The cost of groceries continue to horrify both me and my wallet, so to help ease the financial burden, I've been looking into different ways to save money on food.
I've recently been shopping at independent grocers in Toronto and a GTA chain which has been helping quite a bit, and in the spirit of discovering more ways to save, I decided to try out a produce delivery service called Odd Bunch.
The premise of the business is that it takes food that looks a little too weird to be sold in grocery stores but that's still totally good to eat, which is an idea I really like given that so much food that's produced ends up being wasted.
"Grocery stores have strict cosmetic standards and anything that looks or feels a little different is rejected or dumped," says the company. "We started Odd Bunch as a response to food waste in Canada."
"Misshapen? Scarred? Asymetrical? No problem! We work with farms, greenhouses and distributors to take such produce off their hands, compensate them fairly and deliver them to your door weekly."
They have a variety of boxes you can subscribe to that come in different sizes and different product varieties, like a mix of fruit and veg or organic produce.
After going through all of their options, my fiancee and I opted for their all fruit box, which was delivered right to our apartment door in the west end of Toronto.
To figure out if it was worth it, I weighed out all the produce I got in my box, did the math and compared the overall cost to what the same haul would cost me at Loblaws, which is the grocery store closest to my home.
Here's how the comparison went down.
Odd Bunch
- 4 apples - 670 grams
- 4 peaches - 518 grams
- 4 oranges - 542 grams
- 3 red Anjou pears - 767 grams
- 2 lychees - 141 grams
- 2 bags of grapes - 1606 grams
- Blueberries - 170 grams
- Strawberries - 454 grams
- Honeydew - 1036 grams
- Pineapple - 1530 grams
The box normally costs $40.00 but it was on sale when I purchased it for $32.00.
With shipping, I paid $35.99 in total for my Odd Bunch box.
Although they market that their products can be weird-looking, I only found one pear that had a bit of scarring on it out of the whole fruit haul, and even at that, it's still totally fine to eat. Other than that, everything looked like it could be sold in a big box grocery store.
Of the items we've tried so far, everything is super tasty. I'm a little skeptical on whether or not the pineapple will ripen (it looks aggressively green), but even if it doesn't, I'm still very pleased with the haul.
Loblaws
For the same produce, here's what it currently costs at Loblaws:
- Apples - 670 grams ($4.41)
- Peaches - 518 grams ($3.98 on sale, regularly $5.70)
- Oranges - 542 grams ($2.38)
- Red Anjou pears - 767 grams ($5.05)
- Lychees - 141 grams ($3.72)
- Grapes - 1606 grams ($17.67)
- Blueberries - 170 grams ($2.50)
- Strawberries - 454 grams ($7.99)
- Honeydew - $6.99 for 1
- Pineapple - $4.99 for 1
Total: $59.68
The verdict
I saved almost 50% by shopping at Odd Bunch and it was delivered straight to my door, and as a lazy, depressed person, that's a pretty big thing as it means I can feed myself with nutritious items rather than relying on girl dinners of crackers, cheese and whatever remnants of leftovers I find in my fridge.
In total, I saved $23.69 by using Odd Bunch instead of shopping at Loblaws. Even if the box had been at its regular price of $40.00 instead of $32.00, I still would have saved over $15.00.
Yes, one of the pears had a bit of scarring on it and I'm skeptical about the pineapple, but for roughly $35.00, I have enough fruit to feed myself and my partner for two weeks.
I also like that they show you what items are being sent in each box before you buy it, so you can decide in advance if you want to skip that week based on your preferences - for instance, the reason I didn't buy their all vegetable box is because the week's offerings included cauliflower, squash and beets, all of which I detest.
I can see myself ordering the fruit box again or their medium mixed box of vegetables and fruit in the future (providing, of course, there are no offensive items like beets and squash).
If you are choosey about what products you'd like to receive in your box, this subscription might not be for you as you can't customize it, but it's all for a good reason.
"You are unable to customize the items in each box and there is one main reason for this," says the company. "The items that make up a box are curated carefully to maximize the amount of food waste recovery we can do in any given week. This means that you can be sure that your box diverted at least 10-15 pounds of food from being wasted or, in the best case, sold for pennies.
"With that being said, if you have allergies or picky eaters, we get it, we don't want you to waste either so you are able to make 1 free substitution each week," they say. "Not a fan of Potatoes, switch them for Carrots instead."
As well, I like that they work with farms, greenhouses and distributors in Ontario, like JP Gladstone Farms in Blenheim and Martin's Family Fruit Farm in Waterloo, because it does feel good to support local.
In terms of delivery, I was sent both an email and text message that let me know when the box was en route as well as an estimated time it would be at my door. The estimated time was 8:10 p.m. and it arrived at 8:16 p.m., which is pretty impressive.
As for where they ship to, it appears Toronto is within their radius and some of the GTA, but you can enter your postal code on their website to see if you fall within their range.
Overall, I really liked this service in terms of price, easiness and the fact that it's doing good work to help prevent food waste. What more can you ask for?
These prices are confirmed at the time of publishing, but they can change at any time. Taxes and fees may not be included.
I compared my produce haul from a Toronto delivery service to Loblaws and saved almost 50%
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