Veg box delivery

Rosemary7391

Has anyone signed up for this sort of thing? Any tips/experiences?



Perhaps not the most MSE, but I'm thinking it'll help me avoid impulse buys in the supermarket and eat more veg. I can get milk delivered as well so I should only need to go to the big supermarket once a month then. Just a bit concerned I'm going to end up deluged in veg - they're not very clear about how much of each thing there is in the box and its just me to feed. I'm also hoping it'll be better quality, no more wilted broccoli.

Olliebeak1951

I tried this ONCE - and was quite disappointed with the contents .

I found there were nowhere near enough potatoes (only about 6 of them) - well not when compared with the amount of other veg. I was stuck with cauliflower, cabbage and 'black' kale which I found impossible to use up while they were 'at their very best' as well as carrots, 2 onions and a tiny swede. The lettuce that I received was a cos (flat one) which was useless by the following day.

Even worse was the fact that it cost me around triple the amount I would have paid at my local supermarket - I didn't place a repeat order .

I much prefer to choose my own vegetables / salad to get the amount that I know I want and can use.

trailingspouse

I've flirted with the idea of doing this - but when I compared the cost of a box of miscellaneous veg to what I was paying at the supermarket for veg that I actually wanted and knew I would use, I decided it wasn't worth it.


The simplest way to avoid impulse buys is not to buy on impulse. Plan your meals, and only buy what you know you'll use. And have a back up plan for using up any surplus (it's amazing what veggies you can put into a bolognaise sauce...)

Glad

I have the Riverford box delivered weekly and I love it

my regular order is a large veg and fruit box with no potatos, but I can check each week what will be in the box and choose another if I want to, e.g. a smaller box with veg I want topped up with single items from the site

costwise I compared it to supermarket veg and it was around £1.50 dearer, I did compare to organic fruit and veg though as that's what comes in the box

my box comes on a thursday and at the weekend I have a cooking session to make sure nothing goes off, I roast veg and use it cold in my lunch boxes, or make soup, fruit gets used up in smoothies

I can cancel at any time or take a break from deliveries

I don't do it for convenience as I call in Aldi at least 4 days a week, I just like knowing where the veg comes from and it's always been great quality

Riverford send you recipe ideas with each box for the veg it contains and there are lots of recipes on the website

VfM4meplse

Glad wrote: »

I have the Riverford box delivered weekly and I love it

my regular order is a large veg and fruit box with no potatos, but I can check each week what will be in the box and choose another if I want to, e.g. a smaller box with veg I want topped up with single items from the site

costwise I compared it to supermarket veg and it was around £1.50 dearer, I did compare to organic fruit and veg though as that's what comes in the box

my box comes on a thursday and at the weekend I have a cooking session to make sure nothing goes off, I roast veg and use it cold in my lunch boxes, or make soup, fruit gets used up in smoothies

I can cancel at any time or take a break from deliveries

I don't do it for convenience as I call in Aldi at least 4 days a week, I just like knowing where the veg comes from and it's always been great quality

Thats the problem - most veg needs cooking and I refuse to set aside half a day of the weekend in the kitchen to find inventive ways to cook it so I can eat all week - so much easier to make a sandwich or have a bowl of cereal when I'm hungry.

If I'm going to end up souping it for convenience, I may as well just stick to Lidl / Aldi. This works just fine regardless of the quality of the veg . Which reminds me, it's the season of yummy squashes so it's time to get the stockpot out again

Rosemary7391

Thanks folks!



I struggle with buying veg in tesco etc - not much choice in my local, most comes prepacked so I can't just get for instance one parsnip, I need to buy a whole packet. Only one type of apple available loose, one type of potato. And other stuff often just looks a bit miserable. I've looked through the list of things they've included before and quite like the look of them, especially some of the more unusual squashes. Last butternut squash from Tesco I didn't actually cook because it was so strangely fibrous inside, looked really weird...






It would be a Friday delivery so perfect for me - I'm quite happy to cook all weekend ready for the week ahead.



Ollie - that number of potatoes would be plenty for me! I eat a lot of rice/pasta and that lot would go great in some dishes I cook

mattpaint

Riverford is perfect for me. I prioritise eating organic and I can check what's coming so I can edit it really easily by switching.

Molillie

I have an Abel and Cole delivery once a fortnight. Generally very happy with it. It's easy to adapt and change the order, and skip weeks, etc. As Glad says above about Riverford. It is raw, fresh veg. and fruit, so if you don't like preparing and cooking it might not be right for you.
I've never had any items where the quality wasn't excellent, and it works well for me, because I do tend to see "bargains" in the supermarket, and impulse buy despite my best intentions.
I did order a supermarket online shop once when getting over flu, and wouldn't do that again. There were some substitutions, and also the fresh items were not what I would have picked.

Savvy_Sue

There's a couple of 'local' schemes around me which are I think cheaper than A&C and Riverford, but without the choice, plus my local greengrocer will deliver weekly.

ATM I get a large fruit delivery which lasts two of us all week, although there's not enough of everything so we do supplement. Plus if I've got cooking time at the weekend, I go for a 'Veg on the Edge' bag. It's 'rejects' from the main deliveries, but there's very little I've had to throw away. Although if they ever send Salsify again that's what will happen ...

With that and milk 3 times a week, we have far fewer trips to the local supermarket.

Rosemary7391

The one I'm looking at is a local one - Riverford and Abel and Cole don't deliver here. They're also cheaper, a small box is just £5 (but £8 minimum spend for delivery, which costs £2). They seem to have a decent variety and lots of it is grown very locally too.

littlegreenparrot

I have used a local company, 5 a day box, for years now.

It works very well for me, they will let you change up to 8 items in the box, and I can cancel the week if I want to. There have only very rarely been issues and it has never been a problem to get it fixed.

I get home on a Thursday and it's like the fairies have been and dropped off a box of goodies I find it makes me eat more, and a greater variety of veg.