04/01/2008 (Earth Times) - New York City's first biodiesel company, Tri-State Biodiesel, is proud to announce that beginning today it will be filling FreshDirect's delivery trucks with clean-burning biodiesel blended fuel.  The biodiesel fuel, which is made primarily from waste cooking oil collected from New York City restaurants, will be phased in to FreshDirect's fuel supply over the course of the next 2 months.  By February 08, FreshDirect's entire fleet will be biodiesel powered, making it the largest private trucking fleet in the city to go biodiesel.

Today's news represents a great milestone for New York City, as it helps to establish clean-burning, renewable, biodiesel fuel as a mainstream option for the cities fleet managers.  This is also a victory for Tri-State's strategy of urban biodiesel from recycled oils as a sustainable model for biofuels production.  According to the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratories, biodiesel made from recycled cooking oil produces 5.5 times the amount of energy used to create it.

Tri-State Biodiesel estimates FreshDirect's switch to biodiesel to result in a yearly reduction of approximately 7.5 million pounds of global warming- causing carbon dioxide, here in NYC.  In addition, this switch will result in reduced levels of other harmful emissions such as carbon monoxide, sulfur, unburned hydrocarbons and particulate matter.  All of these pollutants have been linked to health problems such as asthma and cancer, and will be reduced by FreshDirect's use of homegrown biodiesel fuel.

"I congratulate FreshDirect's leadership in helping New York City clean up its air and become more energy independent, and hope other fleets in the city will step up and do the right thing as well," says Tri-State's founder Brent Baker.

"The announcement today is the culmination of an ongoing partnership between FreshDirect and Tri-State Biodiesel. FreshDirect first partnered with Tri-State this summer for the collection of FreshDirect's used cooking oils to be converted into a source of biodiesel fuel. Today, we are closing the loop and powering our vehicles with the very same clean and efficient fuel that we have contributed to producing. This partnership underlines FreshDirect's strong commitment to being a responsible member of the New York City community," says Adrian Williams, FreshDirect's Senior Vice President of Transportation.

About Tri-State Biodiesel
Tri-State Biodiesel, New York City's biodiesel pioneer, provides NYC with top notch waste cooking oil collection service free of charge and clean burning, recycled oil-produced biodiesel fuel of the highest quality.  Tri- State's biodiesel is an EPA approved and certified alternative diesel fuel made waste cooking oil collected at local restaurants that is much better for our health, economy and the environment.  Our biodiesel can be used in any diesel engine and no engine conversions are necessary.  Tri-State Biodiesel is proud to the first biodiesel fleet fuel provider in the city and looks forward to continuing to supply this great renewable fuel.  More information available at http://www.tristatebiodiesel.com/

About FreshDirect
Founded in 1999, FreshDirect is one of the nation's leading online meals and fresh food manufacturing and delivery services. FreshDirect is setting a new standard for fresh food production and distribution by offering unparalleled quality, product customization, and value pricing from its state- of-the-art kitchen facility in Long Island City. The company is expanding rapidly and currently serves most of Manhattan and locations in Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx, as well as parts of New Jersey, Westchester, and Nassau County. The company's vision is to change consumers' lives by providing the ultimate shopping experience for impossibly fresh food and meal solutions. The company currently has over 250,000 customers and has fulfilled over 5 million orders since opening for business in September 2002. Additional information can be found at http://www.freshdirect.com/.