Wonky veg supplier enjoys year-on-year sales surge of more than 100 per cent for its festive box
Food-waste-fighting brand Earth & Wheat has revealed that sales of its Christmas Feast Rescued Box grew by a whopping 124 per cent year on year.
The wonky and surplus food supplier released the special seasonal box as a one-off purchase delivered four days before Christmas Day.
The 6.5kg box included an assortment of rescued vegetables, fruits, baked breads and festive favourites that would have otherwise been thrown away due to their odd shape or size, or due to oversupply.
For every box sold, the brand donated four meals’ worth of food to UK charities via FareShare.
Earth & Wheat carried out a post-customer survey and found that 73 per cent of its customers ‘loved’ the Christmas box and most enjoyed it for its ‘quality, variety, convenience’ and ‘little extras’.
Earth & Wheat launched a Christmas Vegetable Box in December 2022 but, one year on, added fruit and a variety of its wonky breads into the box.
Company founder James Eid said: “Our Christmas Feast Rescued Box clearly proved a real hit this Christmas and we’re delighted with the response to this seasonal campaign.
“The promotion clearly resonated with our customers that, even at Christmas, no good food should go to waste, and that we need to do all we can to help reduce food waste and help save the planet.
“It also enabled Earth & Wheat to help those who are in most need of help at Christmas through our partnership with FareShare.”
Eid launched the world’s first ‘wonky bread box’ in March 2021 by ‘rescuing’ baked goods, such as pancakes, tortilla wraps and flatbreads, from bakeries including his own family-run business in Hertfordshire.
The start-up then ventured into the fruit and vegetables, collecting produce from farms across the UK for inclusion in ’combi boxes’ alongside wonky breads.
Earth & Wheat has so far saved more than 600 tonnes of wonky or surplus food from being binned.
