5 October 2013

Fruit and veg (and other grocery) delivery: How are you going?

| BimboGeek
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fruit bowl

As a vegan (and trying to eat more raw food) I am definitely in the market for lots of fruit and veggies, and the mixed seasonal delivery boxes look like a fantastic time saver now that I live in a house with room to store it all.

I’ve done some research for everyone’s benefit (including sifting through old threads on the topic) but I’m also after advice and feedback on the quality and variety of deliveries from the various providers. So far I’ve learned that I can’t completely dispense of a trip to Natural Living once in a while for bulk pantry items and that I might need to bite the bullet and go to the market to top up herbs and other vegies during the week.

My Priorities in a vegie delivery (what else can you think of?)

  • Lots of variety! A good quantity of the predictable stuff and a few exotic surprises to help me learn new recipes. The last thing I need is a box of potatoes, onions and apples! I can get those anywhere including my local IGA.
  • Plenty of fresh herbs and spices. There are plenty of yummy herbs that are rarely seen in supermarkets and I want them! It looks like I can order herbs from a limited number of suppliers but may need to go to the market for a top-up at least once a week anyway.
  • Lots of juice and salad friendly items. Like I said, I want to eat more raw food.

The currently available options (ranked in order of apparent awesomeness)

I’m thinking of ordering a box from each of the top 3 on this list to see how they go… but what do you think of the deliveries you’ve had from each of the suppliers listed?

http://www.vegiestoyourdoor.com.au/ Ugly website but they seem to have put the effort in where it counts. They claim an $80 mixed box will last us two weeks and also offer fruit only or veggie only boxes. Add a custom selection of herbs while ordering. Recommended in the thread after Hawleys closed and project a certain passion for their work.

http://shop.wiffens.com/ Shop for an exact desired order or just pick out a seasonal fruit and veggie box at your price point. I like that they have lots of organic deli and snack items, easily the best selection of pantry items although the quantities are a bit low. Great selection of green herbs plus all the dried spices.

http://www.canberraorganics.com.au/ Wow this looks like me! Fruit and veg boxes in some great options that seem to include the best variety, a vegan and vegetarian section for baking or fun things like tofu nuggets, organic baby soap, wipes and so on.. But sadly, no herbs or bulk grains available here.

http://wholefoodcentral.com.au Looks very similar to Canberra Organics including the pricing, specials and fantastic options for people with special dietary needs. More options than Canberra Organics, though still sadly lacking in the bulk grains and fresh herbs.

http://www.aussiefarmers.com.au Easily the best prices, lots of variety but unfortunately appears to be just focused on the fruit and veg box so you have to go elsewhere for the herbs, spices, grains and so on. I love that they include the recipes so you have some ideas to go with your box. There was a complaint when Hawleys was sold to Aussie Farmers that the quality wasn’t as good. Is this still true?

Coles do seasonal boxes but not Woolies. The prices are as good as Aussie Farmers but how is the quality and variety? They never seem to have that much fruit and veg available (apart from staples) when I go in there, so how are they planning to put together an interesting box?

Did I miss anyone?

Then please comment! I’m aware that MetroFarms did a trial and Simply Fresh are planning on getting online orders available to the public soon but I didn’t include them since they don’t seem to be currently active. Choku Bai Jo also considered delivery: did anything come of that?

[Photo by Håkan Dahlström CC BY 2.0]

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Malay_Dragon4:34 pm 10 Oct 13

My family get the $55 mixed box from Veggies to your door every fortnight.

They are not bad, however I have found that there is alot more fruit than veggies in the box.

annus_horribilis2:03 pm 08 Oct 13

Zan said :

I still do not understand why people do not take advantage of the local farmers and growers’ products at the farmers’ markets at Epic and CIT Woden.

If you have kids that distupt your shopping turn it into a teaching session on rowing and marketing and also on the varied vegetables and goods that are sold at the markets.

They are too far away to be convenient (I am in west belco), therefore it is less environmentally friendly for me to drive my car there, rather than have local produce delivered on a delivery run, that does one area in a day.
I am supporting a local business, and I have 1-2 hours of my time back each weekend. I don’t need a pocket full of cash. And I have access to a good range of seasonal fruit and veg.

I still do not understand why people do not take advantage of the local farmers and growers’ products at the farmers’ markets at Epic and CIT Woden.

Hi Zan

I don’t drive. My partner works on those days. It’s terribly hard to get to either place by bus, and when I have gone I have been beeped at by all sorts of cars annoyed that I dare to walk rather than drive at EPIC. As a much larger lady [but reducing size!], the times I do manage to go, I am pretty consistently stared at, mown down by people in the aisles not looking where they’re going and I don’t feel particularly welcome.

Whilst I am used to children pointing adults doing so does rather tend to put me off a place. Thankfully, we go Jabal Halal and still manage to get wonderfully fresh (and often local) produce.

I can’t speak for others, I suspect that kids or lack of car transport comes into play, but just as sure that the trek to get there might be too much in the midst of Saturday morning sport. Who knows, maybe they’re just electing their democratic right not to go.

Also, I have many friends who are retail workers who rely on public transport or work on the hours these markets are on. They often find the produce at these places prohibitively expensive. I have tried to point out places like Jabal to them, and they manage to find alternatives. A couple even do home delivery, but I don’t wonder at their motivations for doing so.

What I do know is that any initiative that gets people eating healthier should probably be applauded, rather than edicts or wonderment at the method by which people procure the healthy produce.

I still do not understand why people do not take advantage of the local farmers and growers’ products at the farmers’ markets at Epic and CIT Woden.

If you have kids that distupt your shopping turn it into a teaching session on growing and marketing and also on the varied vegetables and goods that are sold at themarkets.

annus_horribilis11:44 am 08 Oct 13

I am glad I have put some possible business your way Marketfresh, I have been happy with your service. Hope you will be able to keep up if you get lots 🙂

Yay for Marketfresh! What a trio of heroes, engaging with their market and trying to make everyone happy. I’ll have another look-see when my current stash of veggies starts to run low. 🙂

We have noticed A LOT of people coming to our site from this very page, so we thought we would show a little appreciation for this site!
Anyone placing an order as a direct result of this site is more than welcome to use a discount code RIOTACT to receive 10% off their order. This will be valid until this coming Saturday.
But feel free to jump over to http://www.mfty.net.au or http://www.mfty.ecwid.com from your mobile and enter your discount code in the checkout to receive your 10% off!
I would like to say a big thank you to the people who have visited our site from here and to the people who mentioned us first off! Being such a small family business, getting exposure like this is invaluable and greatly appreciated.
Thanks again,
Taylor

cavvygreen said :

I need to use Woolworths online because of severe illness in our family. This week’s specials include 3 items of fruit and veg, which turn out to be things pre packed potato salad.
However, I can choose from 181 biscuit and snack specials and 350 wine and beer specials.
One doesn’t have to be a genius to work out where their main source of profit is.
Thank you for the info on fresh fruit and veg deliveries. Most helpful.

Woolies do booze-2-ur-door? That sounds like something that should have been legislated against 5 years ago and also something that I would love to take advantage of 😀

I need to use Woolworths online because of severe illness in our family. This week’s specials include 3 items of fruit and veg, which turn out to be things pre packed potato salad.
However, I can choose from 181 biscuit and snack specials and 350 wine and beer specials.
One doesn’t have to be a genius to work out where their main source of profit is.
Thank you for the info on fresh fruit and veg deliveries. Most helpful.

I am a part of the Market Fresh To You business, and would just like to respond to a couple of the comments that have appeared above…
We are only a 3 person family business and are still trying to work out the best mixtures to put in the boxes. We only have so many potatoes in our pre mixed boxes as they are suited to the family size who would order them. And we only include eggs in one of our boxes, the Extra Large Family box. These are in there as a value added item.
All of our boxes give you the option of swapping items in and out so you are able to customize the box to suit your family requirements and we give the option of compiling your own from scratch. We compare our prices to the supermarkets and generally we are a little cheaper, and along with the fact that we source our produce from local growers AND from Sydney markets DAILY, so the produce is going to last longer. This along with the fact that we do not charge for delivery does make our service more viable for most families.
You can find out more about us at http://www.mfty.net.au or if you are on a mobile you are able to view our online shop at http://www.mfty.ecwid.com
We are always looking for ways to improve our service, range and overall consumer appeal, so feel free to let us know what you would like to see available!
Thanks

poetix said :

BimboGeek said :

BTW lovely editors that’s a lovely picture you found for my article….

Surely that is just a photo of JB’s morning tea? For he is as a monster to the fruit, if rumour be true.

Thank you for such an informative post, BimboGeek. My ideal would be a big box of fruit and veggies with a few little beer bottles nestled amongst the raspberries like guardian gnomes.

And the occasional camembert, I must admit. (-:

The nestling beer would be very appropriate. I think those be Cox’s Orange Pippins, and they happen to have been cultivar’ed by a gentleman brewer.

https://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=logo#!/pages/Market-Fresh-To-You/275663542560907

this mob is based in goulburn but do deliver to some areas of canberra

BimboGeek said :

BTW lovely editors that’s a lovely picture you found for my article….

Surely that is just a photo of JB’s morning tea? For he is as a monster to the fruit, if rumour be true.

Thank you for such an informative post, BimboGeek. My ideal would be a big box of fruit and veggies with a few little beer bottles nestled amongst the raspberries like guardian gnomes.

And the occasional camembert, I must admit. (-:

I use Vegies to Your Door. While it might seem a bit more expensive than buying at Coles the quality is outstanding and the produce lasts so much longer than the stuff from supermarkets so you end up saving money because you aren’t throwing it out.

BTW lovely editors that’s a lovely picture you found for my article. 😀 Even though it’s just apples, mandarins and oranges it reminds me of the farm I grew up on, puts me in mind of nectarines, peaches, apricots… I WANT TO EAT IT ALL!!!!! NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM 😛

DrKoresh said :

I think it’s highly unlikely that anyone living above the poverty line in this country is suffering from malnutrition because they cook the vitamins out of their food.

Agreed, highly doubtful. My last case of malnutrition was due to lack of sunshine caused by my long work weeks. (My vitamin D levels were a little low when tested a few months ago and my doc asked me to get a half hour of sunshine 3 times a week.) But I do know plenty of people suffering heart disease, metabolic syndrome/diabetes and other organ decay exacerbated by their reliance on overprocessed crap food. They say it’s not a good idea to go over 70% raw on a long term basis. I doubt many of us get anywhere near that.

annus_horribilis said :

We use Market fresh to you, they are good value and reasonable quality.

Sounds delicious. I found them at http://mfty.net.au/ and am looking at the contents of their juice boxes. Eww they put eggs in their mixed fruit and veggie box! lol. I think the people arguing in favour of the “pick your own” box are really on to something. Everyone puts in far too much potatoes too. 😀

Masquara said :

You don’t mind paying more than twice the going rate for green beans? Do you compare prices, or just trust that they aren’t overcharging?

Oh Masquara, always with the condescending tone, implying that no-one could possibly have thought of the things that you can think of. Why would you assume that I’m too stupid to compare prices? or that I’m hopelessly naive?

If you must know, yes, I did compare their prices, converting them to per-kilo prices (or as close as possible for the per-piece pricing) and found them to be steep. However, on the description of the large seasonal box (will do a large family for a week) I thought it might be better value than buying items separately. I determined to order for few weeks to test it out. I have found the large seasonal box to be roughly equivalent to the markets, but the quality is better. I have decided to extend my trial run indefinitely. In judging value, I might add, I am prepared to pay a small premium on convenience. We have two smallish children, I work and study and my partner works as well. We’re very busy and getting market-quality veg on my doorstep once a week is a load off. However, I do not think we are paying that premium now, although in the depths of winter perhaps we were.

I would think this information was implied in my post, by the simple fact that a) I stated that we eat a lot of veg, so presumably I know what they cost; and, b) I am satsfied with it. I hope I have covered every particular for you, Masquara, so you can happily go and nitpick elsewhere.

Good day to you.

I used to get Canberraorganics quite a while ago. it was great, but too much for us to fit in the fridge all in one hit. {also I think they are really in bathurst).

Aussie Farmers quality is not so good, and the box always has potatoes, carrots and lettuce. I think they are a bit rough with the fruit and veg, or they have storage trouble. Bananas often have lots of bruises and broccoli used to have lines on it – as if it had been hurled into a shopping trolley.

annus_horribilis9:54 pm 05 Oct 13

We use Market fresh to you, they are good value and reasonable quality. You can select your own or a pre set box. We order a weeks worth of fruit and veg that we select for around $40.
They also do herbs eggs and other bits.

I think it’s highly unlikely that anyone living above the poverty line in this country is suffering from malnutrition because they cook the vitamins out of their food, but it’s heartening to hear that you don’t seem to buy the claims of the more extreme raw fooders. I prefer raw veggies to boiled veggies, but then again nothing beats nice roast veggies.

BimboGeek said :

DrKoresh said :

What is the benefit of eating raw food? Rather, what is the perceived benefit of eating raw food?

Well you could go through the raw vegan literature and read the stories about enzymes being torn apart above whatever arbitrary number they pick, somewhere around the 50 degrees mark, thereby making your food impossible to digest. But for me it’s more about pregnancy cravings and the general desire to eat more fruit and veggies and get lots of vitamins. I don’t think that the science on raw food is in favour of the extreme “raw only” opinion, but that it’s good to mix more raw in as cooking does diminish the value of certain vitamins (yes others are enhanced or untouched).

Excellent, reasonable answer to an extremely arrogant and condescending question. I often wonder what DrKoresh perceives the benefits of his posts to be.

Also, great thread topic, thanks for the info.

DrKoresh said :

What is the benefit of eating raw food? Rather, what is the perceived benefit of eating raw food?

Well you could go through the raw vegan literature and read the stories about enzymes being torn apart above whatever arbitrary numer they pick, somewhere around the 50 degrees mark, thereby making your food impossible to digest. But for me it’s more about pregnancy cravings and the general desire to eat more fruit and veggies and get lots of vitamins. I don’t think that the science on raw food is in favour of the extreme “raw only” opinion, but that it’s good to mix more raw in as cooking does diminish the value of certain vitamins (yes others are enhanced or untouched).

Zan said :

Why do you not go to the Farmers’ Markets, one on the northside at EPIC on Saturdays 7.30 – 11.30 am and the other on Sundays at CIT in Mawson on Hindmarsh Drive 8 am – noon.

Well I’ve just been to Fyshwick market to fill my fridge but pregnancy, difficult to get around etc. 🙂 It’s still fun but it’s pretty difficult fun.

Masquara said :

Vegies to your door have listed green beans at $4.15 for 250 grams! (and that doesn’t appear to be organic beans). That is $16.60 a kilo!
IGA – hardly reputed to be a cheap outlet – is selling excellent green beans for $7.99 a kilo …

Hmmmm this is a good catch! With a trip to the market at least I can shop for bargains and compare prices! :/

beejay76 said :

I get the $80 box weekly from Vegies to your Door on an automatic order. I love it. We have four in our family, and we eat quite a bit of veg, so there’s no way it would last us two weeks.

I highly recommend these guys.

You don’t mind paying more than twice the going rate for green beans? Do you compare prices, or just trust that they aren’t overcharging?

Why do you not go to the Farmers’ Markets, one on the northside at EPIC on Saturdays 7.30 – 11.30 am and the other on Sundays at CIT in Mawson on Hindmarsh Drive 8 am – noon.

Vegies to your door have listed green beans at $4.15 for 250 grams! (and that doesn’t appear to be organic beans). That is $16.60 a kilo!
IGA – hardly reputed to be a cheap outlet – is selling excellent green beans for $7.99 a kilo …

What is the benefit of eating raw food? Rather, what is the perceived benefit of eating raw food?

I get the $80 box weekly from Vegies to your Door on an automatic order. I love it. We have four in our family, and we eat quite a bit of veg, so there’s no way it would last us two weeks.

In the fruit section I typically get apples, oranges, blood oranges, pears, strawberries, rockmelon or pineapple, lemon, maybe some passionfruit and an avocado or two.

Veges are tomatoes, potato, sweet potato, broccoli, cauli, beans, zucchini, carrots, cucumbers,snow peas, pumpkin and other bits and pieces including various greens, maybe some parsnips or leeks, cabbage, eggplant, squash, spring onions, mushrooms and so on.

I have never received onions, garlic, ginger, or fresh herbs in my box, so I still buy those as needed (until my garden starts producing, anyway – grow, you bastards!!)

I’ve only been getting the deliveries for a couple of months (right through the least productive time of year) so I’m looking forward to seeing how it changes as the seasons change. Spring has already brought us in increase in fresh greens, and the expansion of our ‘box’ to two actual boxes.. You can also make a standing change to your order: we asked for less potato, because we don’t eat it a lot.

I have found the service to be exemplary. Oh, and they carry Jindebah coffee 🙂

I highly recommend these guys.

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