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Oddbox

Oddbox

Looking for an easy and convenient way to cut down on food waste this year? Allow us to introduce Oddbox.

Oddbox is a social enterprise and London’s first and only food-waste-fighting fruit and veg box. Put simply, they scoop up any wonky, imperfect fruit and veg along with surplus stock that farms are struggling to shift, package it up and deliver it to your doorstep.

You’ll be notified of what you’ll be getting before your box arrives which helps with meal planning for the week ahead.

To date, they have rescued over 523 tonnes of food from going to waste, which is the equivalent of 515 return flights from LDN to NYC in CO2!

Since beginning in 2016, Oddbox have delivered over 250,000 boxes to 20,000 customers and they’ve also donated over 510,000 meals to City Harvest, The Felix Project and other charities.

We woke up to a box full to the brim with all our favourites. We had kale, cauliflower, red onion, potatoes, purple sprouting broccoli, beautiful red bell peppers and more. Fruit-wise we were looking at peaches, pears, kiwis, apples and clementines – perfect for healthy lunchbox additions. Even better, each box comes with a sheet, letting us know where the produce has been rescued from and why, how it should be stored (fridge/fruit bowl, etc), and what flavours it works well with. Suggestions ranged from aloo gobi (cauliflower), cobbler (peaches) and stuffed and roasted (those red peppers).

In a medium Oddbox you’ll get 8 varieties of seasonal and local veg and 4 types of fruit, ideal for a family of 4. However, ‘veg only’ and ‘fruit only’ boxes are also available, in sizes small, medium and large.

Each box contains a carefully curated selection of seasonal British staples like carrots, potatoes, onions, apples, pears and other seasonal out of specs, trial varieties and surplus produce depending on availability – as well as a selection of international produce that have been imported but were then graded in the UK.

Why the waste?

Over a ⅓ of farmed fruit and veg go to waste either:

  • because they’re surplus to requirements (due to over-ordering, seasonal fluctuations, early crop flushes due to weather)
  • or they don’t make strict supermarket requirements on shape (misshapen), size (too big or small), colour (not enough of) and markings (due to nature).

This type of food surplus at farm level has a significant negative impact on our environment:

  • Food waste rotting in the field produces harmful greenhouse emissions: If food waste was a country, it’d be the third largest emitter of greenhouse gases on the planet behind the USA & China.
  • When food is wasted, all the resources that went into it (water, labour, electricity, transport etc) are also wasted – putting a massive strain on our environment.

By choosing to eat food that’s already grown and in need of a home, people can help reduce this structural problem in the industry.

Oddbox currently deliver to many postcodes throughout Greater London with boxes start at £9.45, www.oddbox.co.uk

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