FAQs...
Thanks for being a part of changing our system, and moving away from the impossibly perfect standards we have somehow developed for our country's delicious produce.
Here are some answers to the most common questions we receive. Please always feel free to reach out and ask questions or find out more.
Fruits & Vegetables
Where are they from?
We work closely with local growers, auction places and packhouses in New Zealand.
Sometimes you also get chance to save import friends as well.
A study by University of Otago in 2014, showed that there's 122,000 tonnes of food waste that is still perfectly edible. totalling a value of $872m each year. That's enough to feed people in Dunedin for two years and to provide free lunch to all school kids in New Zealand for 3 years.
There has never been a proper study on food waste at the grower level in New Zealand but generally speaking 40% of total production never gets to leave the farm, and never gets into anywhere but waste, compost and landfills. Thanks for helping us to change this!
Why have they been wasted?
This is a very good question, they shouldn't be! That's why our founder, Wendy Zhou, started this company to give people a means to access this perfectly edible food.
There are high market standards for New Zealand's fresh fruits and veggies, Tag1 and Tag2 are the only ones accepted on current mainstream market. During lockdown Level 2, only Tag1 was accepted.
50% of the produce you help us save is from local farms, and this has been rejected for many reasons and most of the produce never gets to harvest stage. Some are rejected post-harvest, normally these will go to compost, waste or landfills.
We're here to change the way things are done!
Why is my produce bruised?
Not all the produce you receive in your Mystery Box will be perfect, however we're try our best to make sure you have the right amount knowledge to put these to good use.
Once fruits are perfectly ripened, they're very delicate and its easy to get bruises on their skin. They might not be able to be eaten in the normal way, however we can be creative to use them up - think chutneys, or jams!
If eating all the contents of your box is not possible, then please try to compost it and give it back to where it from - 'soil'
We love to stay in touch and know how you deal with these special cases, so please share on Facebook, Instagram and message us, we'll thank you for doing so with surprises.
Is there an organic option?
Eventually we hope there will be, as we're continuing to have conversations with local growers and trying to make our contacts within the agriculture sections. Not just organic produce, but also more exciting we are working with regeneration farms too.
If you not sure what regeneration farms are, we recommend you watch a documentary called "Kiss the Ground" on Netflix. It's the ultimate solution to solve global warming, and the native way that our ancestors were doing for millions of years already.
Imperfect Mystery Box
What's in the box?
The Mystery Box is part of our 'ugly is tasty' movement, to raise awareness of the food loss side of our food system. Most of the foods in our Mystery Box have never been harvested - our volunteer gleaning team go out in the field every Saturday, or pick up produce from our growers in the Imperfect Rescue Community.
Please read carefully before you make purchase so you understand what you are receiving. Each box has a mix of produce - some are "ugly" not just appearance with different shapes, but some of them might already be past their best shelf life. They might not that fresh to eat raw, but one thing we can assure you that all of our food is suitable to eat creatively. They're too good to waste or landfill.
Can I customize my weekly box?
YES & NO.
Unfortunately we can't make customised boxes.
We're aware that some people have food allergies, and our volunteers are careful when they are packing, but sometimes we make mistakes. Please forgive us - each volunteer freely gives their time to serve this mission, so we can all come together to make a change
We are Non Profit Organisation, and selling these food for making money was never our goal. In fact 60% of food that we rescue is donated to other food charities, and community food banks, pantries.
Can I order extra cabbages?
Sorry, we can't make customised boxes.
The main reason for this is that we don't know what we are going to be able to rescue from week to week.
However, each week we have 'Rescue Sale' of any of the excessive amount of produce from farms. We definitely need everyone's help to use this produce up so if you see some excess produce that you love please snap it up!
Can I donate a box to others?
Yes! Of course and that'd be awesome if you do so. Please fill their shipping address and contact details when you make a purchase.
You can donate as many as boxes you'd like with different shipping details and we'll make sure they all receive your love every week.
Shipping & Delivery
Free Shipping?
Our entire service is run by volunteers, so the delivery fee you pay helps support our volunteer program, to pick up these foods from growers, and distribute to local charities, community groups and families in need. Our volunteers gift us their valuable time to help us to save more, with everybody's help we can achieve big things!
To the rest of the country, unfortunately we can't deliver to you guys right now. But we're working with your local community to set up gleaning networks in your local town.
Please get in contact with us, if you're keen to join this program. We have all the handy information that you'd need, and we'll assist you in working with us.
Where are we delivering?
We're working hard to expand our mission to the rest of New Zealand. Reach out if you think you could help or are interested in becoming our local Perfectly Imperfect Ambassador
Currently, areas that we have volunteer drivers covers the Auckland Region:
Current Coverage
Auckland - North Shore (up to Red Beach)
Auckland - Central (CBD excl)
Auckland - West
Low capacity Coverage
Auckland - East
Auckland - Red Beach further north
Auckland - Rural Areas
Auckland - South
Please reach out to us if you think you are interested in being our volunteer driver for your community.
When is my delivery day?
Our entire service is run by volunteers, therefore we have to work out the best time that we can make this work. We're building a sustainable food system and make delivery route decisions based on what's best for all.
Our pre-order window:
Monday - Saturday
Delivery the following week:
West Auckland -Wednesday
Central Auckland - Wed & Thurs
North Shore - Tuesday to Thursday
Pick Up @ Local Hubs:
If you think you won't be home at the time we deliver, please leave note of safe place that we could leave your box for you.
How long does it takes to deliver?
We'll do our best to deliver your weekly box on the same day of designed day in your area by our own people / volunteers.
Occasionally delivery might be delayed due to other factors, like harvest pace of local growers, or unknown reasons that disturb our normal working hours like lockdowns, as there are tons of paperworks need to be done first before our people hit the road.
Outside Auckland, as we use a third party courier company, it will depend on their depot time schedule and you'll get notifications in that case to track your package