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Today I realized I’ve been a Misfits Market customer for over three years.
THREE YEARS.
That’s longer than I’ve ever worked at any one job. Or the length of time I spent in college. Or the time it took my husband to propose from when we started dating.
Needless to say, my relationship with Misfits Market is pretty serious.
Seriously awesome.
Since I became a customer in January 2019 I’ve received 144 orders across three different states. I’ve worked with customer service a total of 4 times, each of which they were phenomenal and solved my issues promptly, and I have no plans on quitting the service anytime soon.
Pics or it didn’t happen, right? Email screenshots of receipts for some tangible proof.
140 out of 144 successful orders -that’s a 97% success rate. Throw in some bonus points for stellar customer service on the other 4 orders and we’re looking at an A+ grade. Love it.
After three years I figured it was finally time to make my feelings “official” and write this Misfits Market review. Keep in mind Misfits Market has no idea I’m writing this review and the only compensation I’ll receive is if you use my referral code to order a Misfits box yourself. You get $10 and I get $10, it’s a pretty sweet deal. There’s an annual dollar limit on referrals I can receive (but not that I can give!) so rest assured I’m writing this honest review because Misfits Market is awesome and they deserve it, not because I’m trying to get rich.
Here goes…
What Is Misfits Market?
Misfits Market is a Philadelphia based company launched in 2018 to fight food waste. They rescue organic produce and grocery items that farmers and stores would have otherwise thrown out and sell them to us, their customers, at significant discounts. As of this year they now deliver to all 50 states.
What Makes a Misfit a Misfit?
It says it right on the box, “occasionally funny-looking.” A misfit is any fruit or vegetable that’s too big, too small, or just a little weird looking. Think entwined carrots or nubby potatoes. Excess produce, fruits and vegetables that look perfect but the farmer simply had too many of, also count as misfits.
In the box I review in this post the only true funny looking “misfits” I received were some scratched zucchini. Scratched zucchini!
People these look better than literally any fruit or vegetable my toddler has ever touched and if I still cook with half nibbled carrots and squished peaches, I think I can manage some scratched zucchini.
How Does the Subscription Work?
The subscription service has evolved since I first became a customer in 2019.
You used to only have two different size boxes to choose from on a preferred delivery day with no control over what went into your box. As someone who enjoys saying “surprise me” at restaurants, I was more than ok with this and thoroughly enjoyed my weekly produce surprise. That being said it did make meal planning very difficult.
Several iterations and beta tests later the service now lets you pick whatever and however much produce you want. Plus additional items like eggs, meats, bread, chips, pasta sauce, olives, spices, yogurt… the list goes on. Once per week you select your items from the online store and then they’re delivered to your home on your preferred delivery day.
The online store is organized by “aisles” just like a grocery store which makes shopping really easy.
If for whatever reason you need to skip an order you can – simply don’t shop for that week. If you’ve already made an order but need to cancel or change it, you can for a certain amount of time before your box ships.
How Does the Food Stay Fresh in Transit? And Did You Say Eggs? Won’t They Break?
Misfits uses an array of packaging materials and ice packs to make sure your produce stays fresh. Even in the heat of the summer in Connecticut my items arrive… as cool as cucumbers. This is a box I recently received in 80 degree weather on vacation in Florida. That’s some perky looking lettuce, wouldn’t you say?
For items that are especially temperature sensitive like meats and yogurt, Misfits uses what they call a “cold pack.” Basically it’s an insulated space blanket pillowcase stuffed with extra ice packs. This is a new addition to the service and this box was our first time ordering fish. I’m happy to report the sockeye salmon was EXCELLENT.
Any really delicate produce like peaches or these tomatoes are packaged individually in small cartons to prevent them from being bruised. The system seems to work really well – very rarely have I received any crushed or damaged produce.
As for the eggs – they’re special and get their very own carton within a box within a bag within a box.
What Are the Benefits Besides the Obvious Convenience?
Obvious convenience indeed! I love being able to do my grocery shopping online and having the food delivered to my front doorstep. But if that’s all I cared about I’d just order Instacart and call it a day.
No, there’s a lot more to Misfits Market than just convenient delivery.
For starters, they provide a significantly better organic produce selection than any of my local grocery stores. Do you know how hard it is to find organic artichoke? Or organic blood oranges? Or a head of organic Romanesco broccoli like this beauty?
Yeah, Misfits Market offers a much wider selection of organic produce.
And the produce is often way better quality too.
As far as prices go, even when you take shipping into account, Misfits offers very competitive pricing for its products. I’d say over a long period of time the prices shake out to be slightly better than what you would pay at the grocery store (which is a lot more than I can say for Instacart).
There’s also the added benefit in these turbulent times that your food will potentially be coming from a broader network of farms and therefore you’ll be less likely to experience shortages. I can’t say that for certain without learning more about the specific distribution logistics (which may vary by state anyway) but I can say that Misfits Market kept us in fresh fruits and vegetables when it was hard to find them at the store during the pandemic.
And lastly, though this reason should probably be listed first because it’s the reason the company was started in the first place, fighting food waste is a noble cause we should all be working towards.
Is There Anything You Wish Was Different About the Service?
Personally? No, I love it.
Like I said, 140 out of 144 orders have been flawless and the other times were more issues with our shipping provider than with the service (though Misfits came to the rescue anyway because they rock).
I have heard from some people, my mother-in-law included, that they repeatedly receive mostly spoiled boxes. I don’t know whether their shipping providers are slower or their orders are fulfilled from different farms but I have personally not found this to be the case.
Order a box and judge the experience for yourself.
Anything Else I Should Know?
Yes, one more thing. I want to take a moment to talk about Misfits Market as a company. You already know how I feel about their customer service but I’d like to highlight their continued commitment to improvement.
They started out serving just a few states offering only fruits and vegetables with no selection capability. In four short years they have expanded to serve all 50 states, offer an entire grocery store’s worth of products, and enable customers to pick what goes in their box.
All the while they’ve been fighting food waste, helping farmers, and offering us fairly priced, organic produce.
Dang.
Four years ago I was doing mostly what I’m doing now. The same cannot be said for Misfits Market who continues to knock it out of the park.
I can’t wait to see what they deliver next.
Hopefully it’s your first box you ordered using this referral code…
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