If you dread the supermarket dash, would you consider swapping it for a delivery of mystery veg?
The idea of not being able to choose your menu for the week is probably the single aspect that puts most people off and at the same time turns other people on to veg boxes.
Some of us are horrified by the idea of not knowing what food will turn up on our doorstep, while others look forward to the surprises in their weekly box.
And the number of people signing up to mystery box shopping has surged. Veg boxes have become big businesses over the last decade, with tens of thousands of homes across the country getting a box each week.
In Coventry, Suzanne Bristow first started delivering veg boxes 12 years ago as a small-scale operation from her back room at home.
She said: “My dad had an allotment so we always ate that way.
“When my kids were little I got an allotment, too. We had loads of homegrown fruit and veg but I had to supplement it so I got a veg box from Garden Organic in Ryton.
“I had to go and pick it up each week and I thought, wouldn’t it be great if we could have this delivered?
“There wasn’t anything like that in the area so I decided to start it up myself.”
With no budget but bags of enthusiasm Suzanne started to leaflet houses in and around Earlsdon offering boxes of
locally-sourced organic fruit and veg.
She said: “I made some enquiries and found a co-operative of farmers in Hereford.
“I borrowed the money to buy the first lot of veg, made up 20 boxes and delivered them that week.
“People were calling saying, ‘It’s lovely – will you come again next week?’
“So I leafleted more roads and it just grew from there.”
Suzanne started with help from mum Pam putting boxes together in her back room at home.
Soon the scheme had become so popular she decided she needed a shop and took over the old Coventry Scuba Centre in Earlsdon Street.
Suzanne’s shop, Down To Earth, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and as well as stocking organic meat, sweet treats, toiletries and more, Suzanne now sells 150 veg boxes across Coventry, delivering four times a week.
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Good luck to Suzanne
We had ours delivered once a week right up until the mid 1970's. My housekeeper though warned me to choose the items in person because shopkeepers then had a habit of hiding the outdated stuff underneath the fresher items.
