The Great Veggie Box Adventure
I asked, “People who get veggie boxes delivered. Can anyone tell me the *difference* between Riverford and Abel and Cole?” no one was able (or coal) to answer.
Thanks for everyone for their suggestions about what box to get the results were:
- Oddbox, 2, (wonky veg is extra ethical)
- Abel and Cole, 4 (minus points for ten years old bad employment practice)
- Riverford 7 votes, 6 households, (plus ethics for planting a tree)
- an indie, 1 (better ethics in fewer food miles)
I have decided to sign up for both Abel and Cole and Riverford. A box from each will show up every four weeks on an alternating two week schedule, all the better to evaluate the product.
So far, when signing up (by mobile)
Riverford
- easy to scroll through a list of box options
- no apparent way to add substitutions or even change boxes in a given week although this is mentioned somewhere.
- veggie boxes regularly include potatoes and carrots which I don’t want to buy that often
- no way to increase quantities of onions and tomatoes and peppers which I want.
- can set three dislikes (I chose carrots, celery, and celeriac – two I dislike, one I just don’t want often)
- no way to set favourites
- easy to set a 4 week recurrance
- nice text of sign up email for messaging, very non threatening and humble
-spelling of company is easy
- refer a friend code gets me £15 via friend code, friend gets £15 (tree is allegedly planted, can’t remember if this was stated on page)
- cost for small veg box with zero packing £13.95 excluding delivery
Abel and Cole (in my head Cain and Abel)
- have to click on each box option to see contents, shows you this week versus next week but overall more annoying
- no apparent way to add substitutions
- veggie boxes regularly include potatoes and carrots which I don’t want to buy that often
- no way to increase quantities of onions and tomatoes and peppers which I want.
- using app, I can set 9 dislikes for veggies (I chose carrots, celery, celeriac parsnips, squashes excluding butternut, swede and turnip – I’m trying to avoid boring root veg and I still have one slot to fill) and three dislikes for 3 fruit but I’m not ordering fruit.
- no way to set favourites
- insanely difficult to set 4 week recurrance until you download app when it is simple
- nasty text of sign up email, threatening and boastful
- instant offer to download app
- share code prominently flaggged as advert despite clicking out
- app actually much easier to navigate and control
- spelling of company breaks my brain every time
- refer a friend code gets me 50% off two boxes via friend code, friend gets nothing
- cost for small veg box £14.25 excluding delivery
The investigation continues. I was prepared to consider Oddbox in this rotation but I’ll save that for a later stage and compare it to an indie if I can find one since my original ask was the two main players.