I tried Misfits Market, the online produce store for “funny-looking” veggies. I won’t be reordering.

Food prices are up more than 13% over the same time last year, and many people are changing up grocery shopping habits to find better deals.

Source: Insider

I try to eat a lot of in-season fruits and vegetables, so I decided to try out Misfits Market and see if it might be a good way to get affordable produce.

The company has raised over $500 million in funding with the pitch of selling produce that’s “too big, too small, or just sort of funny-looking,” that would otherwise go to waste.

In September, Misfits Market announced plans to acquire competitor Imperfect Foods for an undisclosed amount, allowing them to better compete with brick and mortar grocery retailers.

Source: Insider

I visited the Misfits Market website to sign up, where I chose a weekly grocery plan over the a la carte option.

When you sign up for weekly deliveries, you’ll get a specific day each week with a three day shopping window.

When you’re within the window, there are hundreds of foods and drinks to scroll through and add to your cart.

The selection isn’t huge, but it covers most things I’d want in a regular grocery trip.

I liked the availability of seasonal items, like squash.

Each item has a stated price and information about how much it is discounted from typical market price.

It’s not clear exactly where this information comes from, because I can buy whole organic carrots at Walmart in my area for 96 cents per pound, less than the $1.19 price from Misfits Market.

Each item also comes with suggestions for how to prepare it, which is nice but not really necessary for basic vegetables like carrots and onions.

Your order automatically ships on the selected date, either with groceries you’ve specifically selected or an automatic list if you don’t change it.

I went with the suggestions for my first box, including blackberries, zucchini, and cherry tomatoes.

It came out to just over $40 after my first order discount, including shipping.

Misfits Market texted me when my order shipped and when it was delivered, which I appreciated.

The box was sitting in my apartment building’s doorway by the time I received the text. It was decorated with misshapen fruit, which I thought was cute.

I think the branding is very clever; it makes you feel like you’re doing something good by buying this “sometimes normal” produce.

Inside there were several layers of packaging and isolation to keep everything cold.

There was an ice pack, some styrofoam, and lots of cardboard.

Everything looked to be in good condition when I finally got past the packaging.

I started unpacking, and everything looked about how I expected it should.

As promised, some of the produce looked a little non-standard, but fine.

Some of the bell peppers were smaller than the ones I typically buy at the grocery store, but I expected that.

Everything seemed very fresh except for one pepper that was soft in some spots, but parts of it were still salvageable.

The broccoli was much more stalk than flower, which isn’t my favorite part to eat but I made it work.

Overall I thought the quality of the produce was mostly good.

Prices were a bit more than I usually pay, but not to a huge degree.

I live in an area with a lower cost of living than many cities, so it’s possible some shoppers would see more savings if they live in higher cost areas.

The main issue I had was just with the volume of food.

I live in a household of two people, so even with large batches of soups and stir frys this is a lot of food to get through before it spoils.

I probably wouldn’t order a smaller amount though, because I wanted to hit a certain amount of food to make the shipping costs feel worthwhile.

The other disadvantage of buying perishable food this way is that, of course, you don’t necessarily get to pick the freshest items.

None of the items I got had spoiled, but it would have been nice to have a longer window to use them.

It’s the same reason that I don’t like to buy milk through a grocery pickup service anymore, because I like to choose the one with the latest expiration date.

Overall I love the idea of Misfits Market and avoiding food waste, but I think it would only make sense in very specific situations, and mine isn’t one of them.

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