Imperfect Foods

[Anonymous]

I mentioned in another post that we have Imperfect Foods delivery every week (imperfectfoods.com). Someone asked me about it, and rather than taking over that thread, I thought I'd make a new one with a plug (I don't work for them or own any part of them, am just a happy customer).

We get delivery of a box once a week. I started out only buying produce (they used to be Imperfect Produce) as have since added meat, which is delicious. And recently, added se vacume packed fish, which has also been good.

They have some premade/prepared food, but I have not ordered it (cook from scratch).

My only caution with their produce is to read WHY they have it. Sometimes it's funny shaped or scarred, sometimes it's excess, sometimes it's too small. You have to pick what works for you.

Best part is you get to decided what comes. Every week, I get my order on Friday afternoons, and have until noon on Monday to make changes. I can remove items, order additional items, get other items. You can also skip a week (or weeks) if you are away or just don't need it that week.

We started with them in the heart of the pandemic, and I won't ever stop as long as I'm cooking!

[Anonymous]

OP, I get an Imperfect Foods delivery each week too, and I generally like it.

However, I have a question about the items that they automatically put in your cart. Do you know when this is done? I usually shop as soon as the window opens to make sure I get in-demand items that I want. Then I go through and delete items that were added to my cart automatically. Sometimes, I go back on Wednesday before the deadline to see if anything new is available. I find that there might be additional items added to my cart that I didn't add.

Does this happen to you?

[Anonymous]

Thanks, op! I’m the one who asked.

So what are imperfect meats then? Is there something wrong with them too?

Are prices competitive?

[Anonymous]

I stopped getting it because the veggies rotted quickly.

[Anonymous]

I had a hit or miss experience. The app was easy, customer service was good, but sometimes food had issues.

[Anonymous]

I didn't have a great experience with it. I gave it four weeks and some of the produce wasn't good. I love the idea but it just didn't work out for us, plus I didn't find their variety to be that great.

[Anonymous]

I used them throughout the pandemic and had a decent experience, though there were some things that just didn't work for me. I tried Misfit Foods to compare and initially preferred Imperfect because they have meat/dairy that I enjoyed and Misfit didn't. Misfit has since been adding to those categories a ton and I think their produce is better (seems fresher, not as weird, and it is all organic) so I've pretty much made the switch and have paused my Imperfect. The only thing I dislike with Misfit is that you have to build a 30 dollar "cold pack" for meat and dairy, whereas with Imperfect you could toss in one or two things and that would be fine. It's ok though, I basically do the cold pack every other week or so and do buy those items from other stores.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like an add. I looked at them and they were significantly more money than what you get at the grocery store. Not worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like an add. I looked at them and they were significantly more money than what you get at the grocery store. Not worth it.

Thanks for the warning! Paying more for misshapen produce? No thank you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sounds like an add. I looked at them and they were significantly more money than what you get at the grocery store. Not worth it.

Thanks for the warning! Paying more for misshapen produce? No thank you.

I am IF customer and i have to agree, the prices are not better than at the grocery store. I just like the convenience of not having to go to the actual store weekly. I order essentials like milk, eggs, bread, apples, oranges, potatoes, pasta on a weekly basis and then we make 1 trip to the store for everything else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I get an Imperfect Foods delivery each week too, and I generally like it.

However, I have a question about the items that they automatically put in your cart. Do you know when this is done? I usually shop as soon as the window opens to make sure I get in-demand items that I want. Then I go through and delete items that were added to my cart automatically. Sometimes, I go back on Wednesday before the deadline to see if anything new is available. I find that there might be additional items added to my cart that I didn't add.

Does this happen to you?

I am PP and i have experienced that a couple of times as well.
Their CS is pretty good and if there is an issue with the quality they always address it.

[Anonymous]

I am OP, and I have never had Imperfect Foods return something to my box that I had removed. They have organic and non organic produce. For the meat/fish, I frequently get the vacuumed packed salmon pieces. They are not perfect size/shape that you'd serve at a dinner party, but are fine if I make a Brazilian fish stew or a making dinner for my family.

As mentioned, you really have to read the WHY for each item. I don't like the small sized avocados for instance, or scared peaches. But surplus? Sure! Misshapen eggplant? Sure.

And, you can mark some items to be in your box every week, or items you never want to see in your box. My order time is Fri afternoon between noon-3 and Monday at noon. I do the same as another poster, look for some items that sell out quickly as soon as I get the email that it is time to shop, and then go back and remove anything I don't want.

If you order more, it costs less (no shipping). I do it for convenience!

[Anonymous]

FWIW, the "imperfect" thing is really just marketing.

That product is already sold to manufacturers for sauces, jam, salsa, whatever. It's not like it's actually going to waste if it's not pretty enough to be sold in the regular produce section.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FWIW, the "imperfect" thing is really just marketing.

That product is already sold to manufacturers for sauces, jam, salsa, whatever. It's not like it's actually going to waste if it's not pretty enough to be sold in the regular produce section.

I wonder about that. Doesn't food processing require sizes (in particular) to be consistent, at least for some things? Like if a processor is making guac, it has some mechanical method to peel the avocadoes, which I think would require specific size range. Same with potatoes where they have to peel them (I know this for a fact actually, because many years ago my dad designed ventilation system for a large potato farmer who sold to McD, and the guy was also looking for better technologies to sort potatoes by size).

[Anonymous]

We did it on and off through the pandemic, but stopped last summer when things were opening up and we did some travel (and had to remember to cancel deliveries). It was fine and helped reduce the number of trips to the store we made, but since the summer I'm back to Safeway for basics/brand names and a rotation of Whole Foods/Trader Joes/Costco for other stuff.