Food boxes aren't really a new thing but since the country was forced into lockdown at the beginning of the pandemic two years ago, residents did their bit in keeping businesses afloat by buying more locally. With bread, milk, eggs, fruit and veg being lovingly procured by farmers around the country, we soon saw an almighty spike in the purchase of food produce boxes by 111% within two months.
Two years on it seems we’re still rather fond of these quaint, quality and locally-made boxes, which are not only saving the planet but your pennies too. Here is a round up of some of Cardiff's local suppliers from which you can find your fresh food fix for less. Whether you're looking for vegetables, fruit or some pantry staples, there's a box for everyone.
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Awesome Wales
Barry
Cowbridge
Prices from £10
This zero-waste shop not only provides its residents with eco-friendly products and plastic-free food, it also offers an ‘ Awesome Ffresh ’ vegetable and fruit box - as a one-off or subscription. Having begun this fruitful venture six months after opening in July 2019, owner Stuart Purnell tells us: “It was something a couple of customers asked for just after we opened. We were doing the veg already in a rack, and then somebody suggested: ‘Maybe do a veg box’.”
Focusing on the plastic-free element, they took the challenge on. Their fruit and veg - which changes due to season - comes from local markets, excess produce from Amelia Trust Farm and even donations from nearby allotments “so they don't go to waste”. And with their selection changing each week, you’ll never be bored. What's more, is that "if [customers] can find it cheaper than us, I'd be very surprised because that means we're not doing something right somewhere," says Stuart, who reckons that, if a customer was to buy these products on offer individually or wrapped in the supermarket, it would cost around £15-£20.
Collection: Weekly or fortnightly from either store on a Monday between 11-4pm
Welsh Food Box Company
Cardiff, Newport, Bridgend and the Vale of Glamorgan
Prices from £13.
Feeding the families of South East Wales - Cardiff, Newport, Bridgend, the Vale of Glamorgan and the Valleys - The Welsh Food Box caters for all your pantry's needs and has been running for 12 years. Chris Rees, who runs the business, says: "Our ethos is local, so we try and source as local as we can." And for staples like apples and pears, they use an organic wholesaler. Checking off organic dairy products, fruit and veg, bakery goods and even odd bits for your cupboard - baked beans, chickpeas, sweetcorn, for example - their process is simple.
As per their website, you choose a box from their range - be it a salad, small, medium, large or juicing box - browse the online shop for any other local organic food you may wish and then you leave it up to the company to source and send your seasonal fruit and veg package. With options for a regular subscription box or one-off, Chris tells us: "We like to be competitive, and not just our angle is the local angle, but we do like to be a little bit cheaper." He adds: "I think customers do care a lot more now about where their food comes from." They even throw in a recipe suggestion to keep things interesting.
Delivery days: Tuesdays through to Fridays
Sullivans
Cardiff Market
Prices from £16.50
As you walk in the doors of Cardiff market, you will be met by the family-run green grocers, Sullivans, which has been going for over 50 years. Supplying fresh produce of usual - and unusual - ingredients straight to your door, their aim is to get you cooking and eating healthier. From apples and asparagus to cabbage and strawberries, they deliver to Cardiff, Wenvoe, Llandough, Penarth, Barry, Cogan, Sully and Dinas Powys.
As stated on their website, they wish to “help you shop and take home the best for you and your family without the hassle of parking, all at competitive prices”. Owner Jamie Sullivan adds: "I also say to customers rather than waste any product they don’t like, put in the comment box and I will swap to a product they do want. So the best option is in the veg box."
Delivery days: Monday through to Friday
Strawberry Fields
Cowbridge
Prices from £10
When Covid hit, Marcia Jones’ fruit and veg business changed overnight. At the height of the pandemic, requests for vegetable box deliveries increased by 600% and now, over two years later, her business is still going strong. “People who have stayed with us, they like what we do. They like that they can order the quantities and the lack of packaging,” she tells us. “We do eggs. We do herbs, spices, some dried goods. We've got standard boxes, we've got just vegetables, just salad, just fruit, then we've got mixed of varying sizes - if somebody's got a larger family, and they say they want a 30 or 35 pound box, we'll fit in. If a customer wants half a cucumber, they get half a cucumber.” she says.
With customized and set boxes available with produce from Bessemer Road market and local strawberry fields, is it competitive? She explains: “I certainly look at the larger shops around me and you can definitely get more for your money. We haven't got set pack sizes. And it’s less waste.”
Delivery days: Around the Vale - Monday through to Friday. Bridgend - Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Windsor fruit and Veg shop
Penarth
Prices from £12
Based in the quaint seaside town, family-run store Windsor Fruit and Veg has been supplying the local area with fresh produce for over 20 years. With vegetable and fruit boxes starting at £12, the contents of each box are created by the owners, Mike and Tricia, and depend on season quality and value. Though they will always have a few staple items each week - potatoes, carrots and onions, for example. “We offer a vast selection of boxes to suit peoples requirements”, says owner Mike Evans, who runs the shop with his wife and daughter.
They also offer a bespoke box, where the customer can give them a shopping list via email or on the phone. Mike tells us one benefit to using a vegetable box is hindering food waste: “With regards to food waste, shopping local is the way forward cause you buy what you need on a day to day basis if you only need one carrot, one onion and one potato because we sell 95% of products loose, customers buy what they need reducing the waste.”
Delivery is available Monday through Saturday
Penarth – Sully- Llandough - Cardiff Barry - Wenvoe
Splo-Down Food Coop
Splott
Prices from £3 for members
The Splo-Down Food Coop established itself in autumn 2020. A community-run initiative, it brings the community together every Wednesday, offering local produce - from a vegetable wholesaler - and an opportunity for members, who need only pay what they can to join (from one pound), to catch up. Based in the Oasis Centre courtyard, the stall serves Splott, Adamsdown and Tremforfa.
“As a member you can buy a veg box for £3 which is the cost of the veg at wholesale. If you cannot afford this you can get it for free as solidarity which is how we use the coop economic structure so support each other,” says Alice Taherzadeh, co-founder and active member of Splo-down Food Coop. She adds: “We have two types – stir fry box and seasonal box. Seasonal Box is UK-only produce (cauliflower, carrots, potatoes, onion, for example) and Stir Fry Box is more the kinds of vegetables you might use in a stir fry (courgettes, peppers, cabbage, carrots, aubergine). Any extras from sorting the veg go onto the swap table where members can take anything and give or swap anything.
Vegetable boxes, especially done within the community, make people think about food shopping differently. Rather than going out to the shops for lots of small purchases, which often lead to waste, people need to plan around what comes in the veg bag each week and that becomes their main food shop.”
Collection on Wednesdays
Carter Fruit and Veg
Cardiff
Prices from £10
This family-run business offers a great weekly delivery service straight to your door. Serving customers a full range of fresh fruit and vegetables with minimal packaging, they have been established since 1982. Customers have the choice of specific items each week or a regular box, which includes staple foods such as potatoes and carrots. And if you like your meals with a side of adventure, you can ask for a surprise box with your chosen price limit.
Their price list reflects the current seasonal food market and is updated regularly - plus, there is no delivery charge on orders over the starting price.
Delivery to Rhiwbina. Pantmawr. Llanishen. Birchgrove. Pantmawr. Coryton. Llandaff North. Llandaff. Whitchurch. Victoria Park. Radyr. Tongwynlais. Heath. Roath Park. P en-y-Lan. Cyncoed. Thornhill, Lisvane.
Penylan Pantry
Pen Y Lan
Boxes from £15
Beloved brunch and lunch spot Pen Y Lan Pantry has long been providing its customers with seasonal, colourful and organic fruit and veg from its stand outside the shop front, and has encouraged the use of local produce and waste-less attitude since its beginnings in 2013. Should you wish to peruse the stall yourself, between Wednesday and Sunday, or request a box be made up ready for collection on a Thursday, the pantry is jam packed with seasonal goodness, from tomatoes and cabbage to leeks and purple sprouting broccoli. With fresh eggs, bread, grains, jams, oils and more also on offer, while you're picking up your box, why not stop in for a coffee and fill your pantry with even more local produce.
Collection day: Thursday
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