Box Divvy Eleebana - Linden

02/02/2025

MARKET UPDATE

FRUIT:

The Mango season is finished, but the new apple and pear season is starting up:
New season Royal Gala have arrived

Clapps pears are done, but Williams are replacing them. Prices should come down over the next few weeks.

In tropicals, large Panama passionfruit, small topless pineapples and papaya are still amazing value. A flash of bananas is bringing prices down, but this is likely to be short-lived.

It’s also peak melon season: rockmelons from Hay have started – probably the best growing region in Australia because rockmelons love the arid climate of inland NSW. Dino melons are continuing another week, and to boot: seedless watermelons are still under $1.50 a kilo.

Apricots are finished, but the rest of the stone fruit category is brilliant value – especially plums, cherries and nectarines.

Seedless grapes are at their lowest price this season, but berries are still doing it tough: supply remains tight and prices high.


VEGGIES:

Among the vegetables, Reeds have finished, Shepards are still a week away, and yet Hass prices have eased – below $3 now: hardly cheap, but better than last week.

Beans, snow peas and sugar snap are a little cheaper than last week, but corn remains tight as both Coles and Woolworths are keeping it on special and are chasing any available stock.

George Portelli has loads of small green cabbages – we sold nearly 1000 last week, we suspect they were shared with hamsters and guinea pigs – but red cabbages are tight. Most other brassicas – from broccoli to kale – are good value.

Cucumbers and capsicums are coming down in price, tomatoes are still cheap and Charlie Vella’s continental eggplant, zucchini and J*P pumpkins are well-supplied and priced, whilst Simon Chong is reporting that most leafy greens have survived the heat, except for rocket. By contrast, shallots are super cheap.

Lettuces are well supplied, especially George Portelli’s Baby Gem lettuce at 85c. Looks like Salad Days are Here Again.

01/02/2025

31/01/2025

One thing I love about Box Divvy is that you choose what you want.
Don’t like cauliflower?….no worries.
Want lots of lettuce?…..can do.

These are two member’s boxes from today. Similar cost but very different products. I love seeing that 😍

28/01/2025

☀️🍍🍹Summer vibes….

27/01/2025

It’s INTERNATIONAL PIZZA DAY on 9th February, and what better way to celebrate than with the new Shepherd’s Mini Pizzas!

These Pizzettas are also known as Sciachiatta. They use a base of squashed brioche (‘sciachiatta’ literally means ‘pressed’ in Italian) and come in 4 flavours - sold in boxes of 4 Pizzettas.

For the next 2 weeks, a Mixed Box will be available with one of each flavour.

You’ll find them in the Chilled Section under Fresh Prepared Meals ➡️ Pizza. They cost $19.50 per box of 4 ($17 for the Margherita).

25/01/2025

NEW: Heaps Normal Third IPA

This classic West Coast IPA (India Pale Ale) boasts a pine-punch, amber allure and a refreshingly dry, crisp finish that cleverly cloaks the absence of booze. All wrapped up in a delightfully bitter, big, classic IPA flavour that stands out from the fruity crowd.”

Available as a 4-pack ($13.06 – lowest regular price in Sydney) or $69 for a whole case.

25/01/2025

💰MORE BANG FOR YOUR BUCK💰

Super savers this week ☀️

💜PASSIONFRUIT
Beautiful BIG passionfruits this week for a low price of 75 cents each!

🍍PINEAPPLE
Supply of small, topless pineapples is improving: $2.50 for these little beauties.

🍒 CHERRIES
Cherries this late in the season? That’s Tassie for you: small but super-sweet, and at $14.50 a kilo, that’s 40% cheaper than supermarket prices.

💜PLUMS
Wow, the plum season has exploded – and prices have almost halved overnight. Pay no more than $3.75 a kilo.

🥬GREEN CABBAGE
George Portelli is switching from red to green cabbage: they’re small, but at $2 a pop, they’re great value. Time for coleslaw?

🥔POTATOES
Are potatoes coming down in price? Judging by this week’s washed Nadines, this may well be the case: $2.50 a kilo.

🎃PUMPKIN
Manuel Xerri will be picking J*P pumpkins all weekend: he says – sell’m for $1.25 a kilo. So, there you have it.

🥒ZUCHINNI
Zucchini is heavily oversupplied for the next few weeks: pay no more than $2.47 a kilo.

Get more for you money with this weeks stars from local and Aussie growers! ⭐️

Head over to market place this week and check out what you can save on!

24/01/2025

I love that through Box Divvy I can access uncommon products like Dinomelon and Australian garlic.

21/01/2025

I have a 3 year old and 1 year old. It’s safe to say the zoo pasta is a hit in my house 😆
🐢🦁🦛🐘🦒

Tonight it was served with brisket and brocollini.

20/01/2025

Free-range egg supply remains a major challenge.

Hunter Valley eggs supplies less than half of what we need, and Moonbi Valley provides only 10–20%. To bridge the gap, we sourced from Ash and Sons, a family-run business with farms in Sydney and QLD.

ASH and SONS - Their farms operate at a density of 10,000 hens per hectare, higher than Hunter’s (950/HA) but comparable to Moonbi. Low-density suppliers with spare capacity are nearly impossible to find. Jones Brothers Eggs, for example, can only supply 130 boxes daily against orders for 1,400 boxes (15 dozen per box), leaving customers with just 10% of their orders.

Hunter and Moonbi warn that free-range supply will likely worsen, especially if H5N1 bird flu reaches Australia. This strain has devastated bird populations globally and poses a greater risk to free-range flocks due to wild bird exposure.

To mitigate risks, we’re considering supplementing free-range eggs with barn-style options, allowing hens to maintain social behaviour while reducing exposure. Stay tuned.

19/01/2025

MARKET UPDATE

FRUIT:

Although some vegetables have been impacted by wet and steamy conditions, fruit supply is looking good:
- Tropical fruit is mostly cheaper than last week, especially papaya, lychees and limes. We’ll have small, topless pineapples for under $3.
- Stone fruit is also looking good, even cherries and mangoes this late in the season – but prices are up a little, and plums are refusing to come down. Normally the market is awash with plums of every variety, but this season is shaping up as poor
- Valencias remain tight, but lemons will ease in price over the next few weeks as new season fruit is coming down from Gayndah in Qld.
- Melons is where most of the action is – even though rockmelons from Hay are late this year: for starters, the Vellas have a serious number of seedless watermelons at $1.25 a kilo. This is literally half price compared with Colesworth. We also managed to get hold of some Dino melons – so called because they resemble a🦖 dinosaur egg. Visually we hope – not flavour-wise 😱😟. It’s a sub-variety of honeydew melons, but even sweeter, that’s been around in Japan for years. It’s also known as Gaya melon, Snow Ball (uh?) and Sweet Baby (yeah!).
- Berries are good (except raspberries) but a tad dearer than last week.

VEGETABLES:

Vegetables are a mixed bag:
- Reed avocadoes have finished already, which will put upwards pressure on Hass – already over $3 a pop – until Shepherds appear from Qld in another 4 weeks
- Corn doesn’t like rain and prices are up, but snow peas and sugarsnap are back – and reasonably priced.
- Xerri is bringing in green cabbages – MIA since before Christmas – but they are quite a bit dearer (and also larger) than George Portelli’s small red cabbages. Among other brassicas, broccoli and broccolini are cheaper than last week, and kale remains very cheap. Alas, Portelli’s wombok has mostly cooked on the inside – the result of rain and heat – so he’s taking a 1-2 week break
- Rain has also interrupted supply of cucumbers and capsicums from northern NSW, so expect prices to remain elevated
- Herbs and leafy greens already have seen price adjustments so no major changes (except that Dill won’t be available for a few weeks)
- Potatoes remain largely unchanged, and tomatoes are still quite cheap.

18/01/2025

The single most requested product by Box Divvy Hubsters and members: LOO PAPER!

About A Dog

The toilet paper is produced by a small Sydney-based company called About A Dog. It was born during Covid (most of their business was in hospitality which closed during lockdowns), and it took off.

The quality of the paper is second to none in our view, and this is not hyperbole: it’s better than the mainstream brands like Quilton, Kleenex and Sorbent. It’s also a notch above Who Gives A Crap.

About A Dog has a few other features:
- It’s 100% recycled – and certified by the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council).
- The paper is Ink, Chlorine and BPA free.
- It’s made locally in Milperra, Sydney – but the raw material (pulp) is imported. (Who Gives a Crap is manufactured in China).
- 50% of profits are donated to animal shelters including Sydney Dogs and Cats Home, Maggie’s Rescue, Greyt Greys Victorian Greyhound Rescue and Pets of the Homeless Australia to name just a few. To date, over $46,000 has been donated.

The product itself is a double-length roll with 360 sheets, and available as a box of 24 rolls. It costs $31.65 – which works out to $1.32 per roll.

17/01/2025

Care to take a guess how much this member paid for their box today?

$26.89!
And that includes my packing fee 😲

Happy farmers 👩🏼‍🌾
Happy members 🍅
Happy Hubster 😊

16/01/2025

Ethical AND cheaper?! Believe it 🙌🏻

Sick of paying through the nose for fruit and veg that only lasts a few days? Try Box Divvy.

A whole lot cheaper for seasonal produce and it lasts ages. Rather than storing the fruit and vegetables for sometimes months before it is sold in supermarkets, Box Divvy uses a 'just in time' system. For local to Sydney growers, this generally means within 24 hours of being picked. For interstate growers, within 48 to 72 hours.

Box Divvy is a win for everyone except the supermarkets.
✅ Better prices for the consumer
✅ Fairer deals for the growers
✅ Minimal packaging

Prices current online as of 15 January, Box Divvy prices include the Hubster fee for packing.

14/01/2025

When the corn is so cheap ($1!) the chickens get treats 🌽

12/01/2025

NEW PRODUCT: Bamboo cleaning cloths

In our quest to reduce our (micro) plastics use, we’re introducing Ecokaps Bamboo Cleaning Cloths. They are $6.47 per 5-pack and they’re re-usable.

These cleaning cloths are made from 90% bamboo, which is fully compostable, and 10% polyester (which is not). They come in a bundle of 5 cloths, each measuring 180mm x 220mm. Because they are white (rather than multi-coloured), you'll know when they need to go through the laundry cycle so you can keep using them again and again.

They are quite absorbent, durable, gentle on surfaces and naturally antibacterial. However, the biggest advantage is environmental: they are 90% renewable (bamboo is a fast-growing renewable resource), and 90% of its fibres are compostable. This is a major advantage over microfibre - usually a blend of polyester and polyamide, but can also include polypropylene, acrylic, or viscose. As the fabric wears out, microplastics are released into the environment. This is becoming a major health issue: microplastics have been found not only across our food chain, but they are also present in almost every human organ including our brain, the blood stream and bone marrow. The impact on our health is yet unknown, but it can't be good. That's why Box Divvy is committed to reduce plastics from our products as much as possible.

11/01/2025

MARKET UPDATE:

Supply-wise, it’s been a challenging first week back – and not just on the market:

The big one was EGGS: both Hunter and Moonbi kept telling us ‘tomorrow’, but tomorrow didn’t come until Friday – so not one Hub received eggs this week. The good news is that we have around 2000 dozen in stock for early next week, with more promised on Monday. We may also have found a 3rd free-range supplier; we’ll provide details once confirmed. BTW: free-range egg shortages extend across the entire industry, with 7 out 10 branded free-range eggs in Coles out-of-stock at the time of writing.

COFFEE from Blackmarket and Wonder Roasters are back on, freshly roasted.

Fresh CHEESES and COLD MEATS will have a fair number of out-of-stocks as many suppliers have only just returned to re-start production
Some pantry lines will run out this week, and re-supply may have to wait until the end of January.
Even Fruit and vegetable supply was a little wobbly this week, partly because of hot weather in Victoria and rain in NSW and QLD – but we expect supply to improve next week.

FRUIT:

In fruit, seedless watermelon from Charlie Vella ($1.57 a kilo), honeydew melons, peaches, nectarines, cherries, berries, small honeygold mangoes, passionfruit, papaya, limes, white grapes, bananas and figs are all good value – but plums, apricots, apples and Valencia oranges are tight. Lemons will remain pricey until the new season starts in a few weeks’ time. However, new season Clapp’s pears will be available from this week.

VEGETABLES:

In vegetables, mushrooms, broccoli, cucumbers, capsicums, beans, sweet potatoes and ginger have all moved up in price, but corn, carrots, zucchini, cauliflower, kale and many leafy greens will be cheaper this coming week. Golden Fields starts picking Snake Beans this week: at $2.60 a bunch, they’re good value. Kim and Laks have also started Grape Tomatoes, after a long absence.

Hass avocadoes are moving up in price as the season is nearing its end. Shepards should be available late February, but meanwhile Reed avocadoes are a good option. They’re larger than Hass, more creamy and better value at $2.94.

Continental eggplant is up a little at $6.29 a kilo, but Charlie Vella is picking Thai striped eggplant which comes in around $4.60 a kilo. This variety is particularly suited to curries and casseroles as it tends to hold its shape and bite.
Small red cabbages and wombok from George Portelli continue to be excellent value.

Speciality mushrooms from The Little Mountain Mushroom Co (aka FungiCo) are back from this week with Shiitake, Oyster and Lion’s Mane.
Best value tomatoes this week: Field Tomatoes at $4.23 a kilo.

11/01/2025

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

New Year, New You: who doesn’t have a New Year’s resolution to do with health? Do more exercise. Eat more veggies (ok, chances are you do already).

But eat more Polyphenols? Perhaps a bit novel, it also makes a lot of sense. Polyphenols are a group of phytonutrients, naturally occurring chemicals in plants that help to protect them in nature from threats such as insects and UV light, and, as it turns out, also help to protect us when we eat them. They are found in high concentrations in fruits and vegetables with deep or vivid colours such as beetroot, blackberries, black olives, very red tomatoes and dark, leafy greens.