Meet Andrea from Boxed Green- the organic fruit and Veg Box
Andrea started the business back in November 2020 after being made redundant for the last time from the airline industry. She had always been interested in good food, liked to buy local and was a veg box customer herself. So she saw this as the perfect time to pivot and start a new journey.
It started with growing her own vegetables in her neighbour’s allotment and creating often whacky recipes out of the produce such as purple and pink popcorn. However with only 2 raised beds it wasn’t enough to become a supplier. When her veg box supplier stopped trading she saw it as a sign that she could do it and within a week Boxed Green was born- she had secured the unit in Belmont and bought the van.
How does it work
Orders can be taken on a subscription basis ; weekly, bi weekly or monthly through the website. “Some customers just like a monthly box just to get organic into their diets and some just a one off every now and again on a weeks notice.” Andrea will deliver to all Bolton postcodes, including M28. For Blackburn post codes all orders go through Earth Evolution In Darwen @https://www.facebook.com/earthevolutionltd/earthevolution the refill organic shop on Duckworth street in Darwen.
They have a return box policy and each customer has their name written on. Plastic is kept to a minimum as is all packaging and the suppliers are local. Waste is minimal – for food she has her own hot compost facility on site and forwards any waste packaging to a local homestead and flower farm. This enterprise truly keeps to the “keep it local” ethos.
Everything is seasonal and Andrea has published her own recipe book. It contains recipes without elaborate ingredients just the basics and the vegetables that she supplies. Some customers receive an email with what’s going to come so they can meal plan, others opt out of this and choose a surprise. “The good thing about this is people then experiment more with their food. I also send recipe cards out to spark some inspiration”
How to cook pea pods
The book is available online Go Green, Live Green, Recipes from Boxed Green (lulu.com) and her social media is full of recipes of innovative and nutritional recipes.
All produce is certified organic from local organic farms as much as possible. As much as 80-90% of the produce is British too but if something is from overseas it is only Europe and there’s no air freight involved at all.
She proudly says she never experiences shortages as she pays the farmers what they ask for unlike the supermarkets!
The future
Andrea was hoping that by now she would have had a staff member but that’s not possible right now because of cost increases. This year she was given the opportunity of doing some community cooking at the health and wellbeing festival called Its Mental. Here she cooked with oyster mushrooms which leads into a possible collaboration with an organic mushroom cultivator. So maybe more partnership working going forwards.
Her hope is that people become more interested in where their food is grown, how it is grown and how is it packaged. For example none of the produce she stocks will be covered in the chemical Apeel. This is the chemical being sprayed onto fruit and vegetables that many supermarkets stock, which keeps moisture in and oxygen out and therefore extends its shelf life.
To find out more contact Andrea via her website or social media
(1) Boxed Green | Manchester | Facebook
Boxed Green, organic, home delivery (@boxedgreenco) • Instagram photos and videos