Why does Fruit and Veg Underground Exist?

All I wanted was fresh fruit and veg at sensible prices, not too far from home. That was it. Was I asking too much? In a world where unhealthy food is a few minutes wait, why couldn’t the real deal healthy foods be easy to go pickup. I have online shopping at my fingertips with all the fancy things, but the important things that I actually value having every day - apples, bananas, cucumbers, broccoli and carrots - were harder to get fresh than a pizza. And I mean actually fresh, not ‘looks’ fresh… Maybe even just picked a couple of days ago, with all its maximum goodness in it. Is it so hard to get it from farmer direct to eater?

So Steve and I started to go shopping at the place where we thought we would find the freshest and cheapest produce. We packed up the kids Saturday mornings and drove 45min to the Rocklea markets. Our littlest child was almost one. I was sleep deprived and determined to provide good nutrition to myself and my family, as Eddie was still nursing a lot as well as eating family foods. It was interesting then - comparing prices and quality. Seeing varieties that you rarely or never saw at fruit and veg shops. Soon we started shopping for others, compiling their lists with ours, and searching for good quality and rarer items. We then learnt that the even fresher produce was across the road at the wholesale markets, because that was actually where the farmers brought in their produce. So Steve obtained a buyers license and things developed from there.

Steve started asking vendors and farmers questions about varieties and seasons and prices. We started discussing ‘good eating’ produce over ‘good looking’ produce. We believed it was really important to ask our customers if there was anything they wanted that they couldn’t typically find and this led to amazing opportunities with exotic tropical fruits.

When we pack your boxes, I love the fact that I am most likely the only one who has handled your avocado since harvest. I love that I am only putting in to your box the produce you want, and that when you bring it to your chopping board it will be good quality produce. I also love that a busy parent can get healthy fresh food into tummies without much hassle.