How is it that fresh produce are the most expensive items in the supermarket?!
It all boils down to supply chain constraints and cost pressures growers are facing, both here in NZ and overseas.
Supermarkets in NZ offer the same produce items all year round. This means they rely on importing those varieties when local growers aren’t able to service the market themselves. With port congestion around the world and at our borders, competition for shipping space has caused challenges for importers of non-seasonal varieties, ultimately driving up the price to get items on shelves here. It’s also a perishable food item – meaning its shelf life is short. If there are freight challenges, there isn’t a lot of time to recuperate and save the food. If suddenly the country has less supply of a particular variety, then costs will suddenly rise.
Local growers are facing various challenges including labour shortages and rising fuel costs. They need both fuel and labour to run their machinery – tractors, harvesters, graders etc. If growers don’t have enough people to harvest crops, then not only will that perfectly delicious food go to waste, but it will also drive up the costs in your local supermarkets.
Obviously it’s important to make sure that the produce we are consuming is fresh and in good condition, but beyond that is it really that important what the produce looks like?
Freshness is key, arguably the most important factor. As most of our produce is sourced directly from growers, we know the difference between a ‘farm fresh’ piece of fruit and a supermarket equivalent.
It’s appearance – shape, size, colour, a few battle scars make barely any difference at all to the taste and quality. We want all consumers to play a part in supporting local growers as well as contribute towards the overall food waste mission. We also understand, with inflation the way it is, we need to be offering value to our customers, which is why we go above and beyond ahead of any other retailer to get the freshest produce to your door in the quickest possible turnaround.
What other reasons are there why growers and producers may not be able to sell their produce on to supermarkets?
Despite appearance guidelines, there are plenty of other challenges growers face to get their product to market. Most commercial growers do not determine the price of their own grown crops. In the industry they are known as ‘price takers’ not ‘price makers’ and often they won’t know what is expected until well after they have harvested. Most New Zealanders are probably unaware of how often these growers are netting a loss. We are speaking to growers who find it’s not worth their time or money and so they’ll simply leave the crop to go to waste.
How does a Wonky Box subscription work?
Wonky Box is a start-up aiming to reduce food waste and help both consumers and growers by saving odd looking fruits and vegetables from going to waste. We collect fresh produce from growers that are perfectly usable but not accepted by larger retailers because of their size or shape. The contents of the Wonky Box change each week depending on what excess the growers have.
Customers can sign up to a weekly, fortnightly, and monthly delivery. They can skip weeks if they were to go on holiday or simply need a break from all the veg! There are no obligations and customers can cancel at any time.
What does a typical day look like for you both?
I guess we are fortunate to say there isn’t really a typical day at Wonky! As a couple, we are both very much involved in the day-to-day running of the operation. Angus will have a number of conversations with our growers toward the start of the week and together, we will do our best to pop in and visit when we can. We love getting the inside goss from our farmers and getting shown around the various fields, orchards, and packhouses. Mid-week, we tend to be all hands-on deck packing boxes and listening to Angus’ poor jokes on the pack line. He also insists on playing the same eighties playlist on repeat every single pack day…it’s the lowlight of the week to be honest…We’ll manage and monitor our delivery schedules towards the latter end of the week and do our best to hold off from pouring a gin n tonic (garnished with either a wonky lemon, cucumber or grapefruit) until every last one of our customers is satisfied with their delivery!
What are your long-term goals with Wonky and beyond?
We want to make an impact nationwide, to be able to deliver to households across New Zealand and to support local growers all over the country. We are already speaking with other amazing food producers, who like growers, also have surplus, and manufacture products to help reduce food waste. Soon we’d look to offer these items as ‘add ons’ for our customers. Examples could be jams, sauces, pickles, and other pantry style products.
