Imperfect Produce Review
A weekly box of "ugly" but perfectly good fruit and vegetables that rescues food from the compost pile and lands it, fresh, on your counter for a fraction of grocery prices.
The veggies tasted better than store bought—more like something fresh from a Farmer's Market.
Our reviewerRescued Produce That Doesn't Taste Like a Compromise
Roughly one in five fruits and vegetables grown in the US is too cosmetically "ugly" for grocery shelves, even though it's perfectly healthy and edible. Imperfect Produce buys that rejected harvest from farms at a steep discount and passes most of the savings straight to customers, which is how we ended up with a full box of fresh produce for under $15.
Our first small box held easily two to three meals' worth of food for two people, and the promised ugliness was real but mild — a delightfully misshapen, almost heart-shaped onion was the standout, while most of the rest looked surprisingly normal. An included infographic even told us how to store everything.
What mattered more than the cosmetics was condition: every piece arrived fresh and dry, a relief after mail-order produce boxes from other services that showed up already wilting. Vegetables we held onto for a few days stayed in good shape, and the flavor consistently beat store-bought — closer to a farmers' market haul than a supermarket aisle.
For anyone trying to eat well on a budget while cutting down on food waste, Imperfect Produce delivers on both fronts without asking you to accept lower quality in exchange.
Why We Love It
- Imperfect Produce fights food waste
- Each box is cheap for the amount of fresh veggies ($10–$15)
- Forces us to eat healthily
- Supports local farmers who would otherwise eat the cost of "ugly" produce
- Boxes can be customized
Considerations
- Some of the produce genuinely is "ugly"
- Update (dead-destination-sweep-2026-07): our affiliate link for this specific offer is currently down (the tracking/redirect no longer resolves to the merchant), so treat the code/offer above as unconfirmed until it's restored -- we're leaving the page up rather than deleting it.
Our Hands-On Review
We ordered the small box and were surprised at how much came in it — closer to what we'd expect from a medium. The produce was well-organized in the box with an infographic explaining what needed to go in the fridge.
The standout of the box was a grotesquely, almost comically heart-shaped onion, though most of the rest of the produce looked far more normal than the "ugly" branding implied. Everything held up in freshness for days after arrival, and the taste was noticeably better than what we're used to from the grocery store.
Fresher Than Expected
Unlike other produce-by-mail boxes we've tried, nothing arrived wilted. It stayed fresh for days and tasted like something pulled straight from a farmers' market stand.
We Recommend This To Readers Who:
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Don't mind eating less-than-perfect produce
It wasn't even all that ugly to us — a heart-shaped onion was about as dramatic as it got.
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Want to eat healthy for cheap
The discount farms give Imperfect gets passed to you, so $10–$20 buys a large amount of fresh produce.
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Care about food waste
The US throws away a huge share of edible produce over cosmetics alone — this box is a direct way to push back on that.
A Closer Look
How Imperfect Produce Works
Getting cosmetically rejected produce from farm to doorstep takes a few deliberate steps.
Straight From the Farm
Imperfect works with as many Bay Area farms as it can, taking the rejected fruit and veggies farmers supply in real time so everything stays fresh.
Packed Especially for You
Produce is carefully packed into sections so nothing bruises further in transit, and customers can pick and choose what goes in their box.
Delivered to Your Door
The delivery team brings the box to your house, either as a one-time order or a recurring weekly shipment.
What are the Costs?
A small box (which still holds a lot) runs $11–$13; the large box costs $25–$27. Organic produce adds about $5–$10, and a standard $4.99 shipping fee applies (waived on our first shipment).
| Option | Price |
|---|---|
| Small Box | $11–13 |
| Medium Box | $14–16 |
| Large Box | $20–22 |
| X-Large BoxPopular | $25–27 |
Good to Know
Ugly Produce, Beautiful Value
Imperfect Produce turns cosmetically rejected fruits and vegetables into a cheap, fresh, farmers'-market-quality box — an easy way to eat well and waste less.
