Fruit and veg boxes - are they good value for money?

flea72

if the boxes have gone up by more than it would cost to pay Tesco to deliver, then i would go with online food shopping. As you say organic isnt your biggest concern, price is, so it might work out cheaper to just buy chemically raised veg, plus the delivery charge.

Flea

[Deleted User]

My weekly riverford box came today and as always it is extremely good value. We have the medium box, fruit box and 2 litres of milk, for 2 adults and we use every single bit, every week. I love having my weeks veggies and fruit delivered to my door as well as carrying on the organic path I took the family on 37 years ago to now. £25 a week isn`t a lot, I just add beans and flour and a little meat and we eat like kings

abaxas

Incoming rant!!

Most organic produce is less 'green' than the farmed stuff. This is due to larger energy requirements for growing. Eg organic wheat uses about 2x the energy of the intensive version.

It's a hard choice to make, better food and have a large co2 footprint or crap food that is often more 'green'.

Rant 2!

Dont get your box delivered to your door, personal delivery is VERY wasteful on fuel.

Ben84

You could price up the items from your box on mysupermarket.co.uk and see how it compares.

However, supermarkets can be a more expensive way to buy fruit and vegetables. Also not as fresh I find. I prefer to buy these items from markets and greengrocers.

You're probably also avoiding a load of plastic packaging you don't need and saving time with the box.

competitionscafe

"Organic vegeboxes can work out cheaper than buying non-organic vegetables from the major supermarkets and up to 65 per cent cheaper than supermarket organic produce".
http://blog.klockworks.co.uk/blog/_archives/2008/9/7/3872286.html

I love my weekly organic box - just need to get some meat or fish from local fishmonger or butcher round the corner and that's my dinners sorted for the week (I also eat a vegetarian meal a few times a week). I am supporting a local farmer, the veg is always fresh and tasty and has not been on a journey round the country before sitting in a 'national distribution centre' somewhere waiting to be trucked to Tesco etc (it's growing in the field one day and in my kitchen the next day) and I can contact the person who grows the veg whenever I want by email or phone...

competitionscafe

abaxas wrote: »

Rant 2!

Dont get your box delivered to your door, personal delivery is VERY wasteful on fuel.

Surely one person in one van doing a weekly journey into town delivering lots of boxes to lots of people is better and more efficient than all those people getting into cars and driving to the supermarket individually?

My veg box delivery van also goes to 2 of my neighbours at the same address (tenement flats) and I know another veg box company who delivers several customers boxes to someone who volunteers to be a drop off point (in exchange for a discount on their own box) and then the customers collect from that person (as a lot of them are out at work during the day during deliveries so prefer to collect on their way home).

Penelope_Penguin

catkinq wrote: »

What does everyone think about these? We've been having one for a year or so now. I decided to accept the fact that supermarkets were too clever for me and that I alwasy bought stuff I didn't need so I figured that avoiding going was the key to saving money. Getting a veg box delivered (we are veggie and can get eggs and milk cheaply locally) in theory would mean that I could really cut down on supermarket visits. This has sort of worked - we now no longer ever really #have# to go, as we always have something in to eat and can stock up on flour, rice etc but I do struggle with things like menu planning. The price has also gone up twice in as many months so I think that the balance is shifting. I'm not so bothered about stuff bein gorganic - I was motivated by the ability not to be tied to a weekly supermarket shop. What do you think of teh price comparisions? We use Riverford - does anyone use any others (we are in East somerset, pretty rural - no one else except Tesco will deliver). Are they all going up rapidly in price?

I've had veg boxes in the past, found that the quality is good, but prices high I now cycle to my local farm shop a couple of times a week for fruit and veg. Good quality, ectremely local and much cheaper

I'll add this to the existing veg box thread so that you can see what other companies deliver

Penny. x

flea72

competitionscafe wrote: »

Surely one person in one van doing a weekly journey into town delivering lots of boxes to lots of people is better and more efficient than all those people getting into cars and driving to the supermarket individually

i don think they were referring to the miles done to deliver the boxes, more the distance the fruit/veg have to travel to the main distribution centre, and then on to the regional distributor, and then onto the buyers.

Organic fruit/veg will most likely have to travel more miles, as the farms are more select and spaced out.

Flea

Ianna

Guys you can sign up to Quidco, buy a one off box from Abel and Cole and get £10 back on it. Just incase anyone doesn't know this!

melli_2

I've used Abel and Cole for about three months now and the only issues I've had were a potato going weird and leaky and carrots going mouldy (I'm keeping them in the fridge now!) along with an order for spring onions magically disappearing...
It is more expensive than the supermarket but at the same time having it delivered does mean I don't go to Mr T every week. I worked out that I probably save about £20 a month (although I have moved into my own place so I need to stock up on things that I would borrow from my flatmates)
I get the small mixed box and being on my own it can be a bit too much but I cook it up and freeze it and it also means I get my 5 a day!!