I am dismayed and so sad to have to write this review…read more
Fresh Direct used to be a great grocery delivery service for fresh, locally grown (PA, NJ, NY, CT) produce, CSA shares, humanely-raised meat, homemade pies and desserts, fantastic prepared meals, and other interesting, hard to find products. It's the ONLY place I can buy Poly-O Grated Mozzarella for our homemade pizzas.
They recently returned to the Philly area after pulling out a few years ago and I was happy to see them back, but I learned that the original company is under new ownership since 2023. Unfortunately, my orders began to have problems almost immediately - thawed frozen food, squished tomatoes, haphazard packaging, missing items (including steaks!), and spoiled items.
I have always been told that their food is held in a temperature-controlled environment until delivery and that was certainly true during the pandemic, but it has not been the case with my recent orders.
I wrote to Fresh Direct and they are eager to give me credit or refund my money but they keep evading my questions about food safety! Today, I got a notice that my order had been delivered but it hadn't so I wrote to them. A little while later the delivery driver called me to say he was on his way and that the app had mistakenly said the order was delivered. And that is how I finally learned the truth about temperature control!
According to the delivery driver, the Fresh Direct fleet of trucks in the Philly area had maintenance problems so bad that it wasn't worth fixing them. So they advertised in the local paper for 20 delivery drivers, but they needed to provide their own vehicles! This guy said that he has spent over $1,000 on dry ice but that most of the drivers won't do that, so that is why my food has arrived thawed, missing, and spoiled. No accountability because these delivery drivers do not work for Fresh Direct. They operate like contractors. Like an Uber.
I would think this is a safety issue so I intend to report them to Philadelphia's Office of Food Protection (215-685-7495), and possibly to the FDA. I am baffled by how little Fresh Direct seems to care. It's as if they view the refunds the cost of doing business. Doesn't sound like a good solid business plan to me.
BTW - about that delivery driver who enlightened me, after telling me how he was a good old honest South Philly boy with morals who would never steal my food or deliver thawed frozen food to me - he never showed up! lol Judging by our text exchanges, I think he is not the sharpest knife in the drawer. But then again, he got my food and I didn't!
The way I see it, Fresh Direct has hired a bunch of delivery people who are out there stealing groceries and making arbitrary decisions about whether or not they will deliver your groceries and they answer to no one! Grocery pirates if you will! They got some really high quality, expensive food from me - steaks, crab, pork chops, fresh produce, prepared meals, cases of seltzer, etc..
I don't know - it's just a feeling - but I expect to see Fresh Direct retreat from the Philly market once again.