New Zealand produces a lot of food - leaving a lot of waste in return. Fruit and vegetables are often thrown on the scrap heap because they don’t look right, which contributes to our nation’s ever-expanding waste issues. 

Enter Wonky Box, the subscription-based service founded by Angus Simms and his partner, Katie Jackson. The company was founded in 2021 and has expanded faster than expected.

“There were plenty of surprises along the way, we initially set ourselves up to create something that was very purposeful and sustainable.”

Wonky Box has since exploded in popularity, having rescued millions of kilos of fresh produce from being thrown out. Simms revealed to Kerre Woodham on the Bosses Unfiltered podcast that the company’s origin story may feel cliched, but money was starting to run low since the pair moved back to New Zealand.

“We were in the start of summer at that point, and we thought, let’s go do some picking, let’s go do some harvest prep and things like that, things we never really thought we would get stuck into…a somewhat carefree job and still living that lifestyle in our van. And that’s where we were exposed to the issue.”

Simms observed that some companies had tried to utilise their rejected produce - like with Woolworths’ The Odd Bunch - but no one had tried to reach out to the home delivery space. He revealed to Kerre he wanted to ensure the product was accessible to all Kiwis, not just the ones who wandered into the right supermarket. Subscription services had seen a boom over the Covid-19 pandemic, so it was an easy niche to fill. 

“You talk to any business owner - online business, that is - around that period, and there was definitely a huge spike and some great momentum off the back of Covid in terms of interest and people purchasing products, especially in food as well. So with food being a basic need and people being forced to stay at home, it was a case of: right, we’re going to have to fundamentally do a lot of our food shopping online.”

That lockdown period was nearly four years ago, and since then, Wonky Box has seen significant growth and become a nationwide business. Simms revealed he reached out to growers across the country to set up deliveries across both the North and South islands.

“It started off as consumer-led, because in the early days, it was very challenging for us to often convince the growers that there was an appetite for this product. For years, decades, growers had been throwing a lot of this product out or were finding it very challenging to find a home for this product. Whereas now, I think we were trying to push it so hard in the eyes of the consumers, who were very adoptable, and they were taking it on board…I think it initially shocked a lot of growers.”

Over the years, Wonky Box has expanded and brought in packers and couriers to get the product out to Kiwis. Simms told Kerre that the company kept a lean structure, but all their staff are driven by the mission, every day. 

“The number one rule for Katie and I when we’re making a key hire is - we know where, in the business, someone needs to be, we know what they need to do and ultimately, can we trust that they’re going to do an even better job than we’re going to be able to do. That’s been our mantra.”

Wonky Box has since expanded into meat and cheese too, and it recently launched its Good Groceries by Wonky service - a grocery concept designed to give Kiwi shoppers ethically and responsibly sourced food staples. But Simms revealed he doesn’t plan to stop there.

“Not just in the farming space, the horticultural space, but potentially into the pantry, and now, obviously into the floral culture and things like that. For us, there’s no real end goal, we’re just hustling day to day, week to week at the moment, trying to do more, trying to do better.” 

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