Imperfect Foods was the second grocery delivery service we signed up for. I was looking for a weekly grocery delivery service that would keep us stocked with fresh fruits and vegetables.
I discovered Imperfect Foods has much more to offer. Our weekly delivery also includes organic eggs, a variety of meats, and pantry staples.
I love that we can count on Imperfect Foods for a weekly grocery delivery.
How to Get Started
Click here to sign up and get $10 off your first order
Membership Fee
There is no membership fee. Imperfect Foods is a recurring weekly grocery delivery service. You are not required to make a purchase every week, but you may need to remove recommended items from your cart to zero it out for the week.
Other Fees
Shipping is free on orders over $65. Otherwise there is a $5 delivery fee.
Tips for Ordering
Shopping Window
You will have a set delivery day each week. You will have a shopping window each week to update your cart. My weekly grocery delivery is every Wednesday. I can update my cart from 3 PM on Friday until 12 PM Monday.
I recommend shopping as soon as your window opens because items do sell out. You’ll get the best selection if you shop early. I have an alarm set for 3 PM on Fridays.
When you sign up, they ask you to select “packs.” Packs are the types of food you want to be added to your box each week. The current choices are Grains, Meats & Fish, Snacks, and Dairy. For each pack you choose, Imperfect Foods will automatically add items to your cart each week. The items will vary each week based on product availability.
You can remove the recommended items from your cart. When you remove an item, they will ask if you want to see it in future boxes. If you select never, they won’t put it in your cart again.
When you start shopping, I recommend first opening your cart and removing any items you do not want. I’ve missed this a few times and gotten a few items no one in my house eats. So now, it’s my first step to check what is already added to my cart.
How to Browse All Available Items
Next, I browse and add items to my cart. They show items in categories and you can click into each category to see more.
I personally like to see everything. So, I scroll past all the categories and click “View Entire Catalog”. Then I can scroll through every single item available and quickly add items to my cart.
I click on the cart at the end to view all the items I added. I also check the total to make sure I’ve met the order threshold ($65) for free delivery. From the cart, you can also increase and decrease item quantities.
Your Role After Ordering
Each week, you will need to check your cart and add or remove items during your shopping window. After that, you simply wait for your weekly grocery delivery.
Your delivery will arrive on the same day every week, but in my experience, the delivery time will vary greatly. They will send you a text message when your box is on the way, and again once it’s been delivered.
Delivery Method and Tips
Imperfect Foods has its own delivery trucks and drivers. Your weekly grocery delivery date is determined by where you live. You will be assigned a set delivery date each week when their delivery driver will be in your neighborhood.
If you order refrigerated items (meats and dairy), your box will be packed with ice to keep items cold during delivery. It is not dry ice like ButcherBox, though, so you’ll want to bring your box inside and transfer items to the fridge as soon as possible.
Depending on how much you order, you may receive more than one box.
Imperfect Foods used to pick up boxes to reuse, but due to the pandemic, they have suspended that service. You’ll have to recycle the boxes.
Selection and Stock Availability
What is available each week varies, because the Imperfect Foods mission is to prevent food waste. So stock changes frequently. Some of the most common reasons items are stocked is oversupply that couldn’t be sold through normal grocers, visual defects on produce (like scarring, lime rub, insect damage on leaves), size of produce…either too small or way too big. We’ve gotten miniature apples and gigantic lemons, and when life sends you huge lemons, you teach your son to make homemade lemonade. 😉
Imperfect Foods is great at disclosing why items are available, so you know what to expect. Other reasons they stock items may include short-coded dates (the product is expiring soon), change in packaging and they want to sell out old packaging, and more recently they’ve started carrying meat cuts that restaurants have stopped ordering from suppliers because of the pandemic.
Imperfect Foods also has a growing number of white-label products and brands they stock regularly. We frequently order Imperfect Foods branded tortilla chips and ground coffee.
How Imperfect Foods Keeps Earning my Business
Imperfect Foods has quick and responsive customer service.
I’ll be honest, it hasn’t always been smooth sailing. Imperfect Foods, like many other similar services, has experienced a huge spike in demand since the pandemic started, and they’ve experienced growing pains.
For our first order (mid-March), we didn’t receive one of two boxes because the second box wasn’t ever packed. Imperfect Foods replied very quickly through their online chat system and refunded me for all the missing items. They also flagged our account to ensure our full order was completed the following week, which it was.
In recent weeks, we have had a few missing items in each box and a few surprise extras. For example, one week I got a bunch of spinach instead of the green onions I ordered. Another week, we got a bag of plums we didn’t order. I subsequently discovered my 10-year old loves plums, so we’ve reordered them.
When order issues arise, I notify Imperfect Foods and they always adjust my final bill. I’ve never had to pay for missing items or for extra items that we didn’t order.
They recently provided customers dedicated customer service reps. I was introduced to my rep, Matty, via email and text. I was given her phone number to text if I have any questions or issues.
When we had an issue with our last order, I received a near-immediate response from Matty at 8 PM in the evening offering a refund for the items we were missing.
Although we’ve had some order mishaps, I’m happy with the customer service I’ve received. Imperfect Foods keeps demonstrating that they are working hard to improve, and I appreciate their honesty and transparency.
Sign Up Now
When the pandemic started, Imperfect Foods, suspended adding new customers temporarily to ensure they could provide the best service to their existing customers. There is always the possibility they could do that again.
If you think Imperfect Foods is a good option for you, I recommend signing up now while they are accepting new customers.
Click here to get $10 off your first order
Leave a Reply