GrubMarket has always been about doing the right thing, from supporting small local farmers, to ensuring organic healthy food is available for everyone!

But we also do a lot of little things, behind the scenes, that you probably don’t even know about! From the way we route our fleet to the way we pack our groceries. Even the people we choose to support, from companies to charities. We put principles and people first.

Over our eight years, one thing has been constant. We have been deliberate in our decisions, each time choosing the right path over the easy one. It would have been easier to pack orders in single-use bags, or to source from cheap distributors. It would have been easier to over-order our produce so we never had a shortage, and then throw away all the excess.

 But we chose to do the right thing.

We didn’t do this for the marketing or for the hashtag, we did this because it was the right thing to do. We didn’t think this was special or newsworthy, and many of our beloved customers probably never knew the extent of our integrity.

 But now we have to share our story. We have to share what we do and why it is so important.

Farm-to-table groceries have become the ‘it’ thing, which is awesome! Many new businesses have popped up claiming to do what we do. But unfortunately, a lot of these new companies are not being completely honest with you, and it breaks our hearts. They may say they’re an organic, local, produce delivery, but they’re not actually playing the same game. They’re cutting corners, taking the easy way, or doing the wrong thing. And we think you have the right to know.

 

Here are the 5 things we do right, and why it matters:

 

Buying direct from small farmers is the right thing.

We buy directly from local, organic, and sustainable farmers as close to your delivery day as possible! (Between 10-60 hours from farm to table) Some of the new companies out there today who claim they ‘buy local’ are actually listing their distributor as their farmer! That is not farm-to-table in our opinion. That adds another stop in between you and your food and additional days in a warehouse for your produce. Plus, the real farmers end up losing an average of 15% to 25% profit on what they send out! When you order the same produce from the same farmer through GrubMarket, that same produce gets to stay on the farm longer, soaking in delicious nutrition from Mother Earth. Plus, since we pay our farmers fairly and directly, making sure they can keep growing healthy, yummy food for generations to come. Not to mention, we make life-long friends!

Truly reducing food waste is doing the right thing.

We’re so glad consumers are more aware of food waste these days, and have started to buy imperfect or ugly produce as a means to ‘help out’. Awesome! However, many companies that advertise that they’re reducing food waste, buying “90% of their food from small local farmers” are actually not telling the truth. Just like the old Reduce, Reuse, Recycle you learned in school, our food waste problem needs to be solved the same way. Yes, it’s great that these companies are recycling wasted food, but they aren’t addressing the heart of the problem. The truth is that they (just like giant grocery chains) are buying cheap produce (most of it coming internationally, not locally) from the same giant distributors. Instead of buying the pretty ones at full-price, they’re buying the imperfect produce. This is recycling food waste, which is commendable, but not enough. All it is doing is really doing is increasing the profit margin of the distributor by reducing their waste. Not helping the small farmer reduce their harvest, and not helping our earth be more sustainable.

Since day one, we sought to change the system. We don’t sell what is convenient, we sell what the farmers need us to sell. We work with the harvest, not against it. In fact, we created a revolutionary produce box for exactly that reason, the “FarmBox”. One of our newest FarmBoxes in the Family is our Truly Imperfect Produce FarmBox, full of ugly beauties!

 

Same-day delivery is NOT the right thing.

Short delivery windows, like 2 hours, is convenient. Hey, we get it! We like the idea of it too. But, there is a difference between getting electronics, clothes or supplies in 2 hours, and farm-fresh produce. What you may not realize is what happens behind the scenes to get that ‘farm-fresh’ food to you. There is a definite cost to that ‘convenience’, and the cost is coming out of your nutrition. A 2-hour or same-day delivery means that your produce has been sitting in a warehouse (probably picked too early and lacking nutrition) and whatever doesn’t sell, goes to waste. The reason for our strict cut-offs is so your food can stay on the farm longer. We order what we need, not what we hope to sell.

 

Using reusable packaging is doing the right thing.

Reusable packaging is not the easy or the cheap thing to do, but it is the right thing. We have been trained now to bring our reusable grocery bags every time we visit a brick and mortar store, however, we somehow forget about this principle when ordering online. That’s a lot of plastic and trees going out the door every day! It may take us more time and effort but we know that, in the long run, using eco-friendly reusable packaging is always a better choice.

 

Multiple-delivery routes are doing the right thing.

Unlike some insta-deliveries, we aim towards a lower carbon footprint. Instead of driving each individual order to a customer, we create deliberate delivery days, zones, and routes to hit every customer in a more environmentally conscious way.  It may take a little extra time, but this drastically reduces the amount of fuel, pollution, and cars on the road.

 

Caring for your employees is the right thing to do.

We have an awesome team of passionate people who want to do the right thing too! That’s why we choose to encourage and empower instead of keeping scorecards on their performance. At GrubMarket, everyone is treated with respect and everyone has a voice, because we know that it takes all of us together to make a difference.