It’s thought one-third of all food produced around the world goes to waste each year, and, with it, the resources used to produce it in the first place. This is a vast environmental issue, in more ways than one, because if all of this food is then left to rot in landfill, it will produce the greenhouse gas methane, which is known to be a major contributor to climate change.

While many of us try to do our part and avoid chucking away food unnecessarily, there will be items that go to waste earlier in the supply chain, before the produce even reaches us. In fact, a lot of it doesn’t even make it to the supermarket aisle, with the amount of food wasted on farms accounting for a hefty 25 per cent of the UK’s annual food waste.

When it comes to fruit and vegetables, they may be rejected by retailers for something as trivial as how they look – too big, too small or too oddly shaped to meet supermarkets’ rigid standards. Fresh produce could also end up going to waste simply because growers end up with a surplus. So, how can we rescue perfectly edible food from being thrown away? This is where Oddbox comes in.

The subscription box service works by finding out from growers the fruit and vegetables that are about to get the chop (so to speak) and delivers them to your door, weekly or fortnightly. What’s more, the surplus that doesn’t make it into its boxes is donated to FareShare, a charity redistributing food to prevent hunger across the UK.

We liked the sound of this fresh thinking, so, we decided to give Oddbox a try. Keep reading to find out how we got on.

How we tested

We had the Oddbox fruit and vegetable box in the size small delivered to our home, so we could dig into the contents, inspecting the quality and the variety of fruit and veg inside. Beyond the contents of the box, we considered the price, the packaging, and how convenient the subscription service is.

Oddbox small fruit and veg box subscription

What’s inside: Seven varieties of vegetables, three types of fruit

Delivery: Weekly or fortnightly

Why we love it

Convenient

Encourages you to try new recipes

Take note

You can’t choose the contents of the box

A subscription service making it easier to do our bit when it comes to reducing food waste sounds hugely appealing, so, how does it work?

First, choose the Oddbox option that best suits your needs – you can opt to receive a box of vegetables, a box of fruit, or a mix of both. You can also choose from a range of box sizes (although the fruit option is only available in one size). We opted for the mixed box in the small size, which comes with seven kinds of vegetables and three types of fruit.

Keep in mind that the box contents will be different with each delivery, and you won’t have a say over what you get. This is for good reason, of course, as the fruit and veg provided will depend on what would have otherwise gone to waste that week. Plus, you can welcome some spontaneity into the kitchen – we like the idea of shaking up our weekly meal rotation depending on whatever fresh goodies are set to arrive.

Although it’s worth noting it’s not a complete surprise. You’ll be informed of what’s coming ahead of each delivery, and you can swap out up to three items. While we didn’t do this ourselves, you will also be able to add fruit and vegetable extras to your order if you’d like to, so there’s some flexibility, although this will bump up the overall price.

So, what was actually in our box? In addition to one recipe, intel on where everything had come from and why, there was a good bulk of potatoes (about 800g), a bag of Brussels sprouts (275g), one aubergine, one squash, a two-pack of pak choi, six carrots and four parsnips. As for the fruit varieties, we got six clementines, six pears and one melon. Whether this is enough for you will depend on the size of your household and whether or not you’re planning to supplement the items.

Yes, some of the fruit and vegetables were slightly less uniform than we’re used to seeing at the supermarket but, beyond that, there was nothing odd about the quality. From the squash that we whipped up into a warming autumnal soup to the (rather small) pears, everything we ate was fresh and met our expectations in terms of taste.

The packaging was a breath of fresh air, too, seeing as we’re so used to the sea of plastic in the fruit and veg section of the supermarket. The whole lot arrived in a recyclable cardboard box, and, as Oddbox only uses packaging where necessary, the only plastic in our box was for the pak choi, which would have been wrapped before Oddbox rescued it.

Read more: Tyme lunch subscription review

How the fruit and vegetables are delivered to your door has been considered when it comes to reducing the company’s carbon footprint. So, the boxes are delivered overnight, which, in theory, means the drivers spend less time on the roads. While UK produce is the focus for Oddbox, when anything is imported, it won’t have travelled by air.

As for whether the box we tried is good value for money, the subscription to a small fruit and vegetables box will set you back £14.49 per delivery, which we think is pretty good going, particularly when factoring in how convenient it is to have a little less on your shopping list, the quality of the produce, and the fact you’re playing a part in reducing food waste with every box.

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Oddbox FAQs

Is an Oddbox worth the money?

This might vary depending on where and what you normally shop for, but we did our best to accurately compare the price of the small Oddbox contents with an online supermarket, namely Sainsburys.

Oddbox’s small fruit and veg box comes in at £14.95 and there’s also the additional £1.49 charge which you need to pay for delivery. When tallied up from the supermarket it came out as £13.49, making it only marginally more expensive – but this extra few pounds also comes with the promise of good quality, convenience, seasonality of the produce, eco-credentials (such as prioritising UK growers) and the reduction of plastic packaging.

How big are Oddbox boxes?

While the size and weight of Oddbox bundles varies slightly, there should always be a certain number of fruit and/or vegetable varieties included, and they should fall within a certain weight range. Which box will be best suited to your household will depend on how much fruit and veggies you get through each week.

For veg boxes, the small has seven varieties (weighing anywhere between 2.5g and 3kg), the medium has eight (3.9kg-4.3kg), and the large has nine (5.5kg-6kg). With fruit and veg boxes, the extra small has seven varieties (2.6kg - 2.9kg), the small will have ten (3.8kg-4.5kg), the medium will have 12 (5.8kg - 6.5kg), and the large will have 13 (8.8kg0-9.5kg). Last but not least, the fruit booster will arrive with six varieties of fruit and weighs in anywhere between 3.5kg and 4kg.

Are veg boxes worth it?

Convenience aside, the perks of committing to a vegetable box subscription include the seasonality of the produce, which is generally thought to improve its taste and quality. In the case of Oddbox, the produce is different with each delivery, which can also encourage shoppers to try new recipes. They can be a more sustainable choice than shopping in the supermarket, too, in cases where veg box companies work with local growers and use less plastic packaging.

What is wonky fruit and veg?

Fruit and vegetables could be categorised as “wonky” for several reasons. They might be too small, an odd shape and colour, or they could have a marking of some kind that means they may not sell and won’t meet retailers’ rigid standards. If you love the concept of saving wonky produce, there are also brands and retailers using them in their produce, such as Dash, which uses wonky fruit in its sparkling water drinks.

The verdict: Oddbox

It’s safe to say fresh, good-quality fruit and vegetables will taste the same no matter their size and shape, so, by rescuing rejected and surplus produce that might otherwise end up in landfill, and redirecting it to our front doors, Oddbox is doing a great thing, and offers a brilliant way for us to help with reducing food waste.

In terms of what was actually in our fruit and veg box, we were very pleased with the variety and quality of the produce. We also thought the box we received offered good value for money, particularly if you’re looking to be more mindful of food waste and enjoy the convenience of a home-delivery subscription service.

While the unpredictability of changing contents may not be everyone’s cup of tea, we think having a different mix of fruit and vegetables in each delivery would give us a push to try new recipes led by whatever lands on our doorstep that week.

For more recommendations, read our review of the best vegetable boxes delivered to your door