An Ontario Start-Up Is Selling The Ugly Produce In A Box & $20 Can Get You So Much Food

As Ontario grocery prices continue to hit us where it hurts, the struggle to find affordable farm veggies and fruits has become too real.

But what if we told you that one company is picking up the debutantes that weren't asked to the dance and is offering the"odd" and "ugly" farm produce for great deals?

Farm-fresh products, initially rejected by major grocery stores for not meeting their beauty standards, can find a new home with Ontario-based start-up Odd Bunch, which offers cheap grocery delivery across the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

Odd Bunch partners up with farms, greenhouses, and distributors in Ontario to rescue fruits and veggies that didn't make the cut for retail due to cosmetics but also surpluses or shipping issues, its founder Divy Ojha told Narcity.

"We get in touch with them to figure out, okay, what's going to be our harvest for that upcoming week. We then use that data to prepare our menus, which are then posted online, and people sign up for a box," he said.

"One of our key mandates is that for every box that we ship out, we want to be 30 to 50 percent cheaper than the average grocery store."

Fruits and vegetables rescued by Odd Bunch.Courtesy of Odd Bunch

Odd Bunch sells boxes of various sizes and weights, but according to Ojha, their most popular product is their small box, which sells ten products for $20.

A recent harvest for the small box includes:

1. Local Apples - 4 pieces
2. Local Clementines - 1lb
3. Local Carrots - 1lb
4. Fresh Zucchini - 1lb
5. Sweet Candy Snap Grapes - 1 bag
6. Fresh Beets - 1lb
7. Fresh Sweet Peppers - 1lb
8. Local Potatoes - 1lb
9. Surprise Item - 1 whole
10. Fresh Romaine Lettuce - 1 whole

"That same price would jump to about $40 to $45 if you were to go purchase it at an average grocery store," Ojha said.

But the company is also trying to mitigate Ontario's food waste problem by diverting farms' surplus products away from landfills.

"I think I was just in my first year of undergrad at Western University when I came across (an article) ... about food waste in Canada. The image that we get of the western world isn't that 60 percent of the food produced is wasted. One in seven Canadians doesn't know where the next meal is coming from," Ojha said.

"And ... fruit and vegetables make up for 45 percent of avoidable waste."

Odd Bunch's founders.Courtesy of Odd Bunch

According to Ojha, Odd Bunch has redirected 10 million pounds away from landfills since its launch in May 2022 In London, Ontario.

They've since expanded to the Greater Toronto Area in the past year and launched official operations in Toronto on Thursday.