Grocery Delivery

When Robert S. Donnenfeld ’07 and Adam R. Mahfouda ’07 launched fillyourfridge.com last month, they knew they faced some formidable competition. A month before, Harvard Student Agencies (HSA) had already begun delivering groceries to the doors of hungry Harvard students—the same service fillyourfridge.com planned to provide.

So the two sophomores, who are roommates as well as business partners, took action. First, they decided to undercut HSA’s prices. A 24-pack of soda is $10.99 at HSA.net, but only $9.99 from fillyourfridge.com.

Then they thought: devil horns. One ad likens a devil-horned President Bush to an overpaying HSA customer. Only the devil, apparently, would give his money to HSA.

HSA Manager Michael E. Kopko ’07 says his company remains unfazed, though the delivery service plans to meet its competitor’s challenge by lowering prices next month.

In the meantime, the boys at fillyourfridge have also kept on their game faces.

“We would dominate [the competition] in every aspect,” says Donnenfeld, who, along with Mahfouda, is one of fillyourfridge’s three employees. “The people who run fillyourfridge.com are much cooler.”

But price wars and claims to coolness aren’t the only way the companies have differentiated themselves. While fillyourfridge.com delivers its snacks and beverages—anything from Poland Spring to Easy Mac—to your door on weekends, HSA delivers any day of the week, but only during select weeks. (Kopko explains that since his company delivers in bulk, demand isn’t high enough to merit being on-call all the time.)

Both companies offer bulk delivery for special occasions like parties, study breaks, and late-night binges. Both offer a diverse line of snacks and beverages, though in addition to standards like 24-packs of Diet Coke, HSA also offers extras like Charmin Toilet Paper and Beirut-ready red cups.

While both cite the other as their most formidable competition, like all smackdowns, this one has a dark horse.

Broadway Marketplace (www.broadwaymarketplace.com), by far the most comprehensive online grocery service, offers not just snacks and sodas, but also meats, fruits, vegetables—even alcohol. There is one catch: a $5 delivery charge for purchases under $50, according to manager Richard V. Sabounjian.

Despite the notable rivalries, Kopko looks on the economic bright side: competition “works best for the student,” he says.

Feldstein would be proud.