PHILADELPHIA, PA - Once upon a time, consumers might have steered clear of blemished, oddly shaped, or just straight up wonky produce, but today’s consumers are all about what’s on the inside—a lesson straight out of a fairytale. Many retailers, like Kroger and Aldi, have taken this change of consumers’ hearts and made an effort to expand their produce aisles to include lines of imperfect produce. But Pennsylvania-based retailer Misfits Market is taking that a step further and debuting an imperfect produce delivery service.
“We see it as our responsibility to keep the food from rotting before it can be eaten,” Founder and CEO Abhi Ramesh said to the Post-Gazette. Ramesh then explained that he first began Misfits Market as a way to reduce food waste and to remedy a few of the inefficiencies in the food supply chain.
Misfits Market began shipping its “misfit” produce boxes in August, delivering to all parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Delaware. Now, only a few months later, the company ships between 2,000 and 4,000 boxes of produce every week.
In order to increase access to fresh food and alleviate costs often associated with organics and fresh produce, Misfits Market sells its imperfect produce at an almost 50 percent discount when compared to other grocery stores. Its line includes two boxes for consumers to choose from: the Mischief Box ($19), which offers 10 to 12 pounds of fresh produce, and the Madness Box ($34), which offers 18 to 20 pounds—with the contents of both boxes varying week to week, but always heralding from organic and non-GMO certified small- and medium-sized farms around the Philadelphia area.
To read Misfits Market’s full story, click here.
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