I was recently in New York City and as I walked from an appointment, I looked up and saw a Fresh Direct delivery truck.  I was immediately flooded with memories of living in the City, ordering fresh grocery items and having it delivered back in the early 2000’s.  I started thinking about that period of my life and was interested enough that I googled Fresh Direct; and found out that they were established in 2002.  As I think about our current times, I realize that Fresh Direct was an early pioneer of fresh grocery delivery.  If you have not lived in and/or worked in New York City you probably have not heard of Fresh Direct.  I was a customer of Fresh Direct for several years (2002 – 2005) and at that time, they primarily delivered in New York City.  They now deliver to Philadelphia, Washington DC and even make seasonal deliveries to eastern Long Island, New York and the New Jersey Shore.

I remember that the Fresh Direct deliveries always made me feel good.

When I received my Fresh Direct deliveries, I felt like they were special.  I always felt like my groceries were hand-picked.  The products and produce were packaged like they cost a million bucks in a clean Fresh Direct box.  The produce was almost always too gorgeous to eat without any blemishes on them.  The food tasted as good as it looked! 

Yes, I remember that Fresh Direct did online grocery delivery “right”. They sourced products and packaged them up in their facility in the Bronx, New York.  From there, deliveries were loaded onto a truck and delivered to customers during the time period selected.  Compare that to our current timeframe:  Now many companies are providing home-delivery out of necessity, because of the pandemic.  But Fresh Direct was doing it back in the day, almost 20 years ago.  Talk about being a pioneer! The Fresh Direct brand is a pioneer; not just because of the online retail business they established, but because of the quality products and service the brand delivered/delivers.  I guess you could call me a pioneer too – as an early adopter of online grocery shopping and delivery.

Fast forward, I moved to Connecticut and thought I would try a regional grocery store’s online grocery delivery service that I had seen advertised.  The City had spoiled me and I did not really enjoy physically going grocery shopping.  I felt like customers knew where everything was and in their rush to get to their favorites, I literally got run over by a number of angry grocery shoppers with their carts (picture cart wars :)).  I had such a good experience in the City, with online grocery delivery, why not try it here?  It was convenient and saved me time.  This was in 2007 and it didn’t seem like many friends or neighbors in my area used online grocery delivery.  After my first online grocery delivery, I experienced a possibility for why.

• I did not feel like I was receiving a special delivery.

• I felt like I was receiving groceries in a plastic bag with blemished produce and all.

• I felt like the delivery people were rushed and my grocery bags were one of many in a dirty delivery truck.

The pandemic forced grocery shoppers to use more online delivery services.Supermarket News cites that the “growth represented a 43% jump in online grocery sales at the one-year mark of covid-19 pandemic.”I too, was one of the shoppers forced to do online grocery shopping due to the global pandemic; and, come to think of it – not one experience made me feel like the Fresh Direct brand made me feel when I had received their deliveries in the past. 

Fresh Direct delivered the optimal branding experience.

Branding is an emotional connection you have with that service/product.  The nostalgia I felt recently from seeing the Fresh Direct Brand is the branding strategy and implementation that I strive to deliver to my customers.  Close your eyes and think about a brand that brings that special feeling to you. Now, take a moment and enjoy that memory.

Sonya Ruff Jarvis is an entrepreneur and founder of Jarvis Consultants, LLC, a marketing, events and branding firm that helps businesses create innovative approaches to navigate the world of marketing. Sonya has been a part of the B2B retail industry for more than 25 years and is the founder of the Home Improvement eRetailer Summit. Follow Sonya on Twitter @jarvisconsult and @eretailersummit or contact her directly at sonya@jarvisconsultants.com.  She is also a book author and her books can be found on AMAZON.