borders and trading zones;
• in July 2017, the Federal Maritime Commission held a “brown bag lunch”, where the topic of blockchain technology and its applicability to supply chain management and increasing efficiency in international trade was explored; and
• the Blockchain in Transport Alliance (BiTA) a forum for the development and application of blockchain technology standards and education for the trucking, transportation, and logistics sectors, continues to welcome new members from truckload, LTL, and parcel carriers, as well as shippers, tech startups and incumbents, insurance companies, law firms, and other industry stakeholders, according to its website

So, these are only a few examples, but you probably get the idea: one that indicates it is full systems go for blockchain within our sectors. In a business that constantly talks about the need for visibility, it stands to reason we are in the very early innings of blockchain technology, and for good reason. It will require a very watchful eye going forward to say the least.