organic boxes was £10 now £8 tesco.com

newmommyjen

Medium Organic Box

Sown, grown, harvested and delivered to your door

A seasonal selection of 8 different organic salads, vegetables and fruit which changes every week. The Shropshire family has farmed in the Fens, in East Anglia, for over 50 years; they work with an extended 'family' of growers, to bring you the best of fresh organic produce. For more information on growers & the family, please visit our website at www.shropshires.com.

• To view weekly contents of our Box, please visit www.shropshiresorganics.co.uk.
• You'll always find some of the staples in our boxes as well as a selection of more exciting items to try when they're in season.
• Newsletter with news from the farm and recipe ideas.
• Free recipe card from our Fenland chef to help you get the most from your box.

newmommyjen

Box contents from: 14th JanuaryMedium box


8 products

• Broccoli Spain 1
• Tomatoes Spain 300g
• Green Batavia Lettuce Spain 1
• Carrots UK 400g
• Potatoes (Lady Balfour) UK 750g
• Pepper Israel 1
• Lemons Italy 2
• Oranges Italy 3

VeryTrying_2

I've had a look at the Shropshire's website which says "discovering what's in your organic box is part of the fun of eating with the seasons!"

What do they mean "EATING WITH THE SEASONS"? They import stuff from all over the world and then pretend they are offering a seasonal selection. Out of the eight items in the medium box, only two are from the UK - carrots and potatoes. What would be wrong with including some British veg such as parsnips, swede or mushrooms?

I know I shouldn't confuse "organic" with "environmentally friendly", but I think it would be more honest to stick to the UK seasons. After all, everything is in season SOMEWHERE in the world!

Rant over ....... sorry. I just have a thing about honest food, as against pretentious food.

bobdauilda

I have tried this box twice and have been very disappointed with the quality of the produce. The last box was dreadful with half of the stuff past its best and fit only for the bin. Mostly Class II veg which according to the company is the highest an 'organic' product can be classed. Loads of mud on the veg to 'authenticate' its organic status too. As the post above says- a lot of their veg is imported like their dutch beetroot, spanish toms & lettuce.
Complained to the company and they weren't particularly interested although Tesco refunded the item due to its dreadful quality. DYOR but I won't buy again.

susieb

I wouldnt buy anything from shropshires, they are well known locally as one of the worst employers.

penrhyn

Bit misleading is this, being a Shropshire lad myself, growing up in Craven Arms, I thought that's where the food is coming from, sadly I now see it ain't the case.
BTW I didn't think you were supposed to promote your own business on the forum?

d.o.o.g

We use Riverford:

http://www.riverford.co.uk/produce/thisweeksbox/riverford.php

Their boxes are actually comparably priced IMHO and the quality is excellent. Compared to Tesco, their current boxes are all UK and they have an ethos that they only put non-UK in if there is insufficient to make a UK only box.

There is me, the missus and a 2 year old who actually loves veg and we only need a mini box (6 X veg for £7.90) most weeks. But for the bigger family, the small box has 8 uk items for £9.95.

plotholder

Agree - Riverford are fantastic

we only stopped our box because we have moved and the new delivery day is no good for us but i miss it

far superior to the c**p in the tesco box and most if not all from the UK

Annie_G_2

d.o.o.g. - you must be looking at different Riverford info, as far as I can see only one of their boxes is 100% UK (none of River Nene's are). To be fair to Shropshires, they do at least tell you where their imported stuff is coming from and how much you can expect, and they say they grow some of it themselves.

We're a small household and lucky enough to have a good sized garden so we're not regular box customers, and I'm afraid we're a bit fickle as we like trying out different suppliers for comparison. Quality and value have been variable, to put it mildly.

I've bought a few boxes from Tesco over the last 6 months and they usually had far more UK-grown in them than at the moment. On the whole I was very happy with the quality and thought it was good value for money, apart from some rather droopy carrots a few months back, and I don't remember getting excessive earth in the boxes - that's usually a Riverford speciality! There's an essay on the box about the Shropshire family and more on their website so I didn't think it all came from the county. Presumably it would be difficult for the family to change their name ... I suspect people take a more critical view because of the Tesco connection. As far as I can see all the bigger box schemes rely on imported veg at least some of the time but are better at keeping quiet about it!

A friend of mine gets River Nene, btw, and is very happy with them. Usually good quality and very friendly to deal with, although the set delivery days can be a pain.

d.o.o.g

Annie_G wrote: »

d.o.o.g. - you must be looking at different Riverford info, as far as I can see only one of their boxes is 100% UK (none of River Nene's are). To be fair to Shropshires, they do at least tell you where their imported stuff is coming from and how much you can expect, and they say they grow some of it themselves.

We're a small household and lucky enough to have a good sized garden so we're not regular box customers, and I'm afraid we're a bit fickle as we like trying out different suppliers for comparison. Quality and value have been variable, to put it mildly.

I've bought a few boxes from Tesco over the last 6 months and they usually had far more UK-grown in them than at the moment. On the whole I was very happy with the quality and thought it was good value for money, apart from some rather droopy carrots a few months back, and I don't remember getting excessive earth in the boxes - that's usually a Riverford speciality! There's an essay on the box about the Shropshire family and more on their website so I didn't think it all came from the county. Presumably it would be difficult for the family to change their name ... I suspect people take a more critical view because of the Tesco connection. As far as I can see all the bigger box schemes rely on imported veg at least some of the time but are better at keeping quiet about it!

A friend of mine gets River Nene, btw, and is very happy with them. Usually good quality and very friendly to deal with, although the set delivery days can be a pain.

I'm looking at the website in the link I sent, this weeks box (one of which was just delivered to my house) is entirely UK (the size I stated), if its not, they go for the nearest import to save on carbon footprint and tell you where it comes from. Obviously it is a country wide scheme and will vary from county to county, but I've been very happy with their produce, a lot of which is grown by them and their cooperative.

I'm not sure of the relevance of the mud to be honest, the boxes aren't sold by weight and we all wash our veg anyway surely?

Personally I take a critical view of anyone selling "seasonal" produce that clearly isn't. I also take a critical view of tesco's methods - undercutting the market with cheaper produce from abroad in an attempt to put the authentic farmers out of business. That's just my view though and one I'm only sharing because you seem to be putting words into my mouth

People can make up their own minds.

Annie_G_2

d.o.o.g. - I do apologise, it was only my first paragraph that referred to your post. I did use your link to get to the website, and the onions listed for the mini box don't have a 'uk' next to them, which means they're from overseas). After that I was following a train of thought set off by other posts in the discussion but I realise I didn't make that clear, so ... Sorry! I had no intention of putting words into your mouth (or anyone else's).