Food Fight

Greenwich is now ground zero in grocery delivery wars. Peapod, welcome FreshDirect. FreshDirect announced Tuesday it is making its first foray into Connecticut with delivery in four Greenwich areas: Greenwich proper, Cos Cob, Old Greenwich and Riverside.

Makes a certain amount of sense to hit the pricey neighborhoods first. FreshDirect has been at the grocery delivery game since 2002, starting on Roosevelt Island and then going mega into the rest of New York City and more recently Westchester, which is getting a bigger infusion along with Connecticut startup.

FreshDirect thinks of itself as a fresher operation (4-7 days it says) with better prices, working directly with farmers and other producers (no middlemen) – not simply pulling stuff out of warehouses or off store shelves. It offers hundreds of prepared products, on premise baked goods, organic and other natural products.

I’m sure it will still have its work cut out, since Stop and Shop has made some pretty strong inroads with its operations around Connecticut the last several years.

Now there is certainly a whole cadre of people for whom this delivery stuff is heaven. How did they live without it? But I gotta tell you, I’m not there yet. As someone addicted to farmers’ markets, sticking my nose in every bin of produce – I mean I don’t even like to buy pre-packaged tills – having someone else choose food for me … I dunno.

On the other hand, if FreshDirect products are as good and as fresh as the company claims – maybe it’s just another way to get better food to more people at a decent price.

But here’s a thought — maybe somebody ought to be thinking about a FreshDirect model that targets underserved areas with discounts and bulk drop-offs and even lets them use food stamps. Greenwich can and already does buy what it needs. What about the folks who really need the access of a service like this?

Think about it.