Cedarhurst-based online grocer growing fast

Are you tired of waiting in a long line to buy a bag of chips and a bottle of iced tea? Over the last few years there has been a dramatic increase in the number of customers opting to order their groceries online as opposed to going to their local supermarket, according to IBIS World, a market research company.

Tal Depot, a Cedarhurst-based online grocery delivery service with operations in Freeport, ranked No. 30 overall in the Inc. magazine list of the top 5,000 fastest growing companies in the U.S. in 2016. The company was co-founded by Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Reichmann and Chief Operating Officer Seth Yanofsky in 2012. Reichmann’s brother, Albert, is the supply chain manager.

The list is based on the percentage growth of an organization’s annual revenue over three years. Inc. used the revenue from 2012 and 2015. To qualify for the ranking, a company must have produced revenue by March 31, 2012; made at least $100,000 in 2012; generated at least $2 million in 2015; and be an independent, private, for-profit company in the U.S., according to Inc.’s website. 

The three-year growth for Tal Depot between 2012 and 2015 was 6,988 percent with $14.8 million in revenue for 2015 as posted on inc.com. Tal Depot was the No. 2 ranked retail company in the country and No. 4 in the state and New York City.

“It was a pleasant surprise,” said Jeremy Reichmann, a Cedarhurst resident, of being No. 30 overall. The recognition has helped increase visitors to the Tal Depot website, he added. The Cedarhurst office has 18 people working there and the Freeport warehouse has about 60 employees. Tal Depot began by selling mainly snacks and drinks and has since expanded to featuring 10,000 to 15,000 products.

After working in real estate and realizing that it was not for him, he came up with the concept for Tal Depot to save time and avoid waiting in long grocery store lines. As a testament to their success, one of their customers, Frank C., wrote: “Tal Depot has been easy to deal with! Excellent service, timely delivery and great prices on my favorite items.” 

Yeoli Steinberg, general manager of Gourmet Glatt in Cedarhurst, said that while online grocery delivery service is “one of the ways of the future,” he is confident that a customer picking up his or her own groceries will buy “fresher and better quality” products as opposed to online ordering. He added that Gourmet Glatt also offers an online service for customers to order their groceries for pickup or delivery. 

Reichmann said Tal Depot has serviced approximately 600,000 customers to date in primarily 48 states with minimal business in Alaska, Hawaii and internationally. New York has the most customers and California the second most. He said the company is noticing a shift from customers who would shop every two to four months for specific items to now more frequent orders on a regular basis. “We feel that we have a lot of growth left,” Reichmann said. 

The online grocery sales industry is expected to grow in the next five years and to increase 9.5 percent per year and become a $9.4 billion industry in 2017, according to IBIS World.