I've been receiving veg boxes from Riverford Organic Farms for a couple of months now.
I'm not really into organic food, if I'm at the supermarket and have a choice between organic apples or supermarket own I'll tend to go for the cheapest if they look good. What I do lack tends to be variety, if I walked around the supermarket once a week and picked up vegetables I would always end up with potatoes, carrots and occasionally sweetcorn (exciting I know).
The beauty of a veg box is that you get what's in season and you get variety without the supermarket sorting and cleaning and packaging.
Riverford Organic - Mini Veg Box
How easy was it to order?
The website itself is very easy to use on the front page I can easily select boxes, shop or recipes. There is also a tool to help you choose what size and type of box suits your needs.
Once you've chosen a box you can set up a regular delivery or stick to a one off purchase, add other items if you wish.
At checkout you enter your postcode, select frequency of your delivery and all the usual details.
Delivery and Packaging
On my specified delivery day my box was hand delivered by a Riverford van from my local farm (about 40 miles away). By sticking to set delivery days they are able to offer free delivery when you buy a box or spend over £12.50.
What's in the box?
A mini veg box aims to feed 1-2 people with 7 items included.
My box contained onions, carrots, a bag of rocket, a large cauliflower, two heads of broccoli, four portobello mushrooms and a bag of potatoes.
Ratings
Delivery - Free delivery but only on a set day
Packaging - Minimal packaging, collected and re-used by farm
Quality & Taste - Nice quality fresh vegetables
Value for Money - Expect to pay more for organic
Other comments: It can be difficult to use everything in the box although you are provided with recipes and news. It would also be nice to have more choice on what you like and don't like. Otherwise I cannot fault the service I've received.
Overall Rating:
Fresh week appears to be the invention of Tefal (based on my attempts to find any earlier example on Google) this year. Cynics may say it is designed to sell the new super slicing device but the ethos is definitely positive: A week dedicated to eating fresh food and avoiding processed ready meals.
