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Online grocer FreshDirect is reportedly on the ropes after losing two CEOs since November.
The company — whose trucks have been a regular sight on New York City streets for 20 years — is still searching for a replacement boss after two of its CEOs resigned within months of each other, according to the New York Post.
A source in the company spoke to the New York Post and said that the leadership shakeups have caused a “lot of uncertainty” for FreshDirect.
Multiple sources told the paper that FreshDirect was losing several million dollars a month on approximately $600 million in annual sales.
The Bronx-based company — which recently started charging a 50 cent congestion fee for deliveries below 60th St in Manhattan — has approximately 50,000 customers across the five boroughs, in mostly-affluent neighborhoods
An executive at the company told the paper that it was requesting help from industry experts to get the business back on track. An investor who spoke to the paper warned that a turnaround was needed quickly, as the “clock is ticking” for FreshDirect.
Back in 2023 the company was sold by its Dutch owners to the Turkey-based Getir, but the grocer — which saw a major uptick in use during the pandemic when lockdowns kept shoppers away from in-person grocery shopping — was struggling even then.
A source told the paper that one of its previous CEOs, Sloan Eddleston, left amid concerns that Getir did not have the means to properly invest in the grocer. Hatice Evren, who oversaw FreshDirect’s US operations but has since resigned, said her time at the company was like a “rollercoaster” ride.
Adding to FreshDirect’s woes is the fact that it’s parent company, Getir, is in its own financial crisis. It ended all of its US operations save for FreshDirect in June, and pulled out of six European countries where it was doing business. The pullout was done as a way to secure a $250 million injection from an Abu Dhabi investment firm.
The cost of doing business with the firm may have been steeper than FreshDirect originally anticipated, Nazim Salur, the co-founder of FreshDirect, said in an X post last week. He added that the investors were trying to pull an “illegal coup” to force him out of the company.
The Independent has requested comment from FreshDirect.
FreshDirect paved the way for online grocery delivery when it started more than 20 years ago, but a slew of competitors — like DoorDash, Grub Hub, and Uber Eats, as well as direct meal delivery services like HelloFresh and Blue Apron — have cropped up in the years since.
