2 hours ago, palo said:Is it cheaper? Does it help prevent waste?
I don't think I would look at some of the products people are receiving and ask myself, is this a deal, should I not go to the store and pick out the best of what's on offer than getting a "surprise" box.
I think you would be receiving better value by ordering from Walmart or similar.
To add another voice to the chorus — it *can* be cheaper, though it isn't always. Now that we are back to having a lot more options for shopping, I have started being a bit more careful about checking the value of the items we pick. (Back in the early pandemic when we started I was just glad to get the stuff.)
Both of the boxes have moved away from the "surprise box" model — you now get pretty much exactly what you ordered. I get enough surprises in my CSA that I'm glad for the change.
Notably, I have never had particularly good luck *ordering* produce (in particular) from Walmart or their ilk. The shoppers don't know how to pick items well. Since Imperfect and Misfits focus on produce, I find the average item is fresher and higher in quality than most of what I can get from local grocery pickup, with the possible exception of higher priced stores like Whole Foods.
A lot of the "wins" are things I don't necessarily post about on here. For months when they were in season, we got excellent pears from Imperfect. Nearly every one was delicious and ripened promptly. I have largely given up on buying pears from supermarkets at all — even when I buy them in person they go bad before they're ripe. And they have a house label body butter my partner really likes that's about half the price of options elsewhere.
