While doom scrolling social media over the holidays I got served up an add for a food delivery service called Odd Bunch (www.oddbunch.ca). Kyla and I have bought from CSAs (Community-supported agriculture) before with mixed results. The big issue for us in colder climes is that one can only grow certain crops at certain times of the year which means you end up with a lot of the same produce week after week. Now don’t get me wrong, I love zucchini and garlic scapes as much as the next person but enough is enough.
Odd Bunch is a little different than a CSA in that they don’t actually grow any of the produce that they deliver. Instead, in an effort to reduce food waste the company collects and redistributes fruit and veggies that don’t meet the aesthetic requirements needed to make it at the grocery store as well as overstocked produce. All the goods are fresh, nothing from the rotten rack and delivered to your door on a flexible schedule.
Thanks to David Attenborough, Kyla has always been a food waste hater so this seemed like something we could get behind. After a simple, on-line sign up we waited for our first delivery. In Ottawa the company delivers on Saturdays and their messaging service lets you know at what time that will happen so you can plan your day. The weekly grocery list is published each Tuesday so you can see what you’re getting and plan meals for the coming week. You are able to make substitutions to allow for likes and dislikes.
After receiving our first two boxes these are our thoughts on the Odd Bunch service:
- We like that produce was minimally packaged. The cauliflower, berries and cherry tomatoes were in plastic but everything else was just loose in the box. That said you do end up with a medium sized cardboard box with each delivery.
- Unlike the traditional CSA, the Odd Bunch box offered a lot of variety. On week one for example we receive a cauliflower, broccoli, potatoes, an eggplant, two avocados, a cabbage, romaine lettuce, mini cucumbers, apples, black berries, clementines, oranges, two pears and a couple of grapefruits.
- The Odd Bunch website claims savings of up to 50% off grocery store prices and maybe two deliveries are not enough to properly judge, but we didn’t quite realize those savings. The two person box has a base price of $32 plus a $3.99 delivery fee. On a trip to our local grocery store I quickly added up what the same basket would cost and came up with the number of $45.50. The second week added up to $51.98 thanks to a couple of big butternut squashes. All said and done then we saved about $9.50 on the first week and $16 on the second. Not too shabby!
- On the down side, a couple of the clementines were off and one of the apples was pretty banged up but overall the quality was good.
- We liked that the box contained some things we don’t typically buy (i.e. eggplant) which forced us to explore some new recipes. Getting a cauliflower was a treat too!
- We normally don’t eat that much fruit and given the abundance included in the delivery, this was a gentle nudge towards adding more nutrients to our diet.
- Because we didn’t need to go to the grocery store as much I feel that we didn’t buy as much unnecessary stuff as we normally do. No edamame dip or extra bag of peanuts.
So, the big question is “would we recommend Odd Bunch”?
Overall we would give the Odd Bunch service a thumbs up. On the first week we didn’t need to go to the grocery store at all. All our meals were made using what we received along with what we already had and they were all good. While the savings may not be what was advertised in our area, we still kept the better part of $25 in our pockets which of course beats a kick in the pants. The service is pretty much as advertised and saving food from the landfill is always a win. If you want to try it for yourself just go to www.oddbunch.ca. The sign up is simple and there are different plans for different sized families as well as flexible delivery options.