Hi again!
Today I wanted to share with you my experience with shopping at Misfits Market.
This has been something I have been wanting to do for quite some time now, and I am finally getting around to doing it.
I will say that Misfits Market is not the only place we get food from. We also order from Thrive Market, a local supermarket (if I need something in a pinch), and an online farm (be on the lookout for that post in the future!). Although you can shop exclusively at Misfits (perhaps with some adjustments to your diet), we choose not to because there are certain food brands that we really like and want to stick to. We also solely buy organic foods and some of the pantry items that Misfits sells are not organic, so we like to order from a few different places.
Here are a few things we will cover in this article:
How does it compare to Imperfect Foods?
Do you actually save any money?
Summary: Why do I recommend Misfits Market?
What is Misfits Market?
Simply put, it is an online grocery delivery service that will deliver fresh produce and other foods right to your door.
Founded in 2018 in Philadelphia, the four-person team had one main goal in mind: preventing food waste. Up to 40% of food never gets eaten! A perfectly healthy fruit or vegetable gets thrown away because of some minor imperfections. It is a sad thing, but companies like Misfits Market are working hard to stop this and are doing a good job at it!
And, our wallet benefits from companies like Misfits because these 'ugly' fruits and vegetables are often 30-40% cheaper than their 'pretty' counterparts, which are sold at big supermarkets. Misfits has now grown into a million-dollar company that still delivers the same high-quality foods and has even expanded to selling other foods.
They have everything from produce and wine to meat and seafood.
They have also expanded their delivery regions so that they now deliver to almost every zip code in the lower 48 states.
How Does It Work?
There is no membership fee with Misfits Market. You simply sign up with your email, check your zip code to make sure they can deliver to you, pick your plan, and that is it!
They have two plans (as of right now), one being $30-35 (which we have) and another being $40-45. You can spend more than those amounts, but you cannot spend less.
You can also choose your delivery day, which is a big perk for us. You then have a three-day shopping window to choose your items. If you miss this shopping window and do not skip that week, they will randomly select items and send them to you on your delivery day. We have not tried this "surprise" way of getting groceries, so I cannot attest to it. It sounds kind of fun, though. :)
I will say that they currently do not have the option to exclude certain items from being shipped to you. So, if you have a peanut allergy, for instance, you cannot choose to have peanut butter never show up in your box. Of course, this can be prevented by simply choosing your own items, but if you have any allergies, I would suggest that you do not go with the surprise delivery option.
You can choose items that you "like" and "dislike," but that does not completely prevent them from showing up in your box.
They will then pack your order and ship it out (my shopping window ends on Sunday, so the food gets delivered on Thursday, but they do not actually ship it out until Wednesday).
They also use eco-friendly packaging and 100% recyclable boxes.
I was skeptical of their delivery method at first because they try to use the least amount of packaging possible.
However, I have never had a damaged product so they are obviously doing something right. I have also never had a cold product thaw or get too warm in the summer months. The cold pack and insulated cover they put in there really keep everything frigid.
Here is an example of their regular and cold pack packaging:
You do have to reach an order minimum of about $35, which is pretty easy to accomplish if you are doing most of your shopping there. They do NOT currently offer free shipping, but the shipping cost is only about $7, which is not that bad.
You do have to get a minimum of $30 worth of refrigerated items to have it shipped, but that does count towards your overall order minimum of $35. There is no order minimum for wine.
I also want to mention that while their whole purpose is to give ugly produce a new home, I have personally never gotten a food that is considered 'imperfect' or a 'misfit' at all, which is kind of surprising considering some of the blog pics of their food look like ugly, almost inedible, odd-looking food science experiments that went horribly wrong. But, I can assure you, most of the products look identical to the food you would find at a regular supermarket.
That, to me, is a good thing because you are really just getting normal produce for a cheaper price.
Yes, I usually happen to get either pretty tiny or considerably large lemons (there is no in-between apparently), and I sometimes get a bell pepper with a scratch on it, but that is nothing to sneeze at. It would be the same way if you were to grow your own produce or buy from local farms.
Another nice thing is their "perk system," where you collect points every time you order and can spend those points on free gifts.
Here is an example of a gift I got:
A question that I asked myself was: can I live comfortably off of this?
What I mean by that is, does Misfits have all of the basic pantry items and food that you would need if you ONLY wanted to get food from there?
The answer could be yes, but you might have to change your lifestyle a bit.
This is because a lot of their produce is seasonal and they do not have as much variety in brands and foods like a regular supermarket does.
If you are brand-specific (only buys a certain brand of a food item,) organic food-specific, have severe allergies, or just do not buy the types of food that they sell, then you might find that you need other sources of food.
I figured this would be an important topic to bring up, as you have to be aware of this beforehand if you intend to shop solely at Misfits.
How Does It Compare to Imperfect Foods?
When I originally started shopping online, I went with Imperfect Foods.
Their goals of stopping food waste and delivering ugly produce for a cheap price are basically the same as Misfits Market.
I enjoyed their service and had very few issues, but after a few months of using them, I then decided to switch to Misfits. I mainly wanted to try it out and compare the differences, but I did not think that I would stick with Misfits Market.
There are a couple of main reasons why I still choose Misfits over Imperfect, which I will explain below.
Variety and Options:
While Imperfect Foods had a nice selection of produce and pantry items, Misfits seems to have beaten it by a long shot. I mean, seriously, I was surprised to see the number of items Misfits had to offer! Specifically in the organic produce category.
Misfits also seems to always have new products arriving, while Imperfect seemed to slow down and more items were getting sold out rather than new items arriving.
Pricing
I was not expecting Misfits Market to actually be telling the truth when they said that their products could be 40-50% lower than those at the average supermarket. I was definitely wrong. I am still surprised every time I see their low prices!
And, with their perk system, you save even more money. When I shopped at Imperfect Foods, our average weekly spending total came out to be about $70 to $80. Now after shopping at Misfits, I buy even more stuff, and our average weekly spending total still comes out to be only about $50–$60!
Quality
While I understand that the whole point is that you are getting ugly produce, some of the items I got from Imperfect Foods were moldy or so badly damaged that they were just not edible. I cannot say the same for Misfits Market. All of their products arrived safely and were totally edible.
Both companies are good, and both have their pros and cons, but Misfits still reigns supreme in my opinion.
Shopping Window
This one is pretty simple; Misfits has a three-day shopping window while Imperfect only has two-day.
Update :
While I was writing this article, I saw that Misfits Market bought Imperfect Foods. This seems to be a good thing, as I can now order items that are under the Imperfect Food brand from Misfits Market. I believe that you can still choose to have Imperfect Foods deliver to you, but I am not 100% sure.
From what I heard, nothing really changes except for the fact that I can order the Imperfect Foods brand from Misfits. That is all I know at this moment. If you have any more information, let me know in the comment section!
Do You Actually Save Any Money?
In my case, the answer would be yes. Of course, it depends on you, your shopping habits, the items you buy, your location, etc.
But, I will say that in most cases, shopping at Misfits Market will save you money.
And, even if I did not save any money shopping at Misfits, I would still shop there.
The main reasons for this are convenience and variety.
Our local supermarket does not have a good selection of organic produce, and the ones that they do have can sometimes be highly marked up in terms of pricing.
Shopping at Misfits (and online in general) can help to save you money in the sense that you can see the total price as you are shopping.
This is nice because it helps prevent unnecessary purchases and causes you to think about what you are buying. What I mean by that is it makes it a lot easier to compare costs between items and decide which is the better deal.
And since you are shopping from the comfort of your own home, you never have to worry about forgetting an item because you can just check your pantry or fridge. This helps you save money as it avoids the need to make another trip to the store, helping you save on gas, vehicle maintenance, and even stress.
And since produce is generally pretty cheap on Misfits, it causes you to eat healthier, thus helping you to avoid future medical costs.
So yes, shopping at Misfits saves you time, stress, and money. So you can spend more stress-free time with your family and eat healthy while still having extra cash in the bank! That is a good deal if you ask me.
Here are some examples of the price differences between some of the items I have bought from Misfits vs my local supermarket:
Misfits Market:
1 lb of organic orange carrots - $1.29
16oz of organic grape tomatoes - $3.69
2 ct of organic baby bok choy - $0.50
1 organic hass avocado - $2.10
1 bundle of organic scallions - $1.29
1 green bell pepper - $1.45
1 bunch of organic curly parsley - $1.29
8oz of organic baby Bella mushrooms - $3.29
4 organic limes - $1.99
1 lb of organic green beans - $4.79
2 lb of organic gala apples - $3.09
1 organic cauliflower - $1.99
3 lb organic russet potatoes - $3.49
1 conventional sphagetti squash - $2.79
3 coventional romaine hearts - $3.49
2 lb conventional lemons - $3.69
2 lb conventional green seedless grapes - $5.29
1 lb conventional orange carrots - $0.79
Total: $46.30
Supermarket:
1 lb of organic orange carrots - $1.79
10oz of organic grape tomatoes - $2.99
1 ct of organic baby bok choy - $.78
1 organic hass avocado - $2.49
1 bundle of organic scallions - $1.29
1 organic green bell pepper - $1.29
1 bunch of organic curly parsley - $1.59
8oz of organic baby Bella mushrooms - $3.79
4 organic limes - $3.96
12oz of organic green beans - $3.99
2 lb of organic gala apples - $4.49
1 organic cauliflower - $4.49
3 lb organic russet potatoes - $3.79
1 conventional sphagetti squash - $4.26
3 coventional romaine hearts - $3.99
2 lb conventional lemons - $3.99
2 lb conventional green seedless grapes - $5.58
1 lb conventional orange carrots - $1.40
You can see that some of the products are very close with each other in terms of pricing. But, at my local supermarket a lot of these items are not in stock, so I cannot get half of them anyway.
I will also mention that Misfists pricing changes a lot depending on the season, the type of food, low stock, etc. This can be a little annoying sometimes, but usually the price does not exceed my local supermarket. And, keep in mind that you are also paying for convenience.
*These prices are for my location only. You may find that your local supermarket is either more expensive or cheaper than Misfits.
What Are The Pros and Cons?
To make it easy for you, I will list out all of the pros and cons (in my personal opinion) of shopping at Misfits Market.
Pros:
Completely FREE membership.
Prices are usually lower than at a typical supermarket.
You shop for groceries right from the comfort of your home.
You can choose your delivery day.
Items have always arrived safely.
It is very easy to get a refund if there is an issue with your order.
A lot of variety, especially in the organic department.
You can get free gifts through their perk system.
Good customer service through email.
Both their website and their app are pretty intuitive and simple to use. I know people have complained before about the lack of user-friendliness on their site, but they have changed for the better in that area.
The products could barely be considered 'misfits,' if at all, and are always edible.
Their produce is usually seasonal. This I consider a pro because it has taught me a lot on how to improvise and cook with a lot of different fruits and vegetables that I would not usually buy. We also get to try a lot of different produce and have found new ones that we like! They still have a lot of the basics (tomatoes, spinach, cucumbers, apples, etc.) all year round, though.
Cons:
No phone number to call, but like I said, they have good customer service through email.
They currently do not have the option to exclude certain items from showing up in your box, which can be annoying if you have food allergies. All you have to do, though, is make sure to always check your box before your shopping window is closed.
They have sometimes replaced an item in my order if the item was out of stock. This has not been a big deal for us because I could get a refund, but usually the item they replaced it with is something that we would eat, so I sometimes choose not to get a refund.
You have to get an order minimum of $35 and an order minimum of $30 for the cold pack, but the good news is that the $30 minimum for the cold pack counts towards your overall order minimum.
There is no free shipping, but the shipping cost is only about $7 no matter what you order.
You cannot always choose the amount of the produce you get. Sometimes the lowest amount of apples, for instance, may be 3 lbs. Or sometimes you can choose to only buy one apple. It depends on the product, and usually how 'exotic' it is.
The prices can differ a lot. They are usually still cheap prices, but sometimes an item can be 50 cents one week and $1.50 the next. This usually does not happen where the price changes that drastically, but it can, and you need to be aware of that before setting up an account with Misfits. A lot of that depends on what is in season, though.
You cannot view any items on their site or app until your shopping window opens. I have gotten used to this fact, so it is no big deal to me, but I know it can be a dealbreaker for some. The good news is that you have a 3 day shopping window, which is better than Imperfect's two day window.
Summary: Why Do I Recommend Misfits Market?
I think Misfits is a great option for those who want to buy organic foods, shop online, eat healthier, save money, help prevent food waste, or just want to try it out!
Using this grocery service has saved me time from driving to the store and trying to pick through items and look for deals, while I typically find hardly any organic produce. It has also saved me money, which is crucial during these times, especially considering we try to only buy organic produce.
I will continue to use Misfits Market for a long time and will not be going back to regular in-store shopping. I definitely foresee this company continuing to grow.
If you have any questions about Misfits Market, feel free to ask!
Thank you for taking the time to read this article, and I do hope that this helps give you a better understanding of what Misfits Market is, why I use it, and how it may benefit you.
See you in the next post!