A business utilising leftover fruit and vegetables to sell directly to households for cheap, has exceeded growth expectations since launching in Auckland this year.
Wonky Box, founded by New Zealander Angus Simms and British expatriate Katie Jackson, gained 1000 customers in three weeks and was forced to upgrade to alarger packing and warehousing space.
“It just goes up and up each day, we can barely keep up with the pace,” co-founder Simms said.
The cost of living crisis, being felt acutely in Auckland, was a contributing factor to the demand, he said, although customers also wanted to reduce produce waste.
“Thirty per cent of produce grown never leaves the farm, but I would argue that’s now 40 per cent, especially as a result of Covid [and the] repercussions of freight. Growers can be growing produce that does meet market specifications but there’s no room on the ship.”
The company acquired excess or unattractive seasonal fruit and vegetables from more than 50 growers in the North Island, to sell and deliver directly to consumers weekly for $32.
“They’re getting farm fresh produce but it might have been surplus or slightly ugly looking. We’re creating an additional revenue stream for growers.”
Leafy green vegetables, avocados and stone fruit were typically in surplus in summer, he said.
Wonky Box acquires surplus or "ugly" fruit from growers that would otherwise go to waste, its co-founder says. Photo / Supplied.
Cut-price competition
Boxes were delivered by New Zealand Post’s perishable overnight service from warehouses in Auckland and Wellington, for a $5-$7 cost - a model that allowed it to price produce cheaper than major supermarkets, Simms said.
Avoiding the shelves did not insulate it from increasing costs, however.
Despite having fewer “middle-men”, Simms said its margins were being squeezed and increasing the price of boxes was considered daily.
“We’re direct from grower to consumer so we avoid most of the middle-men and as a result we’ve been able to hold off increasing prices, but we definitely are feeling all those factors that squeeze most retailers.
“At the end of the day we’re a delivery company and fuel prices, we’ve seen challenges there, [and] we’ve seen the cost of production go up for growers.”
Simms said it did not compare its business to meal delivery brands such as My Food Bag, Woop or Hello Fresh.
“We’re not a meal kit brand, we’re a food waste brand. We’re in a different playing field.”
One difference was that raw ingredients were being delivered, not prescribed meals, he said.
“Our customer tends to be a bit more creative in the kitchen.”
Also, while My Food Bag was struggling to keep customers as the cost of living increased, Wonky Box was gaining them.
“Because customers are feeling the pinch a bit more, they’re looking for more affordable solutions.”
Humble beginnings
Simms and his co-founder, partner Katie Jackson, sowed the seeds of the company when they convinced a roadside fruit stallholder in the Horowhenua district to sell them any leftover produce at the end of the day.
While the grower was hesitant at first, she later contacted the couple and provided them with product to on-sell to family and friends at a discount.
“Then it sort of spiralled. The beauty of it is we’re actually getting approached by more and more growers now, which is awesome. They’re looking to move product they haven’t been able to move before.”
Simms and Jackson moved to New Zealand from London during the pandemic. Simms, originally from Wellington, left behind an eight-year career in financial services and Jackson, her role on the front line of the National Health Service.
After travelling around the country in a camper van in 2021, they took up seasonal fruit-picking work in Nelson.
When a Boxing Day hailstorm hit and ruined export-quality apples it sparked a solution.
“They were left to rot on the ground. It baffled us how much of a problem this was.
“We did a bit more research and started to drive up to farms in Horowhenua, knocked on doors and asked about waste.”
Simms expected utilising waste on farms was going to become increasingly necessary as food supply slimmed domestically.
“Housing developments, they’re building on this fertile soil. New Zealand’s heading into an even shorter, or a much tighter, supply of their own grown veges.”
They were eyeing expansion to the rest of the North Island and eventually a return to the South Island.
In the meantime, he advised consumers of ways to reduce their fresh produce spend.
“Eat seasonally to save a buck or two. Go for second-grade, wonky-looking vegetables. It’s still fresh, still tastes the same, the nutritional value is still there.”
