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Buying the perfect pear or head of lettuce isn't always as simple as running to the grocery store. Whether you're looking for a rare ingredient not commonly found in your area, trying to combat food waste, or simply need some higher-quality fruits and veggies, buying produce online is a convenient alternative to in-person shopping.
Several companies now sell fresh produce on their websites, either via subscriptions or one-off purchases. We researched the space and assembled this list of the best places to buy produce online to help you find the best fit for you.
Best Places to Buy Produce Online in 2022
- Best Overall: Farmbox Direct
- Best User Experience: Misfits Market
- Largest Delivery Area: Imperfect Foods
- Best Budget: Amazon Fresh or Amazon Prime Now
- Best for Special Occasions: Harry & David
- Best for Specialty Items: FreshDirect
- Best Organic: Full Circle Farms
- Best for Local Produce: The Fruitguys
- Best for Freeze-Dried Fruit: The Rotten Fruit Box
- Best Restaurant-Quality: The Chef’s Garden
- Best for California Residents: Farm Fresh to You
Best Overall : Farmbox Direct
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Courtesy of Farmbox Direct
Farmbox Direct offers three different box sizes in addition to an all organic option, juicing boxes, and diabetes-friendly boxes, and you can swap out or substitute up to five items in a box.
Large selection of boxes
Ability to customize
Ships nationwide
Additional handling and packing fee
Unable to deliver to P.O. boxes
Website slightly outdated
While some produce boxes offer little to no customization, Farmbox offers a streamlined platform with lots of options. Ashley Tyrner founded the company with the goal of offering a farmer’s market experience and quality to those unable to peruse neighborhood markets.
Choose only fruit, only veggies, or both. Produce box options include small (about 11 items, 15 pieces of produce), medium, and large (about 14 items, 46 pieces), with organic and non-organic options for each. Once you’ve decided on volume, you can choose to swap up to five items from that week’s offerings. Farmbox Direct also offers juicing boxes that offer higher volumes of fewer ingredients.
Best User Experience : Misfits Market
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Courtesy of Misfits Market
Misfit Market focuses on reducing food waste by selling cosmetically imperfect, mostly organic produce that is still perfectly edible, as well as other groceries at a discount.
Free membership
Discounted organic produce
Ability to select more groceries than just produce
Produce may not be in perfect condition
Does not deliver to P.O boxes
Minimum $30 order
Playful branding and a simple structure make Misfits Market a solid option if you're looking for fresh produce. The name comes from the company's focus on distributing “ugly” produce that might not meet a grocer’s standards of perfection, selling cosmetically imperfect but perfectly delicious organic produce at a discount, and fighting food waste in the process.
The company offers customizable boxes at a $30 minimum; you can choose any number of items each week from a list of produce, pantry staples, snacks, and even proteins. Shipping is $5.50 per delivery.
We love Misfits Market's mission and what it stands for, but keep in mind that the produce it ships isn't perfect.
Largest Delivery Area : Imperfect Foods
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Courtesy of Imperfect Foods
Much like Misfit Market, Imperfect Foods sells cosmetically imperfect, conventionally and organically-grown produce that is still perfectly edible, along with groceries staples.
Cheaper discounted produce
Reduces food waste
Other groceries offered
Produce may not be in perfect condition
Delivery fee of $4.99
No monthly delivery option, only weekly and biweekly
Imperfect Foods launched with the idea of reducing food waste by offering people a chance to buy fruits and vegetables that wouldn’t otherwise be considered saleable through the mainstream grocery system. An effort at fighting food waste and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Imperfect also offers lots of options for customization. Choose between organic or regular produce and then add shares of meat and seafood, dairy, and even dry goods.
We like Imperfect Foods for its widely available options, its reasonable prices, its policy of offering a 33 percent discount to eligible SNAP recipients, and its broad delivery footprint.
Best Budget : Amazon Fresh or Amazon Prime Now
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Courtesy of Amazon
Amazon is a powerhouse in delivering just about everything, so it’s no surprise that its food delivery service is just as robust, offering pretty much everything a local grocery store has at a reasonable price.
Wide selection of produce
Ability to select more groceries than just produce
Reasonable price
Prime membership required
Free delivery requires minimum order
Not available everywhere
Think of a really well-stocked grocery store produce section. That’s what you get with Amazon Fresh or ordering fresh groceries through Amazon Prime Now. The two services are slightly different. Both are available to those with annual Prime subscriptions. Amazon Fresh offers more variety but is only available in specific metro areas and requires an additional monthly fee.
These fees aside, the product prices are comparable, if not lower, than those you’ll encounter in person at the grocery store. Another bonus? You can add pretty much any other grocery or household items you might need to your produce order.
Best for Special Occasions : Harry & David
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Courtesy of Harry & David
Established in 1914, Harry & David is a heritage brand that has come to signify quality edible gifts and quality produce, all presented in a beautiful package.
Excellent customer service
Option of gourmet treats along with fruit
Heritage brand that is immediately recognizable
Can be expensive
Only gift basket options, not just produce
No customization on orders
Harry & David offers a huge selection of gift boxes, flowers, chocolates, and other goodies, but the heart of its operation remains the most beautiful of pears, apricots, plums, and other Rogue Valley fruits. These are available as one-off orders or in the company’s signature fruit-of-the-month club subscription.
Recently, for the first time ever, the company has added vegetables to the lineup as well. Get a monthly treat in the form of the vegetable of the month club. September brings kabocha squash, February Chinese eggplant, and April purple artichokes. Think of these as special occasion vegetables, which can serve as worthy centerpieces to seasonal meals.
Best for Specialty Items : FreshDirect
One of the early grocery delivery services, Fresh Direct offers all the standard groceries as well as local, seasonal, and specialty items, often direct from the farm, at competitive prices.
Wide selection of groceries and specialty items
Chef-prepared entrees and meal kits also available
Ability to select more groceries than just produce
Only delivers to the East Coast
Delivery fee
New York-based FreshDirect was a grocery delivery pioneer. As a result, the company excels at it, a boon for Northeast and Midatlantic residents who live within the service area. The site offers grocery options ranging from the basic to the boutique.
The best thing about FreshDirect's produce section is that it offers all of the grocery store standards, including pre-cut options, but it also buys from specialty suppliers so one can find items that one might not otherwise find at a grocery store. This includes foraged morel mushrooms and even locally grown salad mixes from Gotham Greens. Want a mystery box challenge? You can buy a no-commitment farm share from an organic co-op.
Best Organic : Full Circle Farms
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Courtesy of Full Circle Farms
This all-organic produce delivery service is similar to community-supported agriculture, but it offers customization and the ability to add artisan products like hand-crafted jams or local honey—plus, the farm box is delivered right to your doorstep.
All organic produce
Customizable boxes
Add-ons include artisan products
Limited delivery area
Requires subscription
Canceling is not easy to find on site
Available in areas of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska, the experience of ordering from Washington-based Full Circle Farms is the most like that of being a CSA member, coupled with the convenience of home delivery. Like a farmer’s market, Full Circle Farms tells you the varietal names of the produce—not just carrots but Nantes carrots.
The company's organic vegetables and fruits come from the family farm and others in the Pacific Northwest. Most popular is the combination of fruits and vegetables in the “mixed fruit and veggie” box. The farm offers four tiers of quantity options and subscriptions for just organic fruit as well. Bonus? You can add dry goods, dairy, flowers, and other artisan grocery options to your order.
Best for Local Produce : The Fruitguys
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Courtesy of The Fruit Guys
The Fruit Guys delivers seasonal fruit, vegetables, and healthy snacks, all sourced as much as possible from local and regional farms.
Produce is sourced regionally as much as possible
Wide range of boxes to select from
Produce is seasonal and fresh
Difficult to customize box
Website is a little difficult to navigate
Some regions have a smaller selection of produce
The Fruitguys started out as a way for businesses to supply workers with fresh, healthy snacks. Now, the certified B corporation also offers home delivery of both conventional and certified organic produce. It works with regional farms to source a variety of seasonal produce nationwide. Choose to receive fruit only, or a combination of both fruits and vegetables.
The simplest option is called “the basics” and includes staples like apples, oranges, onions, potatoes, and other things that form the foundation of many a meal plan. The Harvest is a more unusual option that features a mix of conventional and organic items, a direct reflection of what’s growing where you live at any given time.
Best for Freeze-Dried Fruit : The Rotten Fruit Box
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Courtesy of The Rotten Fruit Box
Despite the name, Rotten Fruit Box does not deliver rotten fruit but rather freeze-dried fruit, which offers the convenience and nutrition of fresh fruit without the pressure to consume before it goes bad.
Single or subscription plan
Combats food waste
Long shelf life
Popular and non-seasonal items sell out
Free shipping with a minimum order of $45
If you’re the person who buys fresh fruit with the best of intentions and then reaches for crunchy snacks when you’re hungry, The Rotten Fruit Box needs to be on your subscription list. While most businesses on this list offer fresh fruits and vegetables, The Rotten Fruit Box sends out compostable snack packs of freeze-dried fruit instead. Shelf-stable for ages, the texture of these fruits is snappy and crunchy, more like that of a pretzel than a pear.
Best Restaurant-Quality : The Chef’s Garden
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Courtesy of The Chef’s Garden
If you’ve ever wanted to make that Instagrammable meal, but aren’t sure where to get the microgreens or edible flowers to take your plate to the next level, The Chef’s Garden can help.
Chef and restaurant quality ingredients
Unusual and unique produce choices
Offers nutrient-dense box options
Only offers vegetables, no fruit
More expensive than other companies
Individual items must be bought in large quantities
If you’ve ever had fancy microgreens or the tiniest of radishes on a restaurant plate, there’s a good chance you’ve already eaten a veggie or two from the Chef’s Garden.
The farm is associated with the Culinary Vegetable Institute and offers the same selection of produce for home delivery that professional chefs use in elegant restaurants nationwide. Primarily, this means delicate lettuces, colorful root vegetables, edible flowers, and aromatic microgreens.
Best for California Residents : Farm Fresh to You
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Courtesy of Farm Fresh to You
This classic CSA-style, organically certified farm box has numerous customizable boxes to choose from, including a no-cook box of fruits and vegetables that can be eaten raw.
Wide selection of different boxes and sizes
Boxes are customizable
You can select add-on grocery staples
Only available in California
Subscription required
Delivery day is dependent on your location
Farm Fresh to You is the California sister to Full Circle Farms in the Pacific Northwest. It offers very similar options, including fruit-only and veggie-only boxes, as well as a “traditional CSA” box highlighting locally grown ingredients. Depending on the box style, Farm Fresh to You offers up to four tiers.
One thing the company offers that no other service does is a “no cooking” box, a selection of fruit and vegetables that can either be eaten raw or with the most minimal of cooking. Shoppers can add dairy, dry goods, meat, seafood, and snack items to their orders.
Final Verdict
The convenience of having fresh produce delivered to your door, as well as the potential to save money and time going to the grocery store, makes these services a win all the way around. We picked Farmbox Direct as our best overall choice since it offers high-quality produce and allows you to tailor your order to your needs. It also delivers nationwide.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Do You Look for When Buying Produce Online?
Customization
From finding rarer produce to choosing between organic and inorganic produce, many online retailers allow you to customize your order to your tastes. Beyond buying produce, some retailers also offer to add on other items traditionally found in a grocery store, which can be helpful if you don't want to make a separate trip.
Delivery
Keep in mind an online grocer's delivery area as well as delivery times. Before selecting a company, make sure it will ship to your area and can deliver when you are home. Also note any additional delivery fees.
Coupons and Discounts
If you're looking to save money, check out the grocer's website and see if it offers coupons or discounts. A subscription box may also help you save money, depending on how frequently you plan to purchase your produce. Also, check to see if it's compatible with SNAP or other food assistance programs.
Privacy and Security
Always practice due diligence and make sure the online grocer is reputable and well-known before entering your bank and credit card information.
Methodology
We looked at more than a dozen produce delivery services while researching this article. Factors we considered were price, availability, product options, any special features or attributes, and more. We also looked at things like whether shipping is free and if non-produce items are available for purchase as well.