What Makes Us Different?

We sell locally grown produce direct from local farms

Most box schemes rely heavily on imported produce and they often buy it in from wholesalers. At Local’s Best all our produce is grown/reared on small, local farms. Our definition of local is Bedfordshire and neighbouring counties for fruit and vegetables. Mushrooms are an exception, they come from Suffolk which is a bit further afield because there are no growers in Bedfordshire. Our meat comes from Bedfordshire and Oxfordshire. We always tell you which county your produce comes from.

In most cases we collect the produce direct from local farms but in some cases a farmer will act as a drop-off point for us. In these cases, other local farmers deliver their produce to the drop-off point to cut down on food miles.

Working with a small network of local farmers means that most vegetables can be picked, packed and delivered to you the same day. Crunchy carrots and crisp lettuce will be a revelation to you if you normally buy your vegetables from supermarkets or larger box schemes. The flavour is superb and the vitamin content is likely to be higher because they haven’t been stored. They also last much longer once you have received them.

Occasionally, we may have to pick the produce the day before. For example, if a hard frost is forecast, the carrots can’t be pulled early on delivery day because the ground will be too hard. Also, items such as onions and swede, which store very well, are rarely harvested the same day as delivery.

You have control over your box contents

We encourage you to place a regular, recurring (standing) order for a box of seasonal vegetables because this gives our farmers some idea of how much they need to plant for the season. You decide whether you want a small or a large box and whether you want it delivered weekly, fortnightly, every third week or monthly.

We change the box contents each week to reflect what is in season and send you an e-mail listing the contents of the box each time you are due a delivery. By clicking on a link in the e-mail you can add items, delete items, swap an item for something of similar value and change quantities. When you become a member of our box scheme, you tell us which vegetables you never want to receive in your box (these are called ‘never sends’). This means that even if you don’t have a chance to look at your e-mail that week, we will take out any vegetables that you don’t like and replace them with something else. You can enter holiday dates or skip a box whenever you want to. You can also add meat items, eggs, honey or preserves to be delivered once only or every time you receive your vegetable box.

If you are away a lot or placing a regular, recurring (standing) order really doesn’t suit you, you can place ad hoc orders and select the contents yourself from our list of in season vegetables. Please note that our minimum order value is £8.99.

We offer you value for money

In most cases, the vegetables in our boxes cost approximately 10% less than they would in the big four supermarkets. If you choose to place an ad hoc order or add additional items to your box, the prices are roughly the same as those in the supermarket.

We use a refrigerated van for deliveries

Imagine how hot it gets in the back of a van on a summers day. People have told us that produce from other box schemes often arrives half cooked in the summer!

We deliver your order in a refrigerated van which keeps your order at 4°C. This also means that if you are out when we deliver, the crate and the contents are very cold when we leave them ensuring that they stay cool during the day. Our meat items are delivered in insulated boxes with ice packs which will keep your meat at the correct temperature for the rest of the day.

We are a small, family business

Some box schemes deliver thousands and even tens of thousands of vegetable boxes a week. In contrast by June 2008 we were delivering approximately 100 boxes a week. This ensures that we get to know each of our customers and can offer you a personal service. Sarah runs the business and packs and delivers with help from family members. We pack in a small converted dairy on a farm in the village of Eversholt, Bedfordshire.

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