#reducing waste

“Imagine walking around a farm and seeing all this rotten fruit on the ground. Apples, pears, peaches, figs, pomegranate and persimmon, just to give some examples. There must be something wrong with this fruit, right? Not at all! Before it fell to the ground, it was wholesome fruit, grown in a country with lots of sunshine, and most of this fruit had never seen pesticides or chemicals”. It sounds like the beginning of a fairy tale. Only, food waste has no good ending, and it is not a “once upon a time”. Enter The Rotten Fruit Box, focused on offering a curated mix of freeze dried, in season fruits!

Small farmers are often left behind in the big, competitive international market: they do not produce enough. However, they also may find themselves with more fruit that they can manage on certain seasons, which would go to waste if it weren’t for arrangements such as the one that The Rotten Fruit Box provides: freeze dried, delicious, healthy, 100% natural, with a long shelf life snack pouches (ideal for home, work, office, to take to school, camping or just about anywhere).

I wanted to try some of their single pouches before committing to one of their subscription boxes. I have found that by freeze-drying, some flavours of the fruit become enhanced… but whichdo become enhanced varies from fruit to fruit. For example, strawberries, raspberries and cherries become tart-er (especially the sour cherries!!). On the other hand, blueberries and blackberries get sweeter (blueberries taste like candy and are so amazing honestly). Some textures are also very fun once freeze-dried: the apples are a bit marshmallow-y, peach and mangoes (both extremely more-ish) get a bit chewy, while the pineapple and kiwi become crunchy. In fact, pineapple was my absolute favourite: sweet, flavourful, and so crispy. I have used them as snacks, but also in smoothies and in oatmeal.

Here is a bit more on sustainability that I think is important to highlight: “There is a common misconception that rotting fruit is good for the soil, but nothing could be further from the truth. Rotting fruit causes greenhouse gas emissions by releasing methane into the atmosphere, a gas over 20 times more potent than carbon pollution from cars. For fruit and vegetable waste to fertilize the soil, it needs to be composted first; otherwise, it is pure poison”. What about packaging? They are already switching their snacks pouches to 100% compostable packaging. Everything is printed on recycled paper and is recyclable, and boxes are bought from local manufacturers.

The Rotten Fruit box works hard to provide fruit that is good for you and the environment. With their subscription boxes you can save up to 27% on your fruit snacks - and you can change, skip deliveries, pause or cancel your subscription anytime. You can even change your delivery interval if a monthly box is not for you. Click here to read more about how it works!