In recent years more and more emphasis has been placed on eating locally-grown, seasonal food here in the UK. It is hunky dory that our supermarkets have the same, whole range of vegetables and fruit right throughout the year, but not many of us actually wonder where all these produce are grown. For example, green beans and sugar snap peas typically come from Kenya, avocados from South Africa and butternuts from Greece. It all adds up to millions of food miles, not to mention that the not-so-fresh and not-so-ripe food’s flavour get lost at sea and doesn’t taste at its best.
One of the big vegetable box schemes are offered by Abel & Cole. The idea is that families can now order over the internet more or less what they want, and what’s even better is that all orders are delivered right on their doorstep. Let’s take a look what’s inside.
When I opened the Mixed Organic Fruit & Vegetable Box, it was brimming full of vegetables and fruit.
Bananas: They were as good as the standard ones you get from the shop (Waitrose, anyway). Stickers proudly claim them to be Fairtrade. (I wish the agriculture industry will banish stickers forever, because it is a pest to get them off in order to compost the skins.)
Clementines: Every single ball of orange goodness was super sweet.
Apples: Although I’m not a keen eater of raw apples, I was pleasantly surprised to find how sweet and juicy they were with no hint of tartness.
Leeks: You can always tell how fresh a leek is by looking at its leaves. If they are loose and feel overall soft, you’re on to a loser. The opposite was true in this case; the leaves were tightly packed and hard.
Mushrooms: The mushrooms were found in the traditional and correct brown bag, luckily on top of all other produce to prevent them getting squashed. Like the leeks they were hard to the touch and fresh, tasted fine too.
Pasrnips: Caked with soil, the parnips were on the border of okay. Unfortunately, they were starting go soft.
Onions: This is a classic case of looks can be deceiving. Admittedly, I was hesitant to using this one but once it was peeled it was 100% inside.
Onions: A prettier onion.
Potatoes: There was a humungous potato in the box and a few smaller ones. It’s been a while that I’ve tasted a potato as sweet. Unfortunately, for big mash fans like us the potato supply didn’t stand a chance of lasting a week. We definitely need more than five of the tubers.
Cabbage: The head of cabbage was in perfect condition, but alas, it was a faff to wash all the grit off the leaves that the root vegetables passed on to it.
As you can see all the root vegetables are placed more or less together.
Carrots: There’s no two ways about it. The carrots were manky.
Carrots: Some were broken off and others were already soft. After a few days everything had to be thrown out.
Pros
- Abel & Cole is eco-friendly, especially with its green habits like recycling its boxes to use over and over again.
- The company supports local farmers which in turn helps the economy.
- It promotes seasonal eating by offering only vegetables that are grown closeby.
- If you use this service you will be lessening your food miles drastically.
- If you are unhappy with the quality of the produce you received, the company will refund you.
- You can state your preferences in your account. If you hate broccoli or beetroot, neither will ever appear in your box.
- Reliability. If they say they will deliver on Wednesday, they do!
Cons
- You can’t choose/pick your own vegetables. If you are selecting items at the green grocer, you would surely go for the ones that look the best, right?
- The different veg and fruit are not partitioned off properly, and soil can come into awkward places which means extra and unnecessary washing of other veg.
- People who like eating the skin of vegetables like potatoes will have no luck, because the skins can be potentially quite scabby and it takes ages to clean.
Conclusion
The biggest let-down for us was the root vegetables; maybe we’re a bit spoiled by the sparkly vegetables presented at the shops so we found the cleaning part quite hard work. The carrots might have slipped through quality control but thankfully we know that crops come from various sources all the time and it doesn’t necessarily mean they will stay bad week in and week out. After all, 90% the box had to offer was in mint condition and there isn’t that much to complain about. Abel & Cole is doing a good cause and I strongly support their values.
wow, never crossed my mind before, but it looks like we must be living close to each other – just got an info from A&C this week “We will be delivering in your area once a week from next week”
i am all for organic…lovely pics, n hey Michelle i agree with u on the rigidness part of the millitary forces…;p
Looks like a nice idea, these food boxes are getting more and more popular – I like the fact that it supports local farmers.
I still prefer to pick and choose my own veges + fruit at my local small grocers to be honest and I live quite close to portebellos in any case and the visit to the market alone is a treat.
great photos by the way!
Olasz: I’m based in Essex, close to Southend-on-Sea. A & C must be expanding. Where are you based?
Thanks, Navita!
Thanks for your input, Kang! To be honest I also prefer to choose my own fruit and veg. It’s all part of the fun to look at what’s available.
I am a big cheerleader for A&C and have vowed to start getting regular boxes from them this year. Have mixed feelings about buying Kenyan beans and SA citrus. Peopel keep saying that instead of sending aid to Africa, we should be trading with them. So if every person in Europe stopped buying these imported crops, what would happen to the peopel employed in those industries in Kenya & SA etc.? I refuse to buy imported strawberries in January, but I am afraid I do buy proudly South African when it comes to apples and citrus…
I have been buying from Abel & Cole every week for almost a year.. I don’t understand how those carrots look so bad.. I can keep carrots for 3 weeks in the fridge from them.. and even when they are soft (after 3 weeks) they stir fry nicely.. MUD is part of what makes them so good.. Veg like we had as kids.. Put a pair of rubber gloves and a bit of mud are far better than sprays, preservatives & postions added by supermarkets and wholesalers etc..
I think that Abel & Cole’s food is the best qulity i’ve found.. it far out ranks any shop.. There are always offers on either veg or food.. its taste is far superior and my whole family love it.. There is nothing more natural than a little caterpillar crawling across the work top from your fresh green cabbage.. proves its fresh & spray free!
Andrea: Wow, it’s nice to meet someone so passionate about their produce. I stored my carrots in the fridge, but maybe I was just unlucky with the supplier. The first thing I thought when I opened the box was that the veg looked as if it came from my own backyard. We all know you can’t get better than that.
We’ve been using A&C for a few months now and generally they’re good, but the carrots are definitely dodgy. Last week’s didn’t even last for two days and had to be composted.
Hi Jacky, I’m sorry to hear you have received some carrots from us in the past that weren’t up to scratch! We would never expect you to pay for any produce that you weren’t satisfied with so if you could drop us an email at organics@abelandcole.co.uk we would be happy to refund you. Carrots can dehydrate quite quickly in transit so a good tip is to put them in a bowl of iced water for about 30 minutes and this should help to freshen them up! Louisa
I know Abel & Cole are fantastic at sorting problems out & crediting your account if something is wrong.. I put my lettuce in a box like a tupperware with either grooves or a strainer.. rinse it.. let the water drain and put the lid on and it crisps up lovely..
I don’t think that i can go back to normal food.. i’ve spent weeks restructuring the money and the shopping so that we can eat the best food.. Abel & Cole had 25% off the other week.. on everything but fruit & veg and so i took advantage to try stuff that i wasnt sure would be worth the money.. and wow the steak.. the pork.. yum.. its worth the money..
My friends think i’m batty.. but i love to cook..
I also found that Abel & Cole’s other stuff is actually the same price or cheaper than places like Waitrose who also stock some varieties..
Oooh.. and dont start me off on the bread they supply.. and the rolls.. yum.. and they are far more filling than the freshair filled ones from the shop.. (But you either have to freeze or re-warm to keep fresh.. ) but.. yum!
Andrea: Thanks for the handy lettuce tip! You shouldn’t worry what your friends think; you’re the one enjoying the good food after all.
You’re right, the veg boxes don’t seem more expensive than Waitrose’s produce. I still have to try so many products of theirs….
Thanks again for your great input!
I noticed that this week’s bananas didn’t have a Fair Trade sticker they had a Ffyfes sticker! I always thought of Ffyfes as a gross multinational company which screws the farmers so was pleasantly surprised that A & C are using them. Can I assume they are Fair Trade now?
Hi Eileen,
We understand your concerns and appreciate that buying Fair Trade produce is important to you. Rest assured that buying Fair Trade is equally as important to us. I hope I can help to shed some light regarding these matters. Your bananas may have been without their Fair Trade sticker as there is usually one per bunch, so when they are split in order to make portions there may be some without the stickers. In regards to Fyffes we believe they had a reputation back in the 80s relating to the use of pesticides that may have harmed some farmers. They now do a lot for supporting local farming communities in the Dominican Republic including schools and health centres, and we are very happy to buy our organic bananas from them. I hope this information helps to put your mind at ease. Louisa