Food For Thought: Do You Really Need a Food Subscription Box?
Reviews by Jeff Siegel (mistfit market) & Genevieve Kavanaugh (imperfect foods)
No matter where you look these days, there’s a new subscription grocery box.
At the height of the pandemic when grocery lines were hours long and delivery services were backed up for weeks, people turned to alternative ways of getting their groceries.
Although the subscription box is not a new concept it became an imperative part of life when it seemed like the only choice. Subscription boxes, meal prep kits, local farm delivery services provided options of getting groceries without having to leave the comfort of your home. However, pulling the trigger on a subscription to your groceries? Not as easy of a commitment.
What is a grocery subscription box?
A grocery subscription is different than ordering your groceries online and having them delivered. By subscribing to one company, you can pay an upfront monthly or yearly subscription for access to consumer goods online. The majority of subscription services will provide a reduced cost for grocery items in exchange for your subscriptions (fee or not).
What companies offer grocery subscription boxes?
While there are (a long list) of companies out there offering specific grocery subscription boxes, and meal prep services, we are going to focus on four companies that provide a full range of groceries. In this two-part series, we are pairing Misfits Market v. Imperfect Foods reviewed by Daily Origin’s regular contributor Jeff Siegle & Co-Founder Genevieve Kavanaugh.
Both Jeff and Genevieve are sharing facts coming directly from the website of said companies while providing a personal experience of subscribing.
Misfits Market (Jeff) vs. Imperfect Foods (Genevieve)
Both services offer non-perfect organic and conventional produce at a reduced price. That means when a grocery store rejects an item based on looks (not on quality), Imperfect Foods & Misfits Market work with those grocers to make sure the food does not go to waste. It is a forward-thinking sustainable way to buy your groceries.
What is it best for?
Misfits Market - Convenience.
Imperfect Foods - Sustainability.
How does it differ from some of the other food delivery services?
Misfits Market - All the items are certified organic. To quote directly from their website: "We have a two-pronged mission here at Misfits Market: to provide affordable access to healthy food and to fight the food waste crisis."
Imperfect Foods - Not all items are certified organic (but most are) “We offer a full lineup of carefully curated groceries that are the best of their kind, a little imperfect, and always delicious.”
From Jeff: To be honest, I think the whole "Save the farmers. Buy ugly produce and reduce food waste" is a bit overblown. Most farmers have been dealing just fine with beat-up items. It's not like ugly crops just showed up a few years ago. Ugly food that doesn't end up in a supermarket gets used elsewhere processed items, fed to animals, or turned back into organic matter used in the soil. I think a lot of these businesses are supporting a narrative that feeds off of people's anxiety about wasting food. They suck people in by making them think they can get good food and do something good for the world. Who wouldn't buy into that?
I'm not saying Misfits Market or Imperfect Produce are bad companies or causing harm. No, after all, I use it myself. I just think we need to look beyond the marketing that they're feeding us because the messages might be a little bit blemished (pun intended.) There are real issues with supply chains, unsustainable farming techniques, and unethical labor practices that are not resolved by shipping a few ugly tomatoes to your door.
Why use Misfits Market as opposed to Imperfect Produce or a regular supermarket delivery service Instacart or Whole Foods/Prime Delivery?
Misfits Market - The price might be one differentiating factor. I have not done side-by-side price comparisons, so if you are extremely price-sensitive, I would look further into which of these services gives you a better deal on the items you buy the most often.
I would look for things like delivery fees or monthly or annual membership fees.
Why use Imperfect Foods as opposed to Misfit Market or a regular supermarket delivery service like Instacart or Whole Foods/Prime Delivery?
Imperfect Foods - I did not see a huge price difference compared to shopping in person at Trader Joe’s, Target Grocery, or even Whole Foods. Although there is no actual subscription cost. I believe most people are apprehensive about jumping into a subscription box due to the added cost of the service. However, after doing some digging (even after I signed up for a subscription) I finally found my answer…
“We price all of our items individually just like a regular grocery store. As you add and remove items as you shop with us, the price of your order will adjust accordingly! You’ll only pay for what’s left in your order at the close of your shopping window, alongside a delivery fee of $4.99 - $8.99, depending on the area. There are no subscription or service fees—ever.”
Delivery Options
Misfits Market - We get a box delivered every other week with fresh produce. It’s set up so that you can select what items you’d like from the inventory they have available. Or if you like surprises, you can let them choose for you.
My wife and I have turned it into a little ritual of selecting what items we put in our box. "Building our box" as they call it is a fun joint shopping experience that enables us to do a little bit of meal planning for the coming week.
Imperfect Foods - Based on where you live your delivery time may vary. Our location allows us to place an order from Monday - Wednesday at noon with a delivery scheduled for Friday before 9 pm. We normally shop on Friday so this is not a huge change, however since it’s being delivered the time frame could depend. So if you’re a weekly shopper like us, prepare to have ingredients for Friday night already on hand so you’re not waiting too late for your box (if delivered after dinner time).
Quality
Misfits Market - We found that the quality of misfits items tends to be good. However, softer things like tomatoes or fruits can bruise easily and get beat up during the shipment process. In fact, we had one box showed up so banged up that half the items in it were almost unusable. Thankfully, the customer service was very good and helped refund us for broken items. We haven’t had any problems since then.
Imperfect Foods - We’re waiting on our first box to arrive this Friday. As I said before my biggest concern will be the time the order arrives on Friday as I usually go grocery shopping on Friday mornings.
Overall experience
Misfits Market - The food arrives in a big cardboard box with compostable and biodegradable materials. In warmer weather, they also use nontoxic ice packs made from a water-based formula. I am aware of this added shipping waste. However, when compared to the typical packaging and plastic bags in a regular supermarket, I don’t think it’s actually any worse for the environment. It might actually help reduce some unnecessary plastic wrap since items are bunched together rather than individually packaged.
We found misfits to be a good supplement that ensures we have quality fresh produce in our kitchen at all times. The selection is pretty good, but it does not cover all of our needs. If you cook a lot, you will definitely need to purchase other ingredients from the supermarket.
Imperfect Foods - You choose if you want a weekly box or a bi-weekly box and as stated above you’re not actually paying for any subscription but the cost of the food. Based on your preferences chosen at sign-up, you have a window of time to review your (for me it’s Monday - Wednesday) to review my cart and add or remove items I don’t want. You only pay for what you buy. So it’s highly encouraged to review all items before the close of your ordering window.
Grocery options are very similar to the places we normally shop, however, if you’re used to all organic seafood, meat & poultry you may not have that option. This was a little disappointing as both grocery stores I usually shop at have organic options in these categories.
Conclusion
Misfits Market - It is ideal for people who don’t particularly like going to the supermarket but still enjoy cooking at home. If you’re willing to trade off some variety for the convenience of regularly delivered foods, you can do so knowing that you are getting stuff that may otherwise never get consumed (at least by humans that is.) You may be reducing some unnecessary food waste, but what you're primarily buying is convenient organic produce at a reasonable price.
Imperfect Foods - Just like MM it is ideal for people who don’t like going to the grocery store and want a full range of grocery options. At first, it’s hard to get comfortable with the platform if you’re not used to ordering your food online. After learning the system, finding groceries was super simple.
Previous Shopping Experience (Conclusion continued)
From Jeff - For a long time we belonged to a local community-supported agriculture service (CSA). We very much enjoyed supporting local farmers as we knew exactly where the food was coming from.
We even drove out to Western Mass one weekend to visit the farm and pick some fresh fruit and veggies from the ground. The transparency about who was growing our food and what practices they were using, as well as being able to interact with the actual farmers, was really rewarding. We live in a world that is so cut-off from our food sources that it felt good to connect with the people and the Earth that nourished us.
The main reason we stopped our local CSA was that we traveled a bunch, especially during the summer. We were our of town many weeks and could not pick up our items.
Misfits gives us the ability to cancel a box or reschedule without any hassle or penalty. This added flexibility won us over so we no longer have to miss deliveries or stockpile unused food.
While I appreciate the convenience of organic produce being delivered to my door, let us not forget that idea of a 'misfit' is entirely a human concept. A pepper never turned to the other pepper and said, "You're an eccentric oddball. Get out of here."
The idea of giving a misfit a home appeals to our sentimentality. This is good marketing. Whether it is good for your body or the world is a bit more difficult to assess. As a health professional, I'm super sensitive to body-size prejudice and ostracizing someone based upon how they look. Perhaps I'm drawn to Misfits Market because the idea of welcoming all veggies and accepting their imperfections aligns with a more equitable "health at any size" approach to wellness.
From Genevieve - I’m always searching for the best way to save money and time for grocery shopping. When I say we tried it all throughout the past year, we have tried it all.
Before the pandemic, I was doing a daily grocery shop because I worked right next to a Trader Joe’s. It was so convenient and felt like we were saving money by not over-buying food and wasting it at the end of the week.
During the height of the pandemic, we drove north to a lower-risk community, stood in line for less time (about 20-30 min) at Trader Joe’s, and spent about $800 buying food for the month. This meant more frozen items, less fresh produce. However, it provided us the comfort of less exposure by going to the grocery store once a month.
When things started to improve we cut that time in half shopping every two weeks. We went to Whole Foods close by and tried Target & Whole Foods delivery at times, and curbside pick up other times. This also meant it was a more expensive option plus the added cost of tipping your shopper or driver.
During the Spring and Summer we even went to our local famers stand. Don’t let the word stand fool you, this was a mini three wall grocery store. Which felt great to have an open flow of air plus the crowd was very small. This was my favorite option plus like Jeff said above, my husband and I did it together so it was more of an adventure when we didn’t have many.
At this point, it feels as though we have tried it all but subscription boxes. Switching to a subscription box has its perks and its cons. However, with subscriptions like Misfit Market and Imperfect Foods, you can feel better by saving % on items, having mostly organic choices, and contributing to eliminating food waste, if that’s your thing.