Imperfect Produce Review: The Good, The Bad and The Not So Ugly

Note: This post was updated on 3/4/2019.

Many food subscription services have sprouted the last few years. Think of HelloFresh, Blue Apron and Plated. These all have a similar set-up. You pick your favorite recipes and the ingredients will be delivered to you. While I have been tempted to try one of these when a discount offer comes around, I have never bitten the culinary bullet.

One day Imperfect Produce showed up as a recommendation in my wife’s social media feed. The company from San Francisco sources “ugly” produce from local farmers when possible, or from growers in areas where food waste is imminent. In their own words, they “follow the waste” when necessary and appropriate. Since supermarkets all have their own high standards of what produce should look like, a lot of otherwise good food gets rejected. Produce that has too many marks or is too small won’t make it into the store.

Why Should You Care About Imperfect?

Think about your own trip to the grocery store. Do you closely examine the produce before putting it in your cart? Do you become a judge on the international beauty pageant for squash? Admittedly, I spent more than enough time checking the ripeness of avocados and finding the freshest tomatoes. We do this because we can, and quite frankly, the nicest looking produce must be better, right?

Sadly enough we waste a lot of food in the United States (and around the world for that matter). According to the USDA, this figure lies between 30 and 40 percent of the food supply. It’s staggering when you think about this wasted food that could have helped to feed other families. Instead it ends up in our landfills, which uses up resources that could have been used to positively impact our planet.

Since we liked Imperfect’s mission of providing subscribers with “produce rejects” without compromising on the quality, we decided to sign up for the service. It would be like inviting a farmer’s market over to your house.

Before continuing to my experience with Imperfect, I think it’s important to mention that this is an honest review of their subscription service. I did not receive any compensation for writing this article.

I’ll give a quick overview of how the Imperfect subscription works, followed by a review of four separate orders.

Let’s see what happened!

How Does the Imperfect Subscription Work?

When you sign up for the first time, you need to select a type of box and a delivery frequency. There are four boxes you can choose from. They are Organic, Mixed Fruit and Veggie, All Fruit, and All Veggie. Next, Imperfect will check if delivery is possible in your area, so make sure you enter the correct zip code. Currently Imperfect delivers to larger metropolitan areas on the west coast (Bay Area, Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento, Portland, Seattle), east coast (Baltimore), in the Midwest (Chicago, Indianapolis, Milwaukee) and Texas (Austin, San Antonio). Since they claim that they are expanding quickly, check back often to see if your area is added.

Once you’ve established that you can sign up, it’s time to pick a box size. Small, Medium, Large and Extra Large are the options. The box sizes are based on the weight of the produce and the serving size. I found that this is a matter of trial and error, because for our household of two, the suggested box size is medium. We ended up going with the large Mixed Fruit and Veggie box, which has served us well.

The next steps involve setting up an account and providing delivery instructions and billing info. Keep in mind that you can’t choose a delivery day. This is tied to the area you live in, For example, we get our Imperfect deliveries on Tuesdays. You will get a delivery window for your assigned day, but you don’t have to be home. There is a good reason behind having a specific delivery day for each area. It’s to lower the carbon footprint by keeping delivery trips to a minimum.

Apparently, customers in the Pacific Northwest are currently the only ones that can adjust the delivery window. This window is impressively wide, for example 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. Whether you are able to change the delivery window or not, make sure you give clear instructions in the “Driver Notes,” on where to leave the box, gate codes etc.

Customizing Your Imperfect Box

You can start customizing your next Imperfect box about five days before the scheduled delivery. You then have approximately two days to make changes, before the customization window shuts. So on Thursday, my wife and I huddle around the laptop to decide what we want to keep, get rid off, or add altogether. Real “Produce Nerds” alright. So far we have always made changes, so be sure to log into your account on “customization day.” Another reason to pay the Imperfect website a visit before your scheduled delivery, is that some items do sell out.

If you forgot to customize your order, or didn’t want to, you will receive the default order for that week. At least it will be a surprise. But unless there truly isn’t a fruit or vegetable that you dislike, you may want to take a look at what you are getting.

Besides knowing what produce you would normally reach for at the grocery store, it is helpful to have in mind what you are going to prepare once the Imperfect box hits your doorstep. This is good practice to (even further) minimize food waste. However, even with the best intentions of optimally customizing your box, it can be a dangerous strategy. Something I will explain a little later on.

It’s easy to create your future shipment, and you can switch between regular and organic produce, and non-produce items, regardless of the box you picked when you signed up. The benefit of being an “organic” customer for example, would be that you have first dibs on the produce that is in your default shipment. Whereas I, as a “conventional” customer, would get the sold-out message for organic grapefruits, if this item is part of that week’s default shipment and happens to be extremely popular with other customers. The non-produce section only had coffee to choose from.

Now you have the details on which and how much produce you are getting. Keep in mind that the contents of the box will have something the matter with them. This is what Imperfect is all about after all. In most cases you will be able to find out where your fruits and vegetables come from, as well as what imperfections they may have. Almost all of the produce will come from your state or neighboring states, and since we are dealing with seasonal products, don’t expect cherries or strawberries in winter. The most common imperfections that are listed have to do with size, scarring or shape, but sometimes you are getting a surplus item.

Theoretically, you can go from an extra-large box to a small box without any penalty. However, there is a flat delivery fee of $4.99, so you want to make it worth your and the delivery driver’s while.

It’s also worth noting that you can skip shipments at no penalty, and canceling the entire subscription can be done at any time (unless you have a box coming of course).

First Imperfect Order

The big day was finally there! What would the produce look like and how would the delivery go?

It started off well with a text message from Imperfect early on in the delivery window. It alerted me that the Imperfect box was getting close and that it should arrive within several minutes. And indeed, mere minutes later, another text message claimed that the box was delivered. So far, these alerts have been spot on.

The box itself was sturdy, with a funny anecdote on the side. The produce was carefully packed without any frills, and the order came with a free (expected) protein bar and a handy produce storage guide.

Since this was the first order (and because I was arranging the produce for the photo) I checked everything carefully. I couldn’t really find anything shockingly off with any of the fruit or vegetables. The ones in the picture were the “ugliest” in the shipment.

So, everything was rather perfect then? Well, not quite. The item that we were most looking forward to, and specifically had added to our order, was missing. The highly anticipated never-tried organic bacon avocados were nowhere to be found. While the produce was in better shape than expected, missing an item in your first order made us wonder about the Imperfect subscription.

Obviously things can go missing, bad day, human error. Who knows. Either way, it was a good opportunity to try out Imperfect’s customer service. That same evening we sent an email explaining the tragically absent avocados. The following afternoon we received a sympathizing response, and a $6 credit that was added to our account. Along with the promise of better quality control came roughly an extra buck or two.

As I mentioned earlier, planning meals with produce from the Imperfect box should be the way to go. However, in our case the avocados were going to make an appearance in several (canceled) meals.

Better luck next time?

Second Imperfect Order (MIA)

The day after Christmas marked our second shot at trying the Imperfect produce box. It also coincided with the most wintry weather the Portland area had seen so far. This didn’t bode well for the delivery of our box. For that matter, it never even arrived.

Neither the frantic checking of my phone for delivery updates, nor the opening of the door followed by a “THERE you are!” made the box appear. As if we were waiting for a set of gold bars, we accepted our fate at 11 p.m, and called off the search. That same night, another email went out to Imperfect.

In a timely manner we received a response, which again sympathized with our situation. The reason for the missed delivery was explained as a computer problem that affected deliveries. While we did get a credit for the whole order (nothing extra), it would have been nice to be notified about potential problems. As much as this company seems to be about logistics, this did not look very promising.

I have to admit that we were on the brink of canceling the subscription at this point. Because the both of us really like the concept, we decided to give Imperfect yet another chance.

Third time’s a charm?

Third Imperfect Order

A comforting text message signaled us that we would indeed have an Imperfect box to enjoy that day.

Everything that we ordered was there (hooray avocados!) and the produce was in good shape, with only minor scarring on some items. This turned out to be the best box so far.

For your nitpicking pleasure, the only negative revealed itself several days later. Some of the tomatoes, which we always keep outside of the fridge on the counter (as the “Imperfect Produce Guide” suggests), turned very moldy. I can’t recall a time where tomatoes had a chance to turn moldy in our household. Mushy, maybe, but moldy, no. Since we didn’t get tomatoes the first time, I couldn’t draw a comparison. However, most tomatoes in this shipment were absolutely fine.

Fourth Imperfect Order

The fourth shipment was our biggest order yet. We even received two boxes full of produce. Once again, marks and scars were the main imperfections on the fruit and vegetables. Besides the overview photo, I only took pictures of the “uglier” produce. Everything in the box was very tasty, including the tangelos, which are those funny looking oranges. If you are wondering why on earth we have so many lemons, then the answer is: homemade limoncello!

The Good, The Bad and The Not So Ugly

Since we are still subscribers of Imperfect Produce, this is not a final verdict. Below are my impressions of the service so far.

Good:

• By using Imperfect you are making your contribution to combat food waste.
• Your purchase supports local farmers who would otherwise have to sell their produce at a loss or leave it behind in the field.
• Customizing an order is easy, so you don’t end up with produce that you really don’t like.
• The ability to skip shipments without penalty and cancel the subscription at any time make Imperfect a low-risk service.
• You receive a text message letting you know that your delivery driver is close. Another one is sent when your box has been delivered.
• Responsive customer service. The issues that we did have with missing items/missing delivery were properly handled.

Bad:

• If you are excited to try the service but don’t live in one of Imperfect’s delivery areas, you can’t order (yet!).
• Our first order was incomplete, which is not the best introduction to a new service.
• Our second order was never delivered. Only when we inquired about the missing box, we found out about some computer glitch that messed up the deliveries. However, the text messages that have consistently announced the arrival of the box, were indeed absent that day.

The Not So Ugly: 

• The produce overall has been of good quality. It didn’t taste differently from grocery store produce, and as you can tell from the photos, the imperfections were minor.
• You can’t choose your delivery day, and the delivery window is very generous, so make sure to give clear instructions to the delivery driver.
• Imperfect claims that you are getting a great deal on the produce (30 to 50 percent less than grocery stores). This may hold true if you shop at high-end grocery stores, but otherwise that estimate seems steep. For this review I focused on quality, not on price. I don’t think you want to get Imperfect just to save money, even though the produce was indeed cheaper at times through the service. The real value of the service is preventing food from going to waste.

Update Spring 2018

Since my original post, Imperfect Produce has expanded its territory to Indianapolis, Indiana. Delivery to residents of Milwaukee, Wisconsin is scheduled to start at the end of June. You’d still want to verify the exact delivery location by entering your zip code.

On a more personal note, our first spring order wasn’t flawless. The produce itself was fine as usual, but before our Tuesday delivery we received an email from Imperfect to let us know we weren’t getting any peppers. Unfortunately, these bell peppers were supposed to be the main component of one of our meals. At least this time we didn’t have to discover the omission ourselves and contact customer service to find out what happened. We did receive a refund for the anticipated missing items.

Because none of the produce stood out in a good or bad way, I didn’t take any pictures of our last order. What we did do, was weigh the items that were sent by the pound. Imperfect claims to “try to give you over the weight requested – never under.” In our case, we were light on some items, but received more on others. So, hopefully you get more of what you like best, is what it comes down to. Understandably so, Imperfect can’t guarantee exact poundage.

The unexpected highlight of our spring order was a bag of gourmet black Maroo raisins. According to Imperfect, the Maroo grape was a popular table grape in the early ’90s. For some reason, they fell out of favor at a certain point. Commercial buyers don’t seem to like the size of the Maroo raisins or the fact that they have tiny seed traces. Credit goes to Imperfect to find an “audience” for these raisins, which are produced by Mesrobian Farms, a family owned and operated ranch in Sanger, California. While the claim on the raisin package may be bold – Best Raisins Ever – they are indeed delicious. In fact, I am snacking on them as I’m writing this update!

Update Summer 2018

Our first Imperfect order of the summer was delivered on a day with temperatures in the upper 70s. I was able to take the box inside right away, so it didn’t have to sit out in the sun at all.

The box itself was upgraded compared to previous iterations. It looked sleeker, while it also featured storage tips on the outside.

Ever since the first order, it seems to be hit or miss with getting (all) avocados. This time around, we were one short as well. Then again, when life doesn’t give you enough avocados, it may give you more of something else. In this case, all the produce, except for the onions, weighed (slightly) more than what was promised.

The second order of this summer turned out to be a true test. Finding out how Imperfect – and more importantly its produce – would deal with summer heat, is an important factor in judging the company’s logistics. The answer to this question came on a Tuesday just before 8:30 p.m. With highs in the mid 90s, delivering produce could pose a real challenge. It likely wasn’t a coincidence that the hottest delivery day so far, came with the latest delivery time. As you may remember, Imperfect delivers as late as 11 p.m.

The contents of the two boxes looked fresh and didn’t appear to have suffered on this hot and hazy day. The biggest imperfection of this order was a moldy spot on one of the zucchini. Since the vegetable was the size of a baseball bat, we performed some minor surgery on it, so we could still enjoy the rest. Other minor imperfections we found were on a single blueberry and a peach.

Familiar fruit and vegetable “faces” included apples, limes, potatoes and cauliflower. We’d also ordered another bag of the terrific Maroo raisins. New in the lineup for us were the Swiss chard and clamshelled blueberries.

Update Fall 2018 (Pictures)

What’s Next?

It will be interesting to see what kind of fruits and vegetables we will receive when the weather warms up. With that comes the challenge of keeping the produce fresh. I would be curious to see how these Imperfect boxes handle another summer scorcher. Once the time is there, I will update this post with that information.

Will you be trying the Imperfect Produce subscription yourself? Which box would you choose? Share your thoughts and questions in the comments below!