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

jenster

i have used both riverford and able and cole -- able and cole i find best cos u can substitute the veg u dont like for ones u do
BUT i think if u took fiveteen quid into say aldi's u could get more then that comes in the boxes even in mr T's or asdas i can get loads for 15 quid


so its what suits you

janiebaby29

Abel and cole , I like because you can change what you want to a degree ,
If anyone is thinking of ordering from them , pm me as i can get you something extra

Ballerinacaz

We're looking into getting some fruit and veg delivered to our door as we have noticed that the quality in supermarkets isn't great and we don't often manage to go to the local market.
My dad is a bit wary of this though, as one of his friends once had things delivered and the fruit and veg was often off or had bugs in or was bashed up by the time it got to its destination.
Mum is also a little worried as you don't know what you are getting in a box, so would have to plan meals around the box rather than using whats in the box for planned meals...
We live in north yorkshire, between harrogate and york so can anyone recommend a good scheme? And also is there anywhere that delivers, but instead of getting a pre-packed box, you get to decide what goes in?
Sorry for the kind of long post x

stef240377

Have a look at Abel and Cole and another one is Riverford. You do not have to have prepacked boxes there are options to build your own. You can choose the prepacked ones and specify whether or not you eat the produce in there to add as favourites etc.

I believe on the vouchers board and HUKD there is an offer available to new customers where if you order over £15 a week for so many weeks they give you an account credit of £50. The other voucher i found earlier was spend over £20 on first shop and they give you £10 off your second shop.

Both of the above places deliver and when you type in your postcode on the main page will tell you which days they deliver in your area.

v8monkeyboy

Hi,

We used to use the Organic Pantry, based in Tadcaster. My mum still has he milk delivered by them, and I know they used to allow you to choose your own veg for the box.

As far as I remember the veg and fruit was always top qualitym and if not, they were lovely enough to refund and exchange the next week.

They can be found here: http://www.theorganicpantry.co.uk/

T xx

Ballerinacaz

hmm, riverford seems good for veg but a little lacking with the fruit, abel and cole would have been a bit better, if they'd've delivered to our area!
Both seem more expensive than I would've expected too... Maybe I just have too high expectations x

newleaf

I have an organic veg box delivered from a small independent scheme operator (we don't eat much fruit, so I stick to a veg box). Unfortunately, my lady is based in West Yorks and doesn't cover your area. I make the following observations.
First, the cons:
Organic veg doesn't keep as well as the stuff you buy at a supermarket.
It comes covered in soil, and is often oddly shaped and marked.
It does sometimes have bugs, slugs, worms etc in amongst.
Now the pros:
I get the mystery box, I like the element of surprise and find they offer the best value, but with my scheme you can choose what you want from the (extensive) list if you want to.
My lady also offers European non air freight stuff as well as British grown, which means you can have a bit of variety, which is very welcome at this time of year, in particular.
She delivers home made bread & baked goodies too, as well as a range of fair trade and eco friendly products, and often pops something extra in my box if she has a surplus.
She also gives out free recipes.
Whatever I have left at the end of the week goes into a big pan of soup, which I take to work for my lunches.
HTH

Here's a linky for those who live in West Yorks: http://www.avidorganics.co.uk/ - She's very good

rachbc

my friend uses riverford and rates them, I tried several schemes many years ago and didn't like any of them at all

Mumof2_2

I have had organic boxes from both Riverford and Abel & Cole (A&C twice). I thought it sounded a really good idea and it was - but each time I found I just wasn't using the veg and it would be sat at the back of the fridge going off. It doesn't last as long as normal veg and I did find I was planning my meals to use the veg, rather than having them to go alongside the main meal if you know what I mean.

What made me decide was I was spending £16 each week and I chucked out a carrier bag full of going off veg/fruit - not very economical.

Ballerinacaz

New leaf - your delivery lady sounds fab! If only there was something like that in my area... x