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There are plenty of ways to do your grocery shopping, whether from a giant like Amazon, Fresh Direct, or increasingly, local grocery store chains. But for sustainability-minded shoppers, many of the packaging, shipping, and potential food waste costs of food delivery can be a turn off. Enter Misfits Market, which attempts to link customers with high-quality (often organic and non-GMO) produce that may not meet supermarkets’ size or aesthetic standards and offers otherwise wasted or surplus products at, according to the company’s messaging, as much as 40% off the price you’d find on a large supermarket shelf. But is Misfits Market worth it, and can you do all your regular, weekly food shopping there? I tried the service out for two weeks to find out and came across some pluses and minuses for the average food haul.
What Is Misfits Market?
Misfits Market is an online marketplace and delivery service specializing in organic produce, sustainably-sourced foods, and many options for those with specific dietary needs, like plant-based meat and oat and nut milks. Essentially, it falls somewhere between a limited-selection store (think Trader Joe’s or Aldi) and a CSA, which means that product availability can change from week to week. The company delivers food weekly, bi-weekly, or on an as-needed basis depending on the plan you choose.
What does Misfits Market sell?
Misfits Market is probably best known for its fresh produce—its ugly produce. The ugly food movement, which tried to find buyers for misshapen fruits and vegetables that might otherwise go to waste because they were too small or odd-looking caused a bit of stir in the second half of the 2010s, both as a creative response to, and insufficient solution for the problem of food waste in America. And indeed, a number of the items I got were both small and odd-looking. My organic English cucumber arrived a few inches shorter than one I might pick up in the produce aisle, and the Hass avocados and sweet potatoes labeled “too small/smaller” were, sure enough, a bit small
The bottom line with the ugly produce from Misfits Market though, is that it’s mostly sourced from farms near a delivery location, so it’s creating a more efficient supply chain than some other subscription boxes.
In addition to produce Misfits Market also sells a variety of meats, seafood, poultry, meat substitutes, dairy and dairy alternatives, eggs, prepared meals, snacks, cereal, and other pantry items. Fruits and veggies might be smaller, larger, or differently shaped than those you’re used to seeing in the supermarket.
In terms of packaged goods, the online store is stocked with lesser-known or bespoke Misfits Market branded items that meet the company’s ethos of sourcing directly from producers and reducing food waste, the latter of which includes selling items made using otherwise discarded ingredients (take, for example, the pack of mini chocolate chip cookies I received which were made from okara flour, a byproduct of the soy milk-making process).
Nothing Misfits Market sells is frozen, but many of the meat and seafood items are sealed in packaging that could be frozen upon arrival.
Where does Misfits Market source its food?
A good number of products come from Imperfect Foods — a brand that started selling “ugly produce” in 2015 before being purchased by Misfits Market in 2022 — which serves as a sort of house or store brand for Misfits Market. Much of the local produce on offer is seasonal, however Misfits imports some out-of-season produce to offer customers consistency, according to the company’s website.
Don’t expect to see big-name labels on most products, however, but you will find a few “normal” name-brand grocery store items like Honey Nut Cheerios or Chex Mix. Those non-organic, non-sustainably produced items may be available due to surplus stock, a “short dated” product (which means the “best by” date on the label is less than six weeks out), a discontinued item, or because the packaging (not the food, just the packaging) is out of date for some reason—perhaps a company changed its color scheme.
How does Misfits Market work?
There are two options for ordering. You can sign up for the subscription service with bi-weekly or weekly deliveries, or you can purchase individual Misfits Market boxes. Either way you’re given both a delivery day (mine was Thursday) and a 48-hour window to fill your shopping cart (my window was 4 p.m. Saturday to 4 p.m. Monday). A quirk of the system: You don’t need to “check out” to make a purchase. Once your shopping window closes, whatever is in your cart will be charged and shipped out on your next designated delivery day. This could be a plus if you’re one of those people who forgets to do the shopping each week, but it also could mean you’re buying food you didn’t intend to if you aren’t on top of checking your cart during your designated shopping window.
When you first sign up, your account defaults to the grocery subscription plan. Misfits Market will automatically create a suggested cart for you each week based on the number of people you tell them you’re shopping for and the categories of products you want to be auto-selected. Mine was for 1-2 people and had mostly produce, dairy, and eggs, which resulted in a cart that cost between $45-$55 each week. You can edit the items suggested in your cart and add more to fill out your grocery needs.
The “Flex Plan” allows you to simply fill your cart whichever weeks you want. Provided you meet the cart minimum of $15, your order will ship out automatically on your predetermined delivery day.
Shipping fees can vary by zip code. The Misfits Market website says they start at $6.99, but I was only charged $5.99. Unlike some meal kits or even grocery delivery services like Amazon Fresh, Misfits Market actually does have a very wide range of delivery areas though. They deliver to all of the lower 48 states and to most of the zip codes in those states.
The food orders themselves arrived inside two cardboard boxes: One with loose, nonperishable items and one with large frozen ice packs inside insulated bags to ensure the meat, dairy, and other perishable items stayed fresh. And anything not easily recyclable at your home can be returned to the delivery driver the next week to be recycled.
Misfits Market Pros and Cons
The quality of the food is quite good
It is not always the case then when you sign up with an online produce delivery service that you get a lot of produce you actually want to eat. But in my experience, from the first box everything was in really good condition (if a bit weird looking).
Perks points rack up quickly
After just two orders of groceries I earned enough bonus points to qualify for one free item from a variety of provided choices. This is actually the main benefit of signing up for the subscription service as opposed to the flex plan. You will rack up these points more quickly and actually be able to use them. If you don’t place an order for 60 days your points expire.
You can donate your skipped order
If you are going to be gone and unable to receive your order you can choose to have it donated to a "local charitable organization." Note that you'll still be charged for the order and the delivery fee and will still earn those Perks points on the donated amounts.
Wine delivery
In addition to food, Misfits Market offers a limited selection of solid, inexpensive wines—between $11 and $15. The wines themselves won’t necessarily compare to what you’d get at a good boutique wine shop, but they are an easy, affordable way to make sure you have a few bottles on hand without going out to buy them. All of the wine selections are sold in three- or six-packs which can consist of a single label or multiple curated collections and are delivered separately from the food, typically on a different day. If you order six bottles, the $8.99 shipping fee is waived.
Limited food selection
When I shopped there were over 500 items available to choose from; a few weeks later there were over 600, so it varies week to week. But, considering your average grocery store carries tens of thousands of SKUs, it’s likely Misfits Market won’t meet every need on your shopping list and you’ll still be getting some items elsewhere.
Items are sometimes missing
In my case, my second weekly order shipped without eggplants, even though they were in my cart at order time. This was only disclosed to me upon receiving the shipment notification email – and after receiving a prior order confirmation email the day before which did not disclose any missing items. (As we were planning to make eggplant parm that weekend, this was a bit of an inconvenience that required making another trip to the grocery store.)
Buying size options
Items like meats and fish are not sold in fixed quantities (as a regular Trader Joe’s shopper, this was familiar),like 14-ounce packs of chicken breast or 1-pound packs of ground turkey. Similarly, the only milk options were 34 ounces of cow’s milk, which for my house with two kids including one toddler, would not be enough to get through the next week without buying four cartons.
Out of stock items
Items seem move in and out of stock. The weeks I ordered the Misfits Market branded whole milk greek yogurt was not in stock. Other items also appeared out of stock as well. And in somewhat of a quirk, items might appear out of stock on the first day of your shopping window, but appear back in stock the following day, so it takes a little babysitting (or multiple logins) to make sure you’re able to actually get everything they’re offering.
Wine is not tied to your normal delivery
If you’re counting on bottles to arrive with your ingredients for that night’s dinner, you may not be able to. My wine arrived a full week after my order was completed than my food via FedEx, whereas my groceries had arrived three days later. The website warns that wine typically arrives in two to five business days. Technically mine came in six days, but in any case it was at the long end of that window.
Is Misfits Market worth it?
Used correctly Misfits Market can be a good addition to your weekly grocery shopping, but not the entirety of it. It’s more of an easy and less expensive alternative to a CSA produce box or farmers market trip that also comes with the ability to buy a few additional items. In my experience, the prices were mostly on par with similar food items at limited-selection grocers like Trader Joe’s and Aldi, but Misfits had a much heavier focus on organic foods which did make the prices feel like a slightly better value.
If you care where your groceries are coming from or creating a little less food waste, then Misfits is on-par with a typical specialty grocery store but comes with the added convenience of online ordering and delivery. However, if your usual shopping trips include things like Goldfish Crackers, frozen meals, and gallons of milk, then Misfits Market might help you save some time at the supermarket and offer more affordable access to organic produce — but you’ll still be running that errand to the brick and mortar store one way or another.
