'Wonky Flowers' to cut waste, support growers
To assist the flower industry in reducing waste and drive up demand, Wonky Box has partnered with Burwood to create Wonky Flowers.
For Wonky Box co-founder Angus Simms, the decision to open the service to those in rural areas is a personal one.
In 2021, Simms co-founded Wonky Box with his partner Katie Jackson in response to the significant amounts of food waste faced by local growers as the result of supermarket cosmetic standards.
Early on, the couple would visit growers in the outskirts of Wellington, pick up produce that was unwanted by supermarkets, and distribute it in their renovated camper van.
From there, the company has grown exponentially, rescuing about 4.3 million kg of fresh produce from being wasted. Last year, the company launched a fruit-only box, and a subsequent Wonky Pantry selection was launched in November.
In the past year, from 1 March 2024 to 28 February 2025, the company has had what it calls an oversubscribed waitlist, with demand almost tripling.
The company says some of the highest demand for its subscription boxes come from key produce-growing regions like Central Otago, Canterbury, and the surrounding areas of Tauranga.
This month, in response to high demand, the service opens to rural households from Northland to Southland along the RD1 postal route.
That means they will be able to experience the Wonky Box fruit and vegetable boxes, along with the Wonky Pantry selection, delivered to their door.
Simms says that for many in New Zealand’s rural areas the variety of stores and therefore the variety of fruit and vegetable isn’t necessarily there.
“Compared to the more metropolitan areas… in regional areas, they don’t have as many options,” he told Rural News.
Simms grew up in Whitemans Valley, a rural suburb in Upper Hutt, and says that it’s important for all New Zealand to have ready access to fresh produce regardless of their postcode.
“From experience if I’m going to be somewhat selfish with it, from living rural in my upbringing… I had to travel about 20-odd minutes if I wanted to get to the nearest store.
“Accessibility to fresh produce, I think, should be a fair right for anyone whether they live slightly further away or more localised in metropolitan cities,” Simms says.
“I think it’s everyone’s right to be able to eat healthy and eat fresh, so accessibility is a huge driver for us,” he says. “It’s something we’re quite passionate about.”
Subscriptions to Wonky Box are available via their website www. wonkybox.co.nz with boxes starting from $23.00. Delivery fees range from $11.80 to $13.90 for rural areas.
According to the most recent Rabobank Rural Confidence Survey, farmer confidence has inched higher, reaching its second highest reading in the last decade.
From 1 October, new livestock movement restrictions will be introduced in parts of Central Otago dealing with infected possums spreading bovine TB to livestock.
Phoebe Scherer, a technical manager from the Bay of Plenty, has won the 2025 Young Grower of the Year national title.
The Fencing Contractors Association of New Zealand (FCANZ) celebrated the best of the best at the 2025 Fencing Industry Awards, providing the opportunity to honour both rising talent and industry stalwarts.
Award-winning boutique cheese company, Cranky Goat Ltd has gone into voluntary liquidation.
As an independent review of the National Pest Management Plan for TB finds the goal of complete eradication by 2055 is still valide, feedback is being sought on how to finish the job.
OPINION: For years, the ironically named Dr Mike Joy has used his position at Victoria University to wage an activist-style…
OPINION: A mate of yours truly has had an absolute gutsful of the activist group SAFE.