By: Jesi Tassava, Brand Manager

Recently, a friend told me about a company called Imperfect Produce, that delivers produce to your door at a very good price…and it’s not just regular produce. Imperfect Produce fights to reduce food waste by taking produce directly from farms, where grocery stores rejected some of their produce because they didn’t meet their standards. Unfortunately, due to high grocery store standards, a lot of produce goes to waste.

“More than 20% of the fruits and vegetables grown in America never make it off the farm because they aren’t perfect enough for grocery store standards. This results in billions of pounds of wasted produce every year.” – Imperfect Produce

I have now received 3 Imperfect Produces boxes in the mail and below are the many reasons why I genuinely get excited to see my box of produce on my doorstep every Tuesday.

1. The Cause

Who wouldn’t want to pay the same price for produce at a grocery store and support local farms and fight food waste at the same time?! I think it is wonderful that by purchasing an Imperfect Produce box on a weekly basis and no longer buying much produce at the grocery store, I am able to make an impact reducing food waste in this country. The produce that I receive are not bruised or rotten…they are just simply too small, too big, imperfect shapes, imperfect colors, or the result of surplus. When I log into my account, I am able to see the impact I make. After receiving only 3 boxes, I have already saved 33 pounds of diverted produce, saved 189 gallons of water, and saved 113 pounds of CO2 out of the air.

2. It’s Easy

So here is how it works. I get to choose how often I receive my Imperfect Produce (weekly or bi-weekly) and I can skip any box with just a click of a button. Next week, I am going on vacation and will be away from home, so I was easily able to skip my box for that time. Based upon my address, I was given a delivery date, which ended up being Tuesday. I then, was able to choose a delivery time window that worked for my schedule. Since my delivery is on Tuesday, the Thursday beforehand, I receive an email letting me know that I have until Friday at midnight to customize my box! Once I log into my account, I can then go through all the produce options, and completely customize exactly what I want to receive in my box. Last week, I ordered 3 pounds of carrots because I had several recipes in mind that required carrots. As I add produce into my box and take produce out, the price updates instantaneously. Once I finish customizing my box, and Tuesday rolls around, I receive a text each evening letting me know that my box “should arrive in around 5 minutes” and provides me with a link to track the driver! Then I get another text once my box is delivered. It’s that simple!

3. It’s Fun

Who doesn’t love receiving packages in the mail?! It is just so exciting to know that I will be getting a package every week! When I first signed up on the Imperfect Produce website, I initially opted to receive my box every other week. However, once the second week rolled around, I found myself wishing I was getting a box that week, and being annoyed that I would have to go to the grocery store to buy all my produce that week. After the 2nd week, I immediately signed up to receive my box every week, and I won’t be changing that any time soon.

So, if you live in the Bay Area of California; Los Angeles, California; Orange County, California; Portland, Oregon Metro Area; Seattle, Washington Metro Area (includes Tacoma); Chicago, Illinois Metro Area; or Indianapolis, Indiana, you can get signed up today! If you don’t live in any of these areas, don’t worry because it sounds like Imperfect Produce is working hard to expand.