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Is the ₹899 box dearer than the market? We priced a week
We bought the same vegetables at a Coimbatore market and a supermarket in the same week, and compared the bills honestly.
A common question from new customers is whether the weekly box costs much more than buying vegetables at the market. In the second week of August we sent Priya from our team to find out.
That week’s box held 7.2 kg: tomatoes, brinjal, beans, carrots, beetroot, small onions, raw banana, snake gourd, a cabbage, and bunches of spinach and coriander. Its price was ₹899. Priya bought the same weights of the same vegetables, ordinary produce, at the Uzhavar Sandhai in RS Puram and at a large supermarket nearby.
At the farmers’ market, the total came to ₹612. At the supermarket, it came to ₹781. So the box cost about 47 percent more than the farmers’ market and 15 percent more than the supermarket. Organic vegetables at the supermarket, where available, were priced higher than our box.
The difference pays for three things. Our farmers get a price agreed before they plant, usually 20 to 30 percent above the market rate, and are paid within seven days. Delivery to your door on Thursday morning is included above ₹799. And because the vegetables are harvested the day before, less of the box ends up in the bin; customers tell us they throw away far less than before. If budget is tight, mix the two: take a smaller box for greens and vegetables that spoil fast, and buy onions and potatoes at the market.
