We have been exploring grocery shopping methods. Last time I described grocery delivery to your home from local stores. I also discussed grocery curbside pickup options. That brings us to groceries that are shipped to you. In case you have not seen the commercials, yes, this is a real option.
Imperfect Foods has a commercial where a girl is proud her parents are ordering sustainable groceries. Imperfect foods are foods that are not perfect enough for stores in looks, lot size, portion size, or a far enough out expiration date. Like me, you may have a local store where the produce seems to fall into this description. An example Imperfect Foods gives is a carrot that looks like legs – two points that share a top. This is even in their logo. I’ll admit, I wanted to see that! I figured every household member would share that picture on social media. I bet you are also tempted just for that experience too!
Eliminating food waste is the goal. Scarred almonds, what appears to be a carrot dance line, off sized eggs, colorful quinoa, and surplus coffee are imperfect examples on their website. Using these imperfections prevents wasting natural resources on unused food.
Imperfect Foods not only provides ‘imperfect’ items. They also sell ‘perfect’ and upcycled items. Their upcycling combines imperfect items into a new item like salsa.
The utilized imperfect items offer cost savings also.
Intrigued, I signed up and waited for my time to shop. Based on your zipcode you will be assigned a delivery day and a shopping window. My shopping window was Thursday 3pm until Saturday 3pm for a Tuesday delivery. My assigned warehouse was in Maryland, north of my state.
Based on a few preference questions a preliminary order will be created for you to edit. If a disliked food is in the order, no problem, when you delete an item you will be asked if you never want it to be included again. You can browse all of their items to add to your order. You may see items on sale. My first order was when chicken was on special.
RESULTS
I placed three orders and selected a variety of items – fresh produce (including carrots), snacks, dips, canned goods, poultry, salmon, and soap. They don’t have everything you would normally buy from a grocery store.
Fresh produce is mostly ordered by weight. Good luck! The items can be small, medium, or large. Will you get 1, 2, or 3? A little suspense until you open the box.
The chicken pieces were smaller than you usually see but cooked perfectly and tasty. The salmon was a blister pack variety of portion sizes.
Our favorite, which I made an order staple, was the Dark Chocolate Pretzel Pieces.
There are some non-food items too. I ordered their brand 3-in-1 soap. I like it, but it is more expensive than my local stores’ options. I gave it a try to meet a minimum order requirement.
The boxes were well packed. The boxes arrived the next day after shipment. Cold items were still cold. Only 1 item, an orange, arrived smashed. Two of the 3 boxes arrived on time. The third was 2 days late due to a weather delay.
The only ugly food, besides the squashed orange, was a large sweet potato missing one end.
I had produce under ripe, ripe, and starting to wilt (kale). Other than a batch of hard strawberries, everything was tasty.
You have been waiting patiently to hear about my carrots. None of my carrots looked like legs. Darn it.
RECOMMENDATION
I cancelled my subscription. I could have skipped a week, but ordering three days in advance and then having a two day weather delay just did not work for me. I understand weather delays, but when it is not your area’s weather, it is harder to be patient.
Other than the hard strawberries and the smashed orange, we enjoyed everything.
Did I save money? On some items, yes; but overall, no. I have enough local grocery options to not see a financial benefit from ordering groceries to be shipped to me.
Next up I take on the meal kits/meal delivery options. Have you been tempted by these little to no prep meal options yet?
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