London startup to lead ‘wonky veg revolution’ with £350k crowdfund

A business based in London is looking to drive the ‘wonky veg revolution’ with a six-figure crowdfund.

Oddbox is the company behind a scheme providing boxes of misshapen but perfectly edible fruit and vegetables.

If successful, the firm’s campaign to raise £350k on crowdfunding platform Seedrs will see it expand its logistical capabilities, broaden its delivery area and add to its network of growers.

While Oddbox currently boasts 1,500 customers in South London, the company said it has a waiting list with a further 2,500 people in the UK who want wonky produce delivered to their doors.

According to Oddbox, an estimated 20-40% of all produce is rejected before reaching supermarkets, and left to rot, because it fails to meet strict visual standards.

Partners Emilie Vanpoperinghe and Deepak Ravindran were inspired to set up Oddbox 2016 after eating a misshapen but delicious tomato on holiday in Portugal.

Upon returning to the UK, the duo convinced two British farmers to sell them imperfect and surplus produce. They boxed up the goods, charged almost a third less than other veg box schemes and delivered from the back of their car to just 10 customers in South London.

Two years later, Oddbox has delivered more than 25,000 boxes to people’s homes and 4,000 to offices. The company claims to have rescued around 150 tonnes of food waste.

Co-founder Emilie said: “Food surplus is a massive issue that isn’t going away and we all need to play our part in reducing it.

“We are on a mission to fundamentally shift food standards and normalise wonky produce and limit food waste.

“It’s madness that perfectly edible and delicious produce is being left on the plant or ploughed back into the field because it doesn’t meet strict specifications.”

Emile continued: “We are making it worthwhile for farmers to pick this imperfect produce by paying them a fair price.

“We have big ambitions to grow to the whole of London and beyond with a target to save 500,000 tonnes of UK and EU fruit and veg waste by 2022. Come and join the wonky veg revolution!”

Andrew Brice, owner of Church Farm in Rochester, commented: “Oddbox has helped my business in a big way by offering me a fair price for a product that otherwise would have been wasted. Before Oddbox, we wasted between 25-40% of the asparagus we grew because it’s not perfectly straight, which for a product which takes three years to establish and start producing spears, really does impact us.”

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