Transitioning between two seasons with transparency

October is a special month for UglyFruits.

It’s that time of year when nature makes its transition, where the last summer vegetables take their final bow while the first winter vegetables shyly poke their heads out. For us who compose your baskets of organic imperfect fruits and vegetables each week, it’s a balancing act that requires adaptation and flexibility. A delicate between-seasons period In October, we find ourselves in this pivotal period where:
- Tomatoes, zucchini, eggplants and bell peppers are becoming increasingly scarce.
- Squash and pumpkins are just starting their production
- Cabbages, leeks and root vegetables aren’t yet at their peak yield
- Summer fruits have left the shelves, but fall apples and pears aren’t all available in quantity yet

This natural transition, while normal and healthy for respecting nature’s cycles, significantly reduces the diversity of available products. It’s precisely in these moments that our commitment to working with local, seasonal and imperfect products takes on its full meaning… but also all its complexity!

The challenges of sourcing during transition periods

At UglyFruits, we work with producers who grow their fruits and vegetables according to natural rhythms. And that’s exactly what makes our difference and our ecological commitment. However, this approach also involves very concrete constraints, particularly in October:
- Sometimes uncertain forecasts: our suppliers tell us at the beginning of the week that they can deliver certain quantities of products to us. But nature doesn’t always bend to schedules! A harvest can be less abundant than expected, vegetables may not have reached the hoped-for maturity, or conversely may have been harvested more quickly by other customers.
- Fluctuating availability: what’s available on Monday for a delivery planned mid-week may no longer be available on Tuesday or Wednesday. The producers we work with also supply other customers, and their limited stocks can run out faster than anticipated.
- Restricted choice: with fewer varieties available, it becomes more difficult to vary compositions and offer the diversity we love to provide in our baskets.

Why last-minute changes?

It’s in this context that you sometimes receive, on Tuesday or Wednesday, an email informing you of a change in your basket’s composition. We understand this can be frustrating, and we want to explain why this happens, particularly during this period. Concrete example: a producer confirms to us on Monday that they can supply us with 50 kg of fennel for our weekly baskets. We therefore plan to include fennel in part of our compositions. But on Wednesday, they inform us that they can finally only deliver 20 kg, because their harvest was less good than expected or another customer placed an unexpected order. We then have to quickly find a substitute product and inform you about it.

This situation is particularly frequent in October, when supply is naturally more limited and every vegetable counts for composing balanced and varied baskets. Also note that our baskets can include 10 to 20% imported products to offer you a variety of products each week to diversify your recipes.

Our commitment: transparency above all

At UglyFruits, we’ve chosen transparency. Rather than promising you a composition set in stone and risk disappointing you, we prefer to keep you informed in real time of necessary adjustments. These last-minute changes aren’t a sign of poor organization, but rather the reality of working with local producers and seasonal products.

It’s the price to pay – and we think it’s a price worth paying – for: ✓ Supporting local and proximity agriculture
✓ Respecting natural crop cycles
✓ Reducing our carbon footprint
✓ Valorizing the imperfect fruits and vegetables that nature offers us, which would otherwise be wasted
✓ Guaranteeing the freshness of your products

What guides us despite everything

-Quality above all: we never compensate for a shortage with lower quality products
- Basket balance: we ensure that each basket remains balanced, even if we have to adjust the varieties
- Communication: we inform you as soon as we know a change is necessary
- Creativity: this period pushes us to be innovative and help you discover lesser-known vegetables

Have a question about your basket or our sourcing? Don’t hesitate to contact us, we’re always happy to chat with you.