Fruit/veg delivery

Sarahwx

i used abel and cole for a long time but the service went really down hill, poor quality fruits and veg, shocking delivery-constantly leaving it next door. I think they just got to big to fast.. the value of the boxes was really poor also.
shame as when i first started with them they were fantastic and it was exciting seeing what came each week!
the website and recipies ideas are fab..but you can buy your products elsewher and still use the site1 i would use them again if i started hearing the standard had gone up again but im certainly going ot check some of the links provided here as well
xx

Justie

bebee wrote:

Hi,
I did try a Veg box delivery for a few weeks last year from memory a company called Harvest?
£15.00 box veg was really good, just one query though i found that there was not enough for a family of 4 just to explain :
3 carrots - for a meal
i did query it at the time and was told they go by weight of the box ?
does anyone know of any other companys i could look into.

you sometimes get that with the mixed boxes as they try to go for variety rather than bulk. It's generally better than the alternativ - Simply Organic (RIP) always had bags of 8 kiwi fruit and HUGE bags of onions and we always ended up chucking some away. If you have a supplier where you can order extra veg then they tend to be bigger bags as you've ordered that product specifically so we often order extra bananas and sweet potato even if they're in our box already as we know we'll use them.

clairefun

I used to use abel & cole for a small veg box but we had to cancel it as we didn't have the spare cash, I'm hoping to go back to it soon though as it was very good and I was always very pleased by it. I too loved the way you can add your likes & dislikes and we'd get lots of things we'd never tried before which was ever so exciting.

madmum33

V.Lucky wrote:

I use these:

http://www.flightsorchardorganics.co.uk/Flights%20Organic%20Products.asp

Don't know if they go where you are based in Shropshire. Always been pleased with the quality and quantities, although I am tempted to try boxfresh just to see how the qualities/quantities compare.

I've been thinking of trying these after seeing them on the local news. Can you tell me a little more about your experience with them, ie. which box you order and the quantity you actually get for your money? I thought I might try the Multi Veg box @ £12.95.

Ruth

flis21

Right, just taken the plunge, ordered my first veg box, well ordered one small veg box, one small fruit box and a bag of potatoes for £22.50, have said that I want fortnightly deliveries, will see how long that lost lasts me and how well it keeps.

It is being delivered on Thursday, so will come on and let u know what I got then.

Clive_Woody

kate83 wrote:

Just had a look on the abel and cole website and this page is great
http://www.abel-cole.co.uk/default.aspx?tab=ThisWeek&menu1=ok
just click on the info button by the side of the name of veg and it gives you info on storage, nutrition, how to prepare and recipes - great if you've got a new veg and don't know what to do with it

We've been with Abel and Cole for a couple of years now and they've been great. Their website tells you in advance what you will be getting each week in your box. You can select items you don't like to not be sent (neither of us like celery and we got a bit fed up of so many courgettes last year so blocked these from being sent). You can go through and block all sorts (either by type e.g. potatoes, or a particular sort e.g. purple sprouting brocolli), if a blocked item is due to be in your box they will select a replacement so you don't miss out on the number of items in your box.

We chose to do this because we found we were always buying the same fruit and veg from the supermarket and getting bored. This way you get to try new things every week. We have the small mixed box and sometimes add things if we have guest or want extra fruit or veg.

lauralla

Well I have just received my first box delivery from Bonxfreshorganics. It is a mixed fruit and veg box costing £11, and is apparently their most popular box, and this is what came:
2 leeks
large brocolli
cauliflower
4 large (and dirty!) carrots
6 small turnips, and a recipe for ideas to cook them
8 potatoes
6 bananas
4 apples
6 kiwi fruit
It all looks lovely! :j

newlywed

I'm jealous of everyone that can do this. The suppliers seem to only deliver on a set day (when I am at work). Their alternative is to leave it somewhere safe - I live in a flat where the main entrance doors are constantly left open and don't honestly believe it would be there when I got home.

The other option of a lock box wouldn't be much better as knowing the area I'm in, they'd just swipe that too!!

Anyone else any ideas on this?

prettypennies

Do you have a relative or friend you could have it delivered to and collect from them or maybe to you place of work. Some veg box schemes have a kind of co-operative where the boxes are delivered to one house locally and you collect from them, I think Goosemoor may do this.

Justie

newlywed - look at the really local schemes and ask at local farmers markets - one near my mum's leaves boxes at the local post office and general store and one near to us has a local agent who take in all the boxes so that it saves the farmer having to deliver to each individual address everyone then collects the box when it suits. There's usually a way round it if it's a local enough scheme it's the bigger ones that are less flexible