Wonky Box expands service to rural New Zealand
For Wonky Box co-founder Angus Simms, the decision to open the service to those in rural areas is a personal one.
To celebrate, the company is calling for New Zealanders to scour their Wonky Boxes, fruit bowls and gardens and submit images of their unusually shaped fruits in celebration of the launch of their fruit-only box.
Kiwi artist and photographer Adam Popovic will create a one-off photographic print inspired by the winning fruit, which will be auctioned on TradeMe along with a fruit-inspired bundle of goodies from local New Zealand brands.
All proceeds from the auction will be donated to Wonky Box charity partner, food rescue organisation KiwiHarvest.
Wonky Box co-founder Angus Simms says that after two growing seasons where growers have faced tough weather conditions now is the right time to launch a fruit-only box.
“The last two years of trading, fruit growers have had it quite tough here in New Zealand,” Simms told Rural News.
“We’ve had Cyclone Gabrielle for example and several other bad weather events hit the country… that have really set back a lot of our fruit-growing operations and so, for two to three seasons a lot of growers – whether that be avocados, apples, pears and even citrus growers in Gisborne – were really set back,” he says.
“So, we were thinking, it’s quite fitting because suddenly this particular year, or this particular season, it’s come back quite well for a lot of growers, so what we really wanted to do is we wanted to help these growers who for the last two seasons have had it tough and are about to approach a season that’s actually working out for them and just to add another channel or to be another offering for them we were thinking could be quite timely.”
The ‘Wonkiest Fruit’ competition will run until 28 June on Wonky Box’s Facebook and Instagram pages. Adam Popovic’s wonky fruit photographic print will go live on TradeMe on 5 July 2024.
The Wonky Box fruit-only box is available for subscription online now at www.wonkybox.nz
