Peapod Attacks FreshDirect in Manhattan With Low Prices: Retail

FreshDirect’s orange-and-green delivery trucks have ruled Manhattan’s double-parked streets for a decade, catering to New Yorkers too harried to schlep to the grocery store. Lately, its drivers have found themselves jockeying for space at the curb with vans from rival Peapod.

Peapod, owned by Dutch retailer Royal Ahold NV, is the biggest Internet grocer in the U.S., yet it waited until 2011 to enter Manhattan, where FreshDirect estimates it has 80 percent of the market. To catch up, Peapod is offering free delivery and cheaper prices on everyday goods like coffee and milk.