Imperfect, Misfit, Etc. (The Food Delivery Services)

[Shelby]

23 minutes ago, gfweb said:

 

Useless...limes or potatoes the size of golf balls...spoiled peppers...sprouted onions

I totally agree, of course, on anything spoiled...but.....small limes and potatoes fit in to the misfits\imperfect model imo.  

 

Not arguing with you AT all.   We all have different opinions and views.

[gfweb]

8 minutes ago, Shelby said:

I totally agree, of course, on anything spoiled...but.....small limes and potatoes fit in to the misfits\imperfect model imo.  

 

Not arguing with you AT all.   We all have different opinions and views.

Just a discussion among friends. :-)

 

But what does one do with a tiny lime? Zest?

My, perhaps wishful, grasp of their mission was that there's ugly but perfectly good veg...unsellable but useful...and that's what they sell. 

 

But I'd get a single yam or near spoiled veg or an onion the size of a softball or grape tomatoes that didn't last for a few days.

 

I think your supplier was different than mine.

[Shelby]

4 minutes ago, gfweb said:

Just a discussion among friends. 🙂

 

But what does one do with a tiny lime? Zest?

My, perhaps wishful, grasp of their mission was that there's ugly but perfectly good veg...unsellable but useful...and that's what they sell. 

 

But I'd get a single yam or near spoiled veg or an onion the size of a softball or grape tomatoes that didn't last for a few days.

 

I think your supplier was different than mine.

We get tiny limes, too.  Ronnie makes a vodka tonic with them.  So, we do have a use for them...albeit it takes like three to get enough juice lol.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

4 hours ago, Shelby said:

We get tiny limes, too.  Ronnie makes a vodka tonic with them.  So, we do have a use for them...albeit it takes like three to get enough juice lol.

 

Often as not it takes two Shoprite or Whole Foods limes to make a mai tai.  Three have been known to happen.  Thankful that tonight was one and a half.

 

 

[Shelby]

Imperfect.  

 

No odd items in this box lol.

 

 

Two Mandarins got smashed somehow and the green onions are on the edge of rotting, but I used the bad ones up last night.  Not worth complaining...

 

[Smithy]

@Shelby, I wonder where they get mandarins at this time of year. Did the label or package say the source? 

 

It looks like a nice haul. I'd be challenged to use that much in a week, or even two. What's in the brown paper wrappers at the right edge of the pictures?

[Shelby]

11 minutes ago, Smithy said:

@Shelby, I wonder where they get mandarins at this time of year. Did the label or package say the source? 

 

It looks like a nice haul. I'd be challenged to use that much in a week, or even two. What's in the brown paper wrappers at the right edge of the pictures?

The website says that the mandarins are grown in California.  They had stickers on them, but they drive me nuts so I remove them immediately lol.

 

A lot of that will stay good for a couple of weeks.  Potatoes will last longer.  We use a lot of limes and lemons.  The avocados live in the fridge so they are slow to go bad.

 

I might skip next week...then again Independence Day is coming up so they might have something tempting.

 

Salmon is in the brown packages.

[Shelby]

Imperfect Foods.  

 

Got an email telling me they are changing my order time.  Now it's the exact same day and time as Misfits.  I think they should combine themselves lol.

 

 

 

No problems this time except one item didn't ship.  I HATE complaining but I also hate paying for things that I didn't get lol.

 

The poblanos are gorgeous.

[Shelby]

Me again.

 

Imperfect 

 

This didn't go well.  The box shipped on June 3oth and didn't arrive until July sixth.  Everything was very warm, of course.  Wasn't even going to open the turkey.  I'll eat a lot of things ....but no, not doing that.  I had sent them an email on Saturday the 3rd--that's when the box was supposed to arrive--to give them a heads up that I was sure something was wrong.  Fedex sent me a notification that the box would be here on Sunday--which was also July 4th.  No way was that going to happen, and it didn't.  Anyway, I got a refund for the shipping, plus the turkey.  I should have also sent a picture of the strawberries.  I didn't open them up before I sent the email and I thought they were ok.  They weren't.  Slimy and brown.  Ick.  Anyway, again, excellent customer service. Very kind people.  I am not going to order any meat products again from them until it's cooler--like this fall.

 

 

This was Fridays Imperfect delivery.  I don't know if it's because they changed my ordering time and date or if it's because of the problem the week before, but I got my box a day early.  All good here.  The peaches are excellent.

 

 

I've placed a Misfits order for this coming week.  They offer some meat and fish products now and I am thinking they are packing their meats etc. with more ice or even dry ice.  I have shrimp and some yellow fin coming.  We will see how that goes.

[heidih]

On 6/22/2021 at 11:43 AM, Shelby said:

The website says that the mandarins are grown in California.  They had stickers on them, but they drive me nuts so I remove them immediately lol.

 

I had them on tree till end May/early June. Commercial packers have got cool storage nailed. Also a sticker hater. At a minimum I turn them in the bowl but some have multiple ones! And avocados- the pebbly surface can result in a skin tear even when gently grrr

[palo]

4 hours ago, Shelby said:

Me again.

 

Imperfect 

 

This didn't go well.  The box shipped on June 3oth and didn't arrive until July sixth.  Everything was very warm, of course.  Wasn't even going to open the turkey.  I'll eat a lot of things ....but no, not doing that.  I had sent them an email on Saturday the 3rd--that's when the box was supposed to arrive--to give them a heads up that I was sure something was wrong.  Fedex sent me a notification that the box would be here on Sunday--which was also July 4th.  No way was that going to happen, and it didn't.  Anyway, I got a refund for the shipping, plus the turkey.  I should have also sent a picture of the strawberries.  I didn't open them up before I sent the email and I thought they were ok.  They weren't.  Slimy and brown.  Ick.  Anyway, again, excellent customer service. Very kind people.  I am not going to order any meat products again from them until it's cooler--like this fall.

 

 

 

This was Fridays Imperfect delivery.  I don't know if it's because they changed my ordering time and date or if it's because of the problem the week before, but I got my box a day early.  All good here.  The peaches are excellent.

 

 

 

I've placed a Misfits order for this coming week.  They offer some meat and fish products now and I am thinking they are packing their meats etc. with more ice or even dry ice.  I have shrimp and some yellow fin coming.  We will see how that goes.

Imperfect/Misfits et al. I don't really understand the rational behind the enthusiasm for this method of obtaining food.

 

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.

 

I don't consider their response of free shipping and no cost turkey "excellent customer service" and I guess "very kind people" is in the eye of the beholder.

 

I live in a small rural community and these services aren't available to me but judging from people's experiences I would avoid them.

 

Now I may be missing the whole point of this, but just going on what's been said.

 

p

[Shelby]

18 minutes ago, palo said:

Is it cheaper? Does it help prevent waste?

Cheaper on some counts.  Definitely helps prevent waste.

 

18 minutes ago, palo said:

I think you would be receiving better value by ordering from Walmart or similar.

I can't order produce and get it delivered from Walmart or anyone else for that matter.  Even before pandemic I wished for a place like this.  But now especially...it keeps us away from people.

 

19 minutes ago, palo said:

I don't consider their response of free shipping and no cost turkey "excellent customer service" and I guess "very kind people" is in the eye of the beholder.

I guess it is in the eye of the beholder......

 

I try to post the positives along with the negatives.  Maybe I'm not doing a good job of accentuating the good things.

[heidih]

5 minutes ago, Shelby said:

I try to post the positives along with the negatives.  Maybe I'm not doing a good job of accentuating the good things.

No you are on point with sharing positive, You are smart and love food so would not repeat unless it made sense to you ')

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, Shelby said:

Cheaper on some counts.  Definitely helps prevent waste.

 

I can't order produce and get it delivered from Walmart or anyone else for that matter.  Even before pandemic I wished for a place like this.  But now especially...it keeps us away from people.

 

I guess it is in the eye of the beholder......

 

I try to post the positives along with the negatives.  Maybe I'm not doing a good job of accentuating the good things.

I think you are doing just fine! I always enjoy reading your assessments of the produce and of the service. Nothing wrong with cutting people a little slack especially in these times. “Be kind, be calm, be safe.” (Dr. Bonnie Henry’s mantra.)

[Shelby]

3 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Nothing wrong with cutting people a little slack especially in these times. “Be kind, be calm, be safe.” (Dr. Bonnie Henry’s mantra.)

Thanks Anna.  

 

Every single person that I've had contact with goes out of their way to be kind and also they tell me how much they appreciate me.  I kind of get the impression that some customers are not so .......how should I put it.....calm and or maybe respectful.  I used to deal with unhappy customers--even when they really had no reason to be--so maybe that plays into it lol.

[dtremit]

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.

 

 

Edited July 11, 2021 by dtremit (log)

[Shelby]

2 minutes ago, dtremit said:

 

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.

 

 

I hope you continue to post about your experiences.  I like knowing the good and the bad and I think others do too.

 

I've said before that I thought I wouldn't buy anything during the summer months but here in KS the lettuce is almost done due to heat...I don't grow celery etc.  So, it's still a welcome option to have especially now that both places have options such as pasta etc. that you can round out your order to meet the minimum price.

[kayb]

I paused my Misfits box during the summer as I buy most of my produce at the farmers market, and grow some of my own. Through the winter, Misfits has been, for the most part, both cheaper and better quality than grocery produce.

 

YMMV.

 

[Shelby]

Imperfect

 

 

A couple of the poblanos got majorly beat up....but the rest are gorgeous again.  I didn't order the peanuts.  I didn't get the sourdough loaf  or the jalapeños that I did order.  Kind of disappointing because I have a ton of roasted peanuts.....but, the mood I'm in today, I don't feel like complaining.  I can't remember if there is a place online to choose letting them replace an item or just not getting the item at all.  

 

Misfits

 

 

 

 

I tried the fish-meat option this week.  4 ice packs were in there along with a very insulated bag.  Ice packs were all still frozen.  Shrimp were frozen.  Yellowtail was mostly frozen.  Of course, I haven't eaten any yet, but very satisfied with how it shipped in summer heat.

[weinoo]

Shelby - you really got hooked oh shishitos, huh?!

[Shelby]

1 minute ago, weinoo said:

Shelby - you really got hooked oh shishitos, huh?!

Yes.

 

I may need a 12 step program.

[palo]

Re the Yellowtail label :

 

First line - Bones Removed

 

Last line - Warning: May Contain Bones

 

(well we tried)

 

p

[weinoo]

9 hours ago, palo said:

Re the Yellowtail label :

 

First line - Bones Removed

 

Last line - Warning: May Contain Bones

 

(well we tried)

 

p

 

Hey, they have to cover all their bases!  There is never a time I serve fish (to my wife, basically) without saying: "there might be some bones in there!"

[Anna N]

43 minutes ago, weinoo said:

 

Hey, they have to cover all their bases!  There is never a time I serve fish (to my wife, basically) without saying: "there might be some bones in there!"

It’s the nature of the feast!

[Shelby]

Misfits

 

Didn't order the popcorn--I had ordered some of those Terra Veggie chips to try them out.  The popcorn is pretty good--probably better than the veggie chips lol.  The strawberries smell really good, like actual strawberries.

 

 

Imperfect

 

Our tomatoes are abundant...but still very green due to late planting, hence the tomato based products purchased.  We will see if they are any good.

 

 

No problems with either shipment.