Frequently Asked Questions

About Fruitful Home

  • We help you create a healthy home by delivering the freshest premium fruit and snacking veg straight to your door, ensuring you get your 5-a-day, every weekday, each week.
  • You can depend on us - we remove the pain and hassle of shopping for fruit and veg.
  • No need to prepare, process or cook our quality fruit and veg – just tear open the box and get snacking.
  • We are the socially-conscious choice – we source two-thirds of all our produce from the UK and Western Europe (and do not buy air-freighted produce with a high carbon footprint). Our packaging is made from fully recycled materials and is recyclable and plastic free. Plus, we plant a fruit tree for every box that we deliver to your home. This all helps minimize our carbon footprint and contribute to the circular economy.

Finally, we are the fresh produce experts – we have delivered over 150 million portions of fruit and veg in the last 10 years.

We absolutely do! To date we have planted over 4 million in Malawi, with the help of our friends at Ripple Africa. We absolutely believe that we should be supporting our environment and those in need, and this is one of the ways that we do this. To find out more, please visit our sustainability page.

There are two main ways that we support charities:

  • To combat climate change and support communities in need: For every box that we deliver, we plant a tree in Malawi, Africa, together with the charity Ripple Africa.
  • To combat food waste: Each week, any leftover fruit and veg is donated to food distribution charities, such as Fareshare and City Harvest. Last year, pre-COVID, we were donating, on average, 6 tonnes of fruit and vegetables each week. During COVID we have donated over 300,000 portions of fruit to front-line NHS staff at local hospitals.

As a business we operate under the HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Contact Point) system and ISO-9001 quality standard, meaning we are following strict production and quality control procedures already.   In response to COVID-19 we have further enhanced these controls, under our Risk Management Covid-19 plan:

  • Packing and driving staff are fully trained in obligatory PPE to be worn, regular sanitization and required social distancing at work.
  • Our external packaging box is securely sealed at our packhouse before being dispatched, meaning full protection for the produce during transit.
  • Our drivers have a ‘No Contact Delivery Practice’, which means you will not be required to personally sign the ePOD device or hard copy document, but will instead be required to provide your name verbally to the delivery driver whereby the driver will include this on the delivery record.

Our boxes

In the product description there is more detailed information regarding what fruit and veg types are available in your box. As the availability and quality of produce varies according to the weather and seasons, we can’t predict exactly what will be in your box each week. Please get in touch if you would like to know what we expect to be in our boxes in the next few weeks.

We select the produce for our boxes each week to reflect the season. You are free to switch your box type from week to week, so try a few different options to find the one that you enjoy most. As a general rule, we buy seasonally – although there are some favourite varieties that are readily available all year round.  Regretfully, we cannot tailor your individual box to your preferences, otherwise the cost of our boxes would go up, and we want to keep them as affordable as possible for you.

At this point we are unable to tailor the boxes to individual needs. Our recommendation is that either someone else in your house can safely remove them for you on arrival, or you may need to select a different box. We hope you won't have to stop the service altogether!

Our fruit buying team hand-select our fresh fruit and veg carrying out visual, feel and taste checks to ensure they are of premium quality, have great taste and are at the “breaking point of ripeness”. We only buy first-class category produce.

At the Fruitful Packhouse, all the fruit and veg is visually quality-checked before being included in your box. We also de-sticker the produce – this may seem like a small feature of our service, but it allows our team to check the quality once again before being placed in your box. In transit, each box is handled with the maximum care from the market to drop-off, so that it reaches you in perfect condition.

The boxes are specially designed to protect the fruit during transit and to be delivered with the maximum safety. The boxes are made from 100% recycled paper and are 100% recyclable and we would encourage you to recycle them.

If you do experience a quality issue when you open the box, don't worry! We have a 100% Fruitful Guarantee to reimburse you for any damaged fruit or veg.

Where possible we include organic produce. However, due to its more limited supply, organic produce is hard to source consistently in guaranteed quantities and with a high enough quality level. Hopefully in time, as volumes available grow we will be able to include it more often.

Our produce is sourced locally where possible. However, do remember that not all fruit and vegetables can grow in the UK climate – these have to be imported from mostly close European countries, and in some cases from far away (remember: bananas have to be grown in tropical countries!).

You can read about our sourcing and our sustainability here

We do NOT buy air-freighted fruit (due to excessive carbon emissions) and we source locally where possible.

Your fruit and veg produce is individually packed in a sturdy and spacious box made from recycled paper. It has layer trays and individual compartments to protect produce from damage during transit.  Our boxes are 100% plastic free, and are fully recyclable.

In addition, our boxes are securely sealed at our packhouse before being dispatched, meaning full protection for the produce during transit.

 

Ordering

Fruitful Home’s service is a regular, weekly fresh fruit and veg snack box which is delivered to your home.

You simply:

  1. Set up your order by picking the box type, quantity, frequency and delivery day
  2.  Add your contact details and create an account with us (this will give you access to your client area to personally manage your order)
  3. Set up payment with your debit card or Paypal account on the secure Opayo platform
  4. Each week/fortnight, on each delivery day, like clockwork, you will receive your box

You can alter or pause/cancel the delivery at any point (up to midday) two working days before each delivery, by logging in to your account on our website.

Sure! The service is designed to be a regular subscription each week / fortnight, but there is an option to order "Once" to try it out.

Regretfully, we cannot tailor each box to individual preferences, otherwise the overall cost of making each box would go up, and we want to keep them as affordable as possible for you.

Our buying team hand-select our fresh produce from local fruit and vegetable markets before the break of dawn every morning. They carefully select the fruit and vegetable mixes to ensure it is of premium quality and has great taste. As the quality and availability of different fruit and vegetables varies each week, we prefer to select the mix for you to ensure that the quality is always premium! For example, sometimes we cannot find fresh clementines, and we prefer not to include them in the boxes than to compromise the quality of our fruit. This makes it convenient for you as you can let our experts select the best-quality fruit and vegetables each week.

Delivery

The price per box is ALL you pay. Delivery is FREE of charge, there is no additional VAT, or any other hidden charges.

In short – pretty much all over the UK!  We can deliver to anywhere in the UK, except for the Scottish Highlands, the Scottish Borders, Northern Ireland and the smaller UK islands.

Delivery is made at any point between 8 am and 6 pm on your delivery day. Deliveries are more likely to arrive, however, in the morning up to 12:00 noon.

On the delivery day, you may receive a text message confirming an estimated time of delivery (but please note this is an estimate, and the actual delivery time may differ from this during very busy periods).

Our delivery drivers don’t specifically contact customers when a delivery has been made. They will however ring on your doorbell before leaving your box in your specified “Safe place” (see the What is a Safe Place? section below for more information). You can check if your delivery have been made by emailing us at hello@fruitfulhome.co.uk

During the designated delivery day, our driver will deliver your box according to the instructions in your stated Delivery Note on your account.

There is no need to be at home when we deliver, but please ensure that you have supplied us with instructions about a “Safe Place” in which we can leave your order.  See the What is a Safe Place? section below for more information.

A Safe Place is somewhere we can leave your order if you are not at home, ideally out of direct view and sheltered from the elements (e.g. rain, wind, direct sunlight). Some examples of appropriate safe places include:

  • A neighbour’s house/flat
  •  Hidden in a lower ground floor area
  • Under an upturned recycling box
  • Under a bush/hedge
  • Behind a bin (make sure your delivery day doesn’t coincide with your bin collection day!)
  • A local shop
  • What if I live in a gated or secured property? Please contact us to discuss 

If your scheduled delivery day is a bank holiday then your delivery will normally be moved to the next working day after the bank holiday.

You can choose your specific delivery day from the options available when you order your box.

To change your delivery day you can simply do this by logging into your account, pressing EDIT ORDER on Your Order page, selecting your new delivery day and pressing SAVE at the bottom of the page. In order to change your delivery day you need to do it (by midday) 2 working days before your next delivery day.

Regretfully, you cannot choose a timeslot for delivery.  We can only deliver on specific days, when we are in your area.  Delivery routes are optimised to reduce their carbon footprint as much as possible by minimising route duplication, and are subject change each week.

We recommend giving the fruit and veg a quick rinse before eating.

The service is designed for home addresses. Our sister company, Fruitful Office delivers both to companies and to staff who are WFH (working from home) – you can easily set up an order there for your workplace and WFH staff. 

We are firmly committed to minimising waste going to landfill.

Our box and all interior packaging are made from 100% recycled paper and are 100% recyclable. Simply crush and place in your paper recycling bin and help contribute to the circular economy!

For every box we deliver to you, we will plant 1 fruit tree.  For more information on this please see sustainability page

Your subscription

To amend your order please log in to your account. In the Your Order section, click EDIT ORDER and on this page you can amend your quantity, delivery frequency, delivery day and box type. Please remember to click SAVE at the bottom of the page to ensure the changes are saved.  Please note any order changes for you upcoming delivery need to be completed (by midday) two working days before the delivery date. If your change is done after this cut-off point the change will occur only for the delivery after.

This can be easily done when you set up your initial order.  The delivery information should include the details of whoever will be receiving the box and the billing information should include your information.

To change your delivery address please email team@fruitfulhome.co.uk. Please note any delivery address changes need to be processed (up to midday) two working days before your next delivery date.

All you have to do is log in to your account, and on the Your order page, press EDIT ORDER. Then scroll down to the bottom of the page, and press "pause order" on the bottom right hand side, and then confirm the decision. This needs to be done (by midday) up to two working days before your next delivery date. 

When you want to restart your subscription, please log back in, and click SEE PRODUCTS & PRICING.  Select your box, frequency and delivery day and press SAVE at the bottom.  

You can easily pause your order whenever you want. All you have to do is log in to your account, and on the Your order page, press EDIT ORDER. Then scroll down to the bottom of the page, and press "pause order" on the bottom right hand side and then confirm the decision. This needs to be done (by midday) up to two working days before your next delivery date.

When you are ready to restart your order, you can easily log back in and press SEE PRODUCTS AND PRICING to set up your order again.

To reactivate your subscription please log in to your account, and click SEE PRODUCTS AND PRICING to easily set up your order again.

You can easily cancel your order whenever you want. All you have to do is log in to your account, and on the Your order page, press EDIT ORDER. Then scroll down to the bottom of the page, and press "cancel order" on the bottom right hand side and then confirm the decision. This needs to be done (by midday) up to two working days before your next delivery date.

If in the future you want to restart your order, you can easily log back in and press SEE PRODUCTS AND PRICING to set up your order again.

During the year there are several bank holidays, but most of them are on Mondays. 

On Monday bank holiday weeks:

  • If your normal delivery day is Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays, your delivery will jump to the next day
  • If your normal delivery day is Fridays, your delivery day will not change

On the Friday bank holiday week:

  • If your normal delivery Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays or Thursdays, your delivery day will not change
  • If your normal delivery day is Fridays, your delivery will be made on the Thursday

 

Payment and refunds

We accept most debit cards including VISA and Mastercard, plus you can also pay by Paypal. When you set up your initial order you will be asked to set up your payment method on a third-party, secure payment server called Opayo. 

When you set up your account and order, you will be charged for the first delivery on the same day.  For all future deliveries beyond your first delivery, you will be charged two working days before each delivery day. 

To change your payment method please log in to your account and head to Your Payment Details section. 

Please note that when you change your payment method, at this point you will be charged for the value of your box (which is how we authenticate your card). Don't worry - this is not an extra charge - it will be used against your next delivery.  Subsequent deliveries will follow the usual payment process: two business days before your delivery day. 

When setting up your regular box order after selecting a box to order, you will then be shown a Discount box into which you can enter your discount code. Once inputted, the discount will be immediately applied to your total.

 

If you experience a quality issue, please contact our Customer Service team within 12 hours of box receipt. Assuming a refund is due back to you, it will be processed automatically as a deduction on your next weekly payment, so you don’t need to do anything.  

Troubleshooting

This email is sent to you when we have been unable to take payment for a delivery (typically two days before your delivery day).  Please note that if you received this email your order will be immediately stopped, and you will need to do the following steps:  

Step 1: Resolve your payment issue

  • If there is an issue of funds in your account, could we please ask you to top up your bank account/Paypal account as soon as possible?
  • If there is a card issue you can log into your Fruitful Home account here. Then you can click “Payment Details” and EDIT PAYMENT to provide new card details
Step 2: Reactivate your order
  • Please log into your Fruitful Home account here,  and press SEE PRODUCTS AND PRICING to set up your order again as you wish
  • Unfortunately, even if you rectify the payment details and activate the order after receiving the payment failure email, we are not able to still get your box to you on your planned delivery day, as the order processing cut-off will have passed.  We advise you to pick the subsequent weekday to get your box delivered as quickly as possible, for example if you normally receive your box on Wednesdays, change your delivery day to Thursdays when you re-set the order up.
We would ask you to please inform us on team@fruitfulhome.co.uk as soon as you have resolved your issue.

Delivery is made at any point between 8 am and 6 pm on your delivery day. 

We request that you bear with us on the day of your delivery, as drivers often have many deliveries to make in a day and may be held up in traffic. You may receive a text message with an estimated delivery window, but please note that this is only indicative. During unusually, busy times, such as lockdowns, delays can happen as delivery networks are placed under considerable strain.

If however, you have not received your delivery by 5 pm, please email us on team@fruitfulhome.co.uk.  If you suspect your delivery has been stolen, please let us know immediately. 

It is only natural that at some point you may get damaged fruit or vegetables in your box, given their fragile nature. This will have likely occurred during transportation despite our best efforts to protect it with our eco-friendly packaging.

For this very reason, we have a 100% Fruitful Guarantee which reimburses you with a refund for any damaged produce.   If you do have a quality issue, please please send us an e-mail within 12 hours of receiving your box with photos of the damaged produce to team@fruitfuloffice.co.uk.

See “How are refunds processed?” in the Payment section.

Each fruit and vegetable has a different ‘shelf life’, and depending on this, will start to become overripe at different stages from arrival date at your home. The general rule is that the warmer your home, the faster the produce will ripen. 

We aim to deliver each fruit and vegetable at its ‘breaking point of ripeness’, which means that fruit and vegetables should arrive ripe and ready-to-eat whilst, at the same time, be as fresh as possible.  Bananas may arrive a little green to ensure they don't become too ripe too quickly. 

We would recommend you eat softer fruit and vegetables first, and that you store all fruit and vegetables in the fridge to extend shelf life, except for bananas, clementines, oranges, avocadoes, onions, garlic and potatoes which should all be kept at room temperature

Please remember that our 100% Fruitful Guarantee covers the quality of fruit on arrival.

To unsubscribe from our emails please hit the Unsubscribe button at the bottom of any email.

If you cannot find the answer to your question here then please do get in touch on hello@fruitfuloffice.co.uk  Nothing is too trivial or too silly !  

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