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

[dtremit]

2 hours ago, Shelby said:

These were super fun.  I had never seen or had them before.  Sweet and tart.  I just ate them right out of the box.

 

 

We get these in the "U-pick" for our farm share — they're related to tomatillos, and when we have too many I have been known to make a quick fruity salsa out of them. But as you say, they're also great to just snack on.

[Annie_H]

2 hours ago, Shelby said:

I finally got to shop at the Penny Store!!!!!  YEAST!!

Your yeast will keep forever in the freezer. Just be careful about moisture transfer. Picked up a pound from Costco at least 5 yrs ago and still good way out of date. Sent out packets to a dozen needing yeast during lock-down. Enough for a dozen loaves.

This load is dated 11-5. I seem to be ordering every 10-12 days. Misfits. Squashes, fruit, lemons, even cilantro still good. Managing no waste by using up what goes fast and planning ahead. The mayo is 'penny store'. Yikes, 32 oz.(!?). We usually just pick up a tiny Hellman's  for the holiday turkey sandwiches and crab cakes, etc. 

 

Pics are so helpful rather than digging through the crisper trying to remember what I have. I'm making a chicken/bone stock tonight heavy on the veg. Leek tops, that giant foot long yellow carrot. Onions, celery, etc. Ham and bean soup for dinner, then freeze the rest of the stock for the holidays. Mirepoix needed for the soup--- I will triple that and freeze a quart zip-lock for the thanksgiving dressing/stuffing using the garden herbs still alive. (no frost yet). 

Bummer my delivery last night was the other second party delivery service. Impossible to track. One box was so light. Not sure why using two boxes was decided. They just introduced cheese and butter last week.. Vermont creamery and a few other grass-feed treats. All around 8oz and 3-5 bucks. Perfect for the holidays. I have 8 varieties of cheese, butter, cottage cheese, and sour cream coming but it is official. Lost in transit. The delivery last night sat for how long?. Never a message it was here. Fed-x is always on time. Easy to track. These second party delivery dough heads are so sloppy. 

 

Edited November 17, 2021 by Annie_H (log)

[Annie_H]

Pups barking alerted the delivery. Missing the herbed VermontCreamery goat cheese but that is cool. They will delete that cost asap. Misfits is so good about that. Basic home generic cheese I like to stock. But organic grass fed is a plus. Not a holiday treat like my favorite HumboltFog. Dates are 4-2022 or more so that is a plus. 

Total over-kill on the ice packs. This shit would be fine lost for days. 

 

 

[Annie_H]

This worked out well. BIL and his wife from Portland are visiting my SIL and MIL, (they live together), in Charleston, SC. I sent them a big veg box and big treat box. Last year I sent them a big WildAlaskanSalmon box. 

This was perfect. Boxes arrived just a few hour after landing. BIL is a great cook having worked in good restaurant kitchens. Career teaching autistic children and now consults with new young teachers. But took up summers in restaurants. Like underpaid teachers need to do.

I sent double halibut and double shrimp. He is thrilled to not have to shop. SIL is not much of a cook. 

He made fish and shrimp en Papillote. 

Nice knife skills. More patience than I have. 

 

[Annie_H]

Some of the treats. We don't care for Panettone but MIL will love it. They all have the sweet tooth gene unlike us. Nice to select what I know they like. Picked 5 cheeses...all the VermonCreamery goat cheeses and a couple others. Red pepper soup was a penny. BIL will use it for a base soup. 'Tart it up' with other stuff. 

 

 

 

Edited December 21, 2021 by Annie_H (log)

[Shelby]

My window to shop at both Misfits and Imperfect opens at 3 pm on Saturdays.  I still have been shopping at both each week--I get the boxes delivered on Fridays--because each place has different things that the other doesn't have.  Placed my order with Misfits yesterday and moved on to Imperfect.  They have an app that I use to shop with on my phone.  Clicked on the app (it keeps me logged in) and it tells me that "You have recently chosen to cancel your Imperfect Account.  Click here to sign back up". I most certainly did not cancel my account so I thought it was a glitch in the app.   I proceeded to try to sign in on my computer.  First thing the site does is ask for my zip code to see if they ship to me.  I input my zip code and now I'm told that they do not ship to my area 😳.   I just got my box from them Friday.

 

So, I'm not happy AT ALL.  I've written to them for an explanation.  If it is just a glitch (which I don't think it is), I'll get right over it and be fine with them again.  But if they truly just up and decided to not ship to my area without sending me notification ahead of time.  Well, that's just poor poor business in my opinion.  How could you not send people an email explaining that they will no longer be able to get products from them.  I really depend on them for my weekly produce etc.

 

So, I went back and added more to my Misfits order...but, for example,  Misfits hasn't had garlic in a while and Imperfect has had it.  If I'd have known that Imperfect wasn't going to happen anymore, I'd have bought some when I was at the Asian Market on Friday....arrrrgh.

 

We will see if Imperfect ever responds to me.  I have a mind to try to call them tomorrow.........

[lemniscate]

@Shelby  According to some twitter posts; Imperfect has been doing same thing to other users.  Apparently Imperfect's explanation is they are only wanting to use their own delivery drivers, no 3rd party deliverers.  So areas where no Imperfect owned delivery system are being phased out.

[Shelby]

9 minutes ago, lemniscate said:

@Shelby  According to some twitter posts; Imperfect has been doing same thing to other users.  Apparently Imperfect's explanation is they are only wanting to use their own delivery drivers, no 3rd party deliverers.  So areas where no Imperfect owned delivery system are being phased out.

Thanks for this.

 

Sigh.

 

I would wager that my zip code will never qualify to have their own drivers.

[Shelby]

Anyone ever tried Thrive Market?

[Annie_H]

Thrive has an audience I guess. I signed up April 2020 and was immediately charged without ever ordering and became a big ass pita to cancel and get out. The prices are a bit less but not by much. Very vegan, keto, and gluten-free, organic positive, and that is fine but a bit heavy handed. We are 90% organic fresh whole food plant based but not strict. Lots of wiggle room here. 

 

As you know Misfits gives you a couple days to shop so check back before 8pm before the day charged and shipped. My location out of south NY transfer has garlic. I really like the new system. Just ordering what you want and not sending replacements at all. If my order does not hit 30$, it is not sent, no questions. No mysteries. No zip-code is denied. 

Good for a two family household. I'm ordering twice a month or every three weeks. So fresh. 

 

Misfits has eggs and my favorite yogurt now. Good avocado mayo and always something new to try without too much $$ temptation. 

If you see the SuperReds soup in your penny store...so good. 32 ounces is huge and shelf stable. Good ingredients. Not anything I would purchase in a market but for a penny....I used it in a Japanese curry last night. The rest I froze in 1/2 pints. 

I seem to always get something free. I did not order the salsa verde. (I make my own) If the three red onions ordered are tiny I get an extra, etc. Something off or funky so easy to contact and quickly refunded without question and no picture needed. 

 

Edited January 23, 2022 by Annie_H (log)

[Shelby]

57 minutes ago, Annie_H said:

was immediately charged without ever ordering and became a big ass pita to cancel and get out.

Good to know.  I stopped before inputing any payment info.  Hopefully Misfits doesn't cancel me too.

[dtremit]

3 hours ago, lemniscate said:

@Shelby  According to some twitter posts; Imperfect has been doing same thing to other users.  Apparently Imperfect's explanation is they are only wanting to use their own delivery drivers, no 3rd party deliverers.  So areas where no Imperfect owned delivery system are being phased out.

 

I'm wondering if they had too many issues with UPS / FedEx deliveries -- that article about Imperfect's issues upthread mentioned that something like one in four orders had some sort of an issue.

 

Our Misfits orders come in packaging that's clearly designed for long shipping times -- thick insulation on the outside of the box, and for cold pack items, a secondary inner insulated bag with another cold pack inside. Even the one time our delivery was a day late, the meat we ordered was frozen.

 

By contrast, Imperfect has no insulation for most of the stuff in the box, and the cold sensitive stuff just goes in a mylar bubble wrap bag with an ice pack. On a good day the bag is sealed, but more often it's half open by the time it gets to us. We get deliveries from their fleet of trucks, which are refrigerated — but any meat we order is thawed about half the time.

 

Not sure if they used better packaging for common carrier orders, but if they were using the same stuff, I suspect they were doing a lot of refunds.

 

As far as I know, Misfits doesn't have a fleet of trucks -- probably good for @Shelby! 

[Shelby]

I have to do a little mea culpa ......   in my defense,   I didn't know that all this time I've been getting emails from Imperfect going to my junk mail that tell me that it's time for me to order.  The last two weeks they sent one that had a red banner across the top telling me that they were discontinuing service in my area.

 

Soooooo, they did inform me.  My bad.

[rotuts]

@Shelby 

 

Sooooo , Sooooooooo

 

' part time Exclusive Driver for IF's ?

 

client of One ?

 

Im guessing its much more complicated 

 

Drivers are vey  hard to come by

 

One town over 

 

the National Guard is driving school busses

 

FD  :  the Guard in this area is ' Transport Oriented '

 

maybe they can take the ViralCessPools to school

 

in an Armored Truck !

 

that would make their day

 

not so much the ordering around.

Edited January 23, 2022 by rotuts (log)

[Shelby]

25 minutes ago, rotuts said:

@Shelby 

 

Sooooo , Sooooooooo

 

' part time Exclusive Driver for IF's ?

 

client of One ?

 

Im guessing its much more complicated 

 

Drivers are vey  hard to come by

 

One town over 

 

the National Guard is driving school busses

 

FD  :  the Guard in this area is ' Transport Oriented '

 

maybe they can take the ViralCessPools to school

 

in an Armored Truck !

 

that would make their day

 

not so much the ordering around.

Yeah.  Sigh....  I know I can't do anything about it, but I haven't had any problems with Fed Ex delivering for a long time.

[gfweb]

I can't help thinking that a national delivery business that doesn't use FedEx or UPS is doomed. Its not like they are as big as Amazon, which BTW, uses a lot of FedEx.

 

Something squirrely here. Wild Fork can ship  with FedEx using a proper box.

[Annie_H]

5 minutes ago, Shelby said:

Good to know.  I stopped before inputing any payment info.  Hopefully Misfits doesn't cancel me too.

I got caught of-guard by the monthly fee charged to my credit card with ThriveMarket. I recall it is 9$ ? a month. That seems old school 80's where shipping and handling was often more than the ordered item. Most of their advertising is on social media where the recipients are given free and endless product. Sponsored. Paid. 

 

I would be surprised if Misfits ever cancels. They are 'thriving' after the CBS SundayMorning feature a couple months ago. They are working so hard and smart to make the company work. 

 

Misfits claims to not leave out anyone located in a food dessert. They seem very transparent. Any zip code. Imperfect declined to be interviewed in an article I posted months ago. They make more money in a higher income area...city centers. Misfits sets up their warehouses in low income areas and hires locals. Most without cars or transportation for employment and hire those difficult to get jobs. 

Fresh out of prison. Walking distance. Giving them a chance at honest employment. 

 

Just a personal observation having hired similar. 

 

 

 

[Shelby]

8 minutes ago, Annie_H said:

I got caught of-guard by the monthly fee charged to my credit card with ThriveMarket. I recall it is 9$ ? a month. That seems old school 80's where shipping and handling was often more than the ordered item. Most of their advertising is on social media where the recipients are given free and endless product. Sponsored. Paid. 

 

I would be surprised if Misfits ever cancels. They are 'thriving' after the CBS SundayMorning feature a couple months ago. They are working so hard and smart to make the company work. 

 

Misfits claims to not leave out anyone located in a food dessert. They seem very transparent. Any zip code. Imperfect declined to be interviewed in an article I posted months ago. They make more money in a higher income area...city centers. Misfits sets up their warehouses in low income areas and hires locals. Most without cars or transportation for employment and hire those difficult to get jobs. 

Fresh out of prison. Walking distance. Giving them a chance at honest employment. 

 

Just a personal observation having hired similar. 

 

 

 

The monthly fee is also what stopped me in my tracks. 

 

That makes me feel better about Misfits.  I honestly can't imagine going back to life before getting veggies etc. delivered to my door and without them, I would be the person in the food desert.  No one delivers to me other than them.  Unless I want to go high end like Harry and David etc. which don't, of course, do the usual things that I want like lettuce .

[Annie_H]

I've said here and elsewhere multiple times...if someone said I would be ordering on-line veg pre-covid I would stink-eye them insane. We never shopped via delivery. Nothing but good experiences via local meat farm shares and Misfits. No box deliveries are a commitment. Even ButcherBox or my local. No issues suspending for a few months. My freezer is stuffed with seafoods and local quality meats. No pressure from any suppliers if we hold off for a few months. 

With a freezer full of seafood protein and some meats...Misfits provides the best deal on veg. 

I just made some humus and my 10 day old cilantro is still great from Misfits. Learning how your fridge can keep veg fresh is key. Like ovens our fridge crispers are different. My misfits veg lasts weeks. 

 

Never would I have done this pre-covid. But so thrilled with the quality. 

 

 

[dtremit]

42 minutes ago, Annie_H said:

I just made some humus and my 10 day old cilantro is still great from Misfits. Learning how your fridge can keep veg fresh is key. Like ovens our fridge crispers are different. My misfits veg lasts weeks. 

 

 

I think the Misfits / Imperfects of the world probably result in a much shorter, and better controlled, path from farm to consumer. We have been getting a huge proportion of our produce from Misfits / Imperfect and local sources (mainly CSA and a few farm stands) over the past few years — and it's gotten to the point where I forget how short the shelf life of regular grocery store produce is. I go to find it in the fridge and realize it's gone bad before I ever thought to use it. Which of course leads me to buy less from those sources...

[Shelby]

Way before pandemic I wished for something like Misfits\Imperfect to be able to deliver to me.   

[Maison Rustique]

@Shelby have you ever looked at Market Wagon? It isn't exactly cheap, but it appeals to me that it is all local. I keep thinking I will give them a try. I've got them pulled up on my PC now, so maybe I'll take the plunge and give them a try.

[Shelby]

3 minutes ago, Maison Rustique said:

@Shelby have you ever looked at Market Wagon? It isn't exactly cheap, but it appeals to me that it is all local. I keep thinking I will give them a try. I've got them pulled up on my PC now, so maybe I'll take the plunge and give them a try.

No I haven't .....I will and I am so glad for the suggestion! 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

2 hours ago, Maison Rustique said:

@Shelby have you ever looked at Market Wagon? It isn't exactly cheap, but it appeals to me that it is all local. I keep thinking I will give them a try. I've got them pulled up on my PC now, so maybe I'll take the plunge and give them a try.

 

Looks interesting.  I can't quite see how Market Wagon works.  Can anyone explain in simple words?

 

[blue_dolphin]

10 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

Looks interesting.  I can't quite see how Market Wagon works.  Can anyone explain in simple words?

 

I thought the info on their "How it Works" page was relatively simple.  

 

They're not in my area (or yours from what I can tell) but this page shows where they are.