Abel and Cole customers...

[Nbg]

Can I ask a few questions for personal research?

I would like to start buying from them but there's a couple of things that bother me.

1. How often do you order from them?
2. What is it you purchase?
3. Roughly how much do you spend with them a month?
4. How much extra do you spend on other items that you cannot buy from A&C?
5. Is it really worth it?

Sorry to be soo nosey!

My box was delivered on a Wed, so on a Mon I would log on and see what I was roughly getting (there is no guarentee though) I would amend my likes and dislikes to suit and/or order extras.

It took a while to work out what was best for us as a 2 person mainly veggie family.

I ordered a small delux veg box every week, with basic veg like pots etc as extras as and when.

I also ordered a small fruit box every two weeks and a bag of apples on the alternate weeks, I found if the fruit kept generally for 2 weeks.

This order was set up as my 'regular' one, so they have the facility to be reasonably complex.

I have had 2 glasses of wine so hope it makes sense!

I think they like you to have a regular delivery ie every week.

You can do every other week, I'm pretty sure.

I'll have a think. I really want to order from them.

Thanks for all your advice.

They prefer regular orders rather than one-offs, but I've had a 3 week order cycle before now.

hello here are some views on a&c veg boxes, pros and cons...

Message withdrawn

We stopped ours, we thought the quality was poor. ALways some fruit and veg that were too damaged to eat, it turned out to be quite expensive too.

Don't know about a and c but my riverford delivery (very nice man) leaves it bt the side of the garage and puts it in a black bin liner if its raining.

I was just wondering if anyone buys yogurt for their children from A&C. I work with the Mums4 team and we have been trying to get A&C to list our organic yogurt with no added sugar, sweeteners or concentrates. They have told us that they won't list it because most mothers have told them that they make their own children's food at home - I am sure they are meaning puree, I can't believe that many people make yogurt regularly at home! If you would be interested in buying dairy products from them perhaps you could let me know and I will go back to them.

saline, yoghurt is easy to make.

Oh dear, they're getting wise to me, I got a charming but rather stolid German lad yesterday.

I used to get a weekly box from A&C but stopped because I found that there often wasn't enough of one type of veg to cook a meal, so I would end up nipping to the supermarket to supplement the box. Also the winter box was never very interesting. I got fed up with getting white cabbage every week. I thought I would like the element of surprise, but it didn't always work because often I didn't have the other ingredients I needed to cook a meal. I think you need to be a bit more organised than I was and make sure your box is delivered before you go to the supermarket. I may try using them again but order what I actually want rather than use a box.

Have you seen this blog on vegboxes. It is fab, really well written and amusing. I hasten to add that i am not the author and do not know him. Take a look.
vegboxdiary.wordpress.com/

I used A&C and they were really good for ages, But then we started having some probs.

The first problem was ours - they only delivered on a set day and that was a problem for us, as the next couple of days I was at uni late and wasn't cooking full meals.

Secondally we found that after a while the quality of the fruit and veg started getting really bad. Some of it would be starting to go bad when we got it and the rest would be almost unedible by the next day. Heard similar complaints from other users saying it coincided with the opening of their shop.

Am gonna start looking around for other box schemes that you can get in Bristol - does anybody know any?

I love A&C. I get a family box, plus bread, eggs, potatoes and lemons as extras. It arrives Friday so there is always stuff in for weekend breakfast at least. You have to be proactive about your dislikes. I have a look at what is in the family box every Wednesday and make sure I "dislike" anythign which I have in the house already for that week.

I too like the challenge of cooking things I didn't completely choose. The veg is good, the fruit can be a bit near sell-by. But I just love having things delivered.

I think Riverford do Bristol - worth it if they do, as the veg is the best we've ever had from a box.

I also did A&C for a while but stopped. Like others have said, I wasn't that impressed with the quality of some things - ok as it's organic you don't expect it to keep as well ,but I did expect stuff to be useable on the day it was delivered, Also agree with otto that the quantities often didn't suit me, eg I might get loads of oranges and not be able to use them up fast enough (mine are not that keen on them) but not enough potatoes to do more than one meal at a pinch. Now I prefer to get the exact quantities I need myself, rather than getting an A&C delivery and having to go to the shops/market as well.

I really like Abel & Cole, I chose them because they are more flexible than any other box scheme I contacted.

My experience is probably diferent to most because I didn't want a veg box, just a fruit box - we have a huge garden plus an allotment, so the veg boxes tend to contain all the same stuff we've grown! Riverford and others insist you take a veg box, then 'add on' fruit extras.

What I do with Abel & Cole is take the largest fruit box, plus I add on any fruit or veg or other extras. The quality is good, only once have I had something poor quality, and I love the flexibility of doing everything on the internet, adding things in or excluding things if we've a home-grown glut for a while.

They are very efficient, the stuff is well-packed and the food lovely. I do think you have to be organised, base your meals around your box to some extent, and be prepared to be inventive. Their recipe pages are great though.

we get a Riverford box, I adjust my order every week (though you can just have a regular one) and we love it...can you only get Abel & Cole? I tried a couple of suppliers before I settled for Riverford.

I sometimes only get fruit from riverford...that's odd, portonovo.

I stopped A&C but have recently restarted and I think the quality of the fruit and veg has definitely improved. You can also opt out of things you feel you're getting too much of (like onions) and then put them back in when you want them back.

Sorry to hijack, but please see my other thread asking about quantities - how much stuff do you get in your box?