Author Topic: What grocery delivery services do Mustachian's use?  (Read 2220 times)

ctuser1

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What grocery delivery services do Mustachian's use?
« on: October 09, 2020, 04:14:48 AM »
Not sure if this is going to be US only (and that too the urban and suburban population centers - not sure if rural areas would get much grocery delivery services coverage).

What grocery delivery services do you use? Is it cost effective? good quality?

We have been experimenting with misfits and imperfect foods for the past few weeks. The theory is that it will cost us no more than our regular budget ($400/mo for 4 people - yes I have seen APowers thread, we can't get it quite down to $200), while consistently giving us access to mostly higher quality organic food (we generally don't buy organic in the supermarket today). The boxes we currently order costs ~$40ish a week. My estimation is that we will need to go up to $60/week in order to cover all of our produce requirements + some meat and seafood stuff (sausages/smoked salmon etc).

In 2021, I plan to supplement this with a CSA share in a local farm. Hopefully this will allow us to completely forego grocery store visits except for Dairy.

This is not financial, but I also like the "treasure hunt" aspect of this. Every week, DW checks the "surprise me" box, and we get something or the other in the box that we have never quite used before, and are forced to learn about. I never knew that carrot tops could be useful, and they taste great in soups!! Did you know kiwi-berries taste awesome? as do goat cheese? Or that the kids would go bonkers waiting for the coconut to be cracked so that they can get the tiny little bits of coconut water? 

Any comments? Thoughts and prayers for my silly plan?

Cranky

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Re: What grocery delivery services do Mustachian's use?
« Reply #1 on: October 09, 2020, 07:50:39 AM »
Several people I know tried the Misfits boxes, and did not love them.

I actually get grocery pickup from the local chain grocery store, but this spring I also got the produce box that the local co-op puts together.

We get Blue Apron sometimes because they have a good vegetarian selection, but it's kind of expensive.

E.T.

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Re: What grocery delivery services do Mustachian's use?
« Reply #2 on: October 09, 2020, 08:36:45 AM »
I get my groceries from Imperfect about half the time and I really like it. You can choose what you want and change your mind and skip a box pretty close to when they'd send it out. I find the produce quality is better than what I can get locally and when I'm focused on eating what's available on Imperfect I spend less than I would at the grocery store. I only steer clear of zucchinis and soft fruits that aren't in a clamshell when ordering from them since those have arrived banged up a few times or molded quickly.

bbqbonelesswing

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Re: What grocery delivery services do Mustachian's use?
« Reply #3 on: October 09, 2020, 09:52:27 AM »
When the lockdown started, we started ordering these grocery boxes from Giordano in Philly:

https://giordanogardengroceries.com/product/fresh-essentials/

For anyone in the Philly/NJ area, these are great.

katsiki

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Re: What grocery delivery services do Mustachian's use?
« Reply #4 on: October 09, 2020, 09:58:18 AM »
Curious to hear other's experiences too.

OP, have you tried a Local Produce Club/CSA?  I suppose major metro's may not have one close, not sure.

Zikoris

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Re: What grocery delivery services do Mustachian's use?
« Reply #5 on: October 09, 2020, 10:11:57 AM »
The popular ones in Vancouver are Save-On and Spud, though both are fairly pricey. I haven't found any services that come close to the prices we pay going in person to the local Chinese market. The cheapest one I've found is a small local Persian one called Kiki's - they don't sell western ingredients, but I'm fine with that, so if I needed to get delivery for some reason, I'd go with them.

anni

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Re: What grocery delivery services do Mustachian's use?
« Reply #6 on: October 09, 2020, 12:29:49 PM »
I was getting Hungry Harvest boxes for a while. First of all, the produce was not cheaper than normal grocery store stuff, even though it was marketed as "ugly but cheaper!" Second, some of the stuff they sent me... I just don't know. Maybe fun for a more adventurous chef than I.

I've been using Instacart lately because Chase Sapphire Reserve gave out $50 in membership credits to make up for no travel this year. I used it a few times before getting free premium too. You definitely pay a 10%+ premium on your subtotal, but it has saved me a ton of anxiety and time.

Whole Foods delivery has been really good. Their produce rocks. No delivery fee and no premium membership required (maybe only Amazon Prime?). But getting Harris Teeter, etc through Instacart is still cheaper.

Tris Prior

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Re: What grocery delivery services do Mustachian's use?
« Reply #7 on: October 10, 2020, 09:27:32 AM »
I've been using Imperfect Foods since the pandemic started. I mostly like it, though the prices are higher than what I'd normally pay, more akin to Whole Foods than to Aldi which is where we mostly shopped in the Before Times. But, we don't have a car and are trying to stay out of stores as mask compliance is increasingly poor here, so it serves our needs to have food show up here weekly. It does end up cheaper than Instacart, which we've ordered from a few times but actually cost more since I gave the shopper a hazard pay-level tip out of guilt that they're risking their health for me. The quality has been mostly fine, we've gotten moldy fruit maybe twice in 6 months. The big benefit for us is that we can choose what we want and decline anything they pick for us that we don't eat.

We have on occasion had missing items, and in a couple cases a weird substitution (ordered vegan hot dogs, got a whole chicken instead? OK then!) but mostly it's been fine and they are quick to credit for any errors.

We also got a CSA, which, I probably won't do again since it is expensive for what you get. Sometimes the boxes are great, but other weeks they are skimpy. And we've often gotten veggies and fruit that we don't really like and would not choose to buy. I do feel good about supporting a local farmer, but I probably won't do this again.


MayDay

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Re: What grocery delivery services do Mustachian's use?
« Reply #8 on: October 10, 2020, 07:39:22 PM »
We get Purple Carrot which is a vegan meal kit service like blue apron. It's stupid expensive but helps me mentally.

I plan to play around with switching to grocery delivery instead of Purple Carrot. Not sure who I will try. I've done some target drive up and they've added fresh produce but it's pretty limited and my store is often out of stuff. If I'm going to the trouble of getting groceries delivered I want to get everything I need.

If anyone has Minneapolis specific suggestions let me know!

Also how much are you supposed to tip for shoot etc on top of the fee?

Cranky

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Re: What grocery delivery services do Mustachian's use?
« Reply #9 on: October 11, 2020, 04:30:18 AM »
The grocery store where I get curbside pickup uses store employees to pull orders, and they aren’t allowed to take tips.

GuitarStv

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Re: What grocery delivery services do Mustachian's use?
« Reply #10 on: October 11, 2020, 07:39:18 AM »
There exist no grocery delivery services that I've found that are worth using.  It's cheaper and you get better food heading to the store yourself.

Cranky

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Re: What grocery delivery services do Mustachian's use?
« Reply #11 on: October 11, 2020, 08:12:19 AM »
There exist no grocery delivery services that I've found that are worth using.  It's cheaper and you get better food heading to the store yourself.

I don't disagree, but that depends on having transportation, and these days, on having some sort of confidence that people in the store will wear masks. Meanwhile, I'm pretty happy to have options.

ctuser1

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Re: What grocery delivery services do Mustachian's use?
« Reply #12 on: October 12, 2020, 07:36:28 AM »
There exist no grocery delivery services that I've found that are worth using.  It's cheaper and you get better food heading to the store yourself.

It's part behavioral.

When I am ordering online, I go by a "plan".

When I am going to the store, I am much more likely to do impulse purchases (hey, Tuna is $6/lb off regular price today!!).

Because of this, I expect my total spending (monthly budget = $400/mo for 4 people now) to not increase (or not increase much) even when I am paying more per unit of anything.

BlueHouse

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Re: What grocery delivery services do Mustachian's use?
« Reply #13 on: October 13, 2020, 08:19:28 AM »
I use Instacart for Costco and Giant (Peapod) for regular groceries.  I have paid for free deliveries thru Instacart for a year and while I could have Instacart shoppers go and pick my groceries and eliminate the delivery fee when I want regular (non-costco) food, I prefer to use the Giant Peapod delivery service because it's clear that they are using logistics to pick the food BEFORE it goes onto the grocery shelves.  That means that fewer people are touching my produce, bags, etc.  I'm just more comfortable with that.  The Giant produce is exceptionally fresh and good quality. 

I also started getting some Freshly meals delivered.  Not sure how long I'll keep doing that.