2024 Imperfect Foods Review: Five Years of Deliveries

When I lived in New York, I remember seeing advertisements on the subway for Imperfect Produce (their former name) selling ugly fruits and vegetables.

When a friend shared her $10 off coupon with me, I decided to try Imperfect Foods. That was over four years ago.

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Now, you can save even more. Get $20 off your first order using this link.

I’m not new to ordering from a grocery delivery service. I started over a decade ago with FreshDirect when I lived in Manhattan. Now, I order from Whole Foods, Amazon, and Target. When I shop in person, it’s usually at Trader Joe’s.

I don’t buy strictly organic food (check out the Dirty Dozen list) but I do buy enough that I figured, why not give it a try? And, Imperfect Foods is so much more than produce.

After four years of regular deliveries, here’s my honest Imperfect Foods review.

What is Imperfect Foods?

Founded in 2015, Imperfect Food is a subscription service with a mission to minimize food waste. They sustainably source their products and offer fresh produce, pantry items, and other staples at a discount to their consumers.

You can read more about how they calculate their environmental impact here.

Plus, they pay the farmers a fair price for produce that would have gone to waste or earned them little to no money.

Scroll down to the price comparison chart to see how much I saved on my order!

What Types of Foods Does Imperfect Foods Sell?

Imperfect Foods carries all types of foods:

• produce
• meat and seafood
• plant-based items
• eggs and dairy products
• grains and pantry staples
• snacks
• household and beauty

Is All of Imperfect Foods Ugly?

Imperfect Foods sells the following items:

• Ugly: scarred or blemished
• Off-Spec: does not mean lower food quality but rather, that it does not meet certain specifications by the buyer, such as too small apples or broken rice
• Surplus Items / Excess Inventory: a farmer has too much or a buyer backed out for some reason. They donate to food banks first.
• Undervalued: an item with lower demand or a part of a vegetable not normally purchased
• Packaging Change: a brand change or even a misprint like a typo
• Short-Coded: an expiration date less than a few months away

How is the Quality of Imperfect Foods?

Imperfect Foods sells many items that are perfect and the exact same quality that you’ll find at your local supermarket, even a Whole Foods, at a big discount. This is especially true of the surplus and packaging-change food items.

In my personal experience, overall the quality of the food is great as long as you know what to expect. Read the labels and descriptions carefully and you won’t be disappointed.

On their website, underneath every food item, Imperfect Foods discloses any defect. For example, they tell you when their mangoes have blemishes, when their pears are misshapen, or when their grapes are too small.

If upon delivery, you notice a missing item or you’re not happy with the quality of a specific product, contact Imperfect Foods customer service for a refund or credit.

For produce, I tend to mainly buy the overstock, surplus fresh fruits, and vegetables. These are the same that I would find at my local grocery store. I try to avoid any produce that is “off-spec,” especially when it’s too small. While they look fine, they are tiny and my family won’t eat them. I find this true for apples, onions, and often potatoes.

They also sell “odds and ends” like broken pretzel pieces or “upcycled” foods like potato chips made from ugly potatoes.

Is Everything that Imperfect Foods Sell Organic?

No, Imperfect Foods sells both conventional and organic produce and grocery items. But if you strictly want organic foods, you can specify that in your order.

Where Does Imperfect Foods Deliver?

Imperfect Foods delivers to most of the Midwest, Northeast, South Central region of the United States, and all along the West Coast, and is regularly expanding to more states.

You can enter your zip code here to see if Imperfect Foods delivers to you.

Is Imperfect Foods Locally Sourced?

Imperfect Foods gets most of its produce from California but does outsource to other states and countries.

How much does Imperfect Foods Cost?

Box Prices

Imperfect Foods offers the following box sizes:

Small (7-9 lbs): $11-14.95

Medium (11-14 lbs): $14 -18.40

Large (17-19 lbs): $20 – 25.30

Extra Large (23-25 lbs): $25 – 30.50

* Note: all these prices are starting prices as you can add items onto your delivery.

I get a medium box of groceries delivered every week on Fridays. We are a family of four, one of us vegetarian, a weekly box provides us with more than enough food but you’ll have to determine the right size for you.

You can also get deliveries less frequently or skip an order.

Delivery Fee

You pay a delivery fee, a flat rate of $5.99. However, if your order is $60 or more (mine always is), you get free shipping.

Do You Tip Your Driver?

Also, unlike other grocery delivery companies, Imperfect Foods does not allow you to tip their drivers. However, Imperfect Foods pays its drivers a fair wage and benefits.

Can Customers Customize their Delivery Orders?

While other subscription services and CSAs fill delivery boxes with produce on hand, Imperfect Foods allows you to customize each and every order. Add what you want and remove what you don’t need. They want to ensure that you will actually use what you purchase, in an effort to further reduce food waste.

The only catch is that you only have a specific time frame to do so. For example, my delivery day is Tuesday. From Thursday morning until Sunday at noon, I can customize my order. After that, my box gets autofilled.

Tip: Customize your order as soon as your window opens as items do sell out.

If you forget to customize, like I often do, you will get whatever Imperfect Foods gives you. That’s why it’s important to update your always and never products. Admittedly, they send you tons of reminders to order.

In the summer, my outdoor vegetable garden produces more tomatoes than we could possibly eat. Yet, I often forget to adjust my order to not include tomatoes.

Add Recurring Items to your Order

You can also add recurring items to your order. I always have eggs and blueberries delivered.

Exclude Items from Every Order

You can also specify things that you never want included in your order. For me, that’s ginger.

Add a Pack to Your Order

Save time (not money) by adding a pack to every order for an additional $9.99. Automatically 2 to 4 items are added. You can choose from the following packs:

• Meat and fish pack
• Pantry pack
• Plant pack
• Dairy Pack
• Snack Pack

How is Imperfect Foods Packaged?

One of the first things you’ll notice about Imperfect Foods is the packaging, or I should say, lack of packaging. In order to again minimize its carbon footprint, Imperfect Foods utilizes as few boxes and packaging materials as possible. I’ve never had a broken or damaged item before.

Can You Recycle Imperfect Foods Packaging?

Obviously, you can recycle the cardboard box but you can also recycle both the ice packs and insulated liner. Leave them out for your Imperfect Foods driver on the date of your next delivery.

Is Imperfect Foods Worth It?

There are pros and cons to Imperfect Food delivery.

Pros

• Reduces food waste
• Organic and other foods less expensive (usually)
• Helps farmers and supports food banks
• Introduced my family to many new brands and products
• Convenience of weekly delivery
• No need to tip or be home for a delivery
• Constantly adding new products
• There’s an Imperfect Foods app too for convenience
• Great communication–you receive a text message when the driver is on his or her way and again when your boxes get delivered

Cons

• Fruits such as apples, avocados, and plums can be small–read the description carefully
• Less packaging could mean loose items like blueberries or some moisture in the box (rare)
• If you miss your window to order, you may get stuck with items you don’t want
• Prices not always cheaper than your local store
• You get a delivery date, not a specific time (items have stayed cold for me even when I’m not home)
• Specific items can appear once in Imperfect Foods and never again
• If you don’t order when your shopping window opens, some popular items may be out of stock

Price Comparison

I compared one order from Imperfect Foods with the prices at my local supermarket.

How Much Did I Save with Imperfect Foods?

I’ll admit, I never compared prices before, and I’m floored at the lower prices. Imperfect Foods saved me almost $50 and was over 30% cheaper.

Our Favorite Imperfect Foods Items

• produce
• meat and seafood
• plant-based items
• eggs and dairy items
• grains and pantry staples
• snacks
• household items and beauty products

Here is a list of my favorite products:

Produce

• Organic & Conventional Broccoli
• Organic & Conventional Cauliflower
• Organic Blueberries
• Organic Strawberries
• Organic Blackberries
• Organic Rainbow Carrots
• Love Beets cooked red beets

Meat and Seafood

• Bacon
• 85% Lean Ground Beef (Imperfect Foods)
• Boneless Chicken Breast (Imperfect Foods)

Plant-Based Items

• Impossible burger
• Tofu
• Core and Rind Cashew Cheesy Sauce
• Primal Kitchen Buffalo Sauce
• Hope Foods Hummus
• Field Roast Plant-Based Apple Maple Breakfast Sausages
• Lightlife Tempeh
• Impossible Foods brand Tzatziki

Eggs and Dairy

• Pasture Raised eggs
• Tillamook cheddar cheese
• Organic Valley Half-and-Half
• Organic Valley Milk
• Grass-Fed European Style Salted Butter
• Goat Cheese Chevre
• Vital Farms Pasture-Raised Hard Boiled Eggs 

Grains and Pantry Staples

• Imperfect Foods brand pasta
• Anna Potato Gnocchi
• Angelic Bakehouse bread and pizza crusts
• Dave’s Killer Bread and their bagels (included Dave’s in my post on Companies that Give Back)
• Bakerly French Crepes: my kids’ favorite breakfast but haven’t seen them in a while
• Nuttzo Nut Seed Butter
• Cento Black Beans and Chickpeas
• Various brands of tomato sauce and pesto sauces
• Seasoning for All Things (Imperfect Foods)
• Olive Oil (Imperfect Foods)
• Bubbie’s Kosher Dill Pickles
• Pemberton’s Spicy Mango Salsa

Snacks

• Pipcorn popcorn
• Skinny Dipped Almonds
• Imperfect Foods Organic Chocolatey Banana Nut Trail Mix 
• Stacy’s Simply Naked Pita Chips 
• Quinn Maple Almond Butter Filled Nuggets
• Fruit Jerky (Imperfect Foods)
• Fruit Strings (Imperfect Foods)
• Unsweetened Dried Mango (Imperfect Foods)–although only my daughter and I like it
• Yellow Corn Tortilla Chips (Imperfect Foods)
• Ugly Potato Chips (Imperfect Foods)
• Whole Almonds (Imperfect Foods)
• Fancy Nuts (Imperfect Foods)
• Pirate’s Booty
• Scones (Imperfect Foods)
• Protein Bars

Beverages

• Cold Pressed Orange Juice (Imperfect Foods)
• La Croix sparkling water
• Spindrift sparkling water
• Imperfect Foods 100% Cold Pressed Orange Juice
• Olipop Root Beer Sparkling Tonic 
• Harmless Harvest Organic Coconut Water

Although Imperfect Foods carries household and beauty products (mainly their own brand but also TOP: The Organic Project, organic pads and tampons), I have not purchased any yet. They also sell imperfect flower bunches and dog treats.

(Note, you can save 25 percent off of TOP: The Organic Project with my code MYPURSESTRINGS)

Imperfect Foods Has Introduced Us to So Many Brands

Now, when I walk in Whole Foods or Target, I see so many brands first introduced to me by Imperfect Foods. This includes Primal Kitchen, Core and Rind, Olipop, and Ozery breads.

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Imperfect Foods vs. Misfits Market

The two companies, competitors in the sustainable groceries market, became one family in late 2022. Misfits Market acquired Imperfect Foods. In fact, I first learned about this when my Imperfect Foods arrived in two boxes, one Imperfect Foods box and one labeled Misfits Market.

You can still order separately from either company. Click here if you want to try out Misfits Market.

Loyalty Program

Since Imperfect Foods combined with Misfits Market, you can earn points and redeem them towards your purchases.

Final Thoughts

Imperfect Foods is more than an ugly produce service.

I save a ton of money grocery shopping with them. I love the convenience of home delivery and I’ve had a great experience overall.

Am I always happy with what I receive? No. This is especially true with tree fruits like apples, plums, and avocados. They’re smaller than I would choose if I were picking them myself in a supermarket. But the more you order from Imperfect Foods, the better you get at finding your favorites and those foods to avoid. Again, nothing is wrong with those fruits, other than their size.

Read the descriptions carefully and you’ll almost always know to expect. I’ve been impressed with the quality of the meats and cheeses. The pasta and sauces I’ve bought are more high-end than I typically would buy and cheaper too.

Want to give Imperfect Foods a try? Here’s $20 off your first box. Use this link. When you order from Imperfect Foods, you’ll get your own referral code to share with friends.

If you’re looking for pre-made healthy food, I highly recommend Splendid Spoon. Or if you prefer a meal kit service, I love Purple Carrot.

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