I found Just Fruit & Veg while searching for, I think, celery or something similar online a few weeks ago. I will pretty much do anything to not go to a physical store: one because I work from home and am nearly always working and two, I hate going to a shop filled with people. It’s not even a phobia, just pure loathing of doing something that’s supposed to be normal but isn’t really.
Anyway, so after scrolling around on their website, I discovered that they’re based in Epping, which is close enough to where I need groceries to be delivered, usually in the southern suburbs of Cape Town or in the Athlone area. Just Fruit & Veg already gets one star just for delivering to the Cape Flats. And their minimum order to get free delivery is R250! I’ve not yet successfully ordered for R250. There are just too many convenient groceries that I seem to ‘need’.
From there, it was pretty easy. I chose the items I wanted, which included some fruit, vegetables, bread, and parathas/rotis, amongst other things. There was some stuff that I wanted to try, like the pasteis de nata to compare it (yeah, right!) with the Coimbra ones I buy at Checkers’ CFS website. I was really tempted, I have to say, but my waistline reminded me that winter clothes hide nothing.
I placed the order on a Thursday morning around 10:00 AM and paid through EFT. They don’t have automatic card payments, which I don’t mind. Since they use the same bank as I do, FNB, the payment was immediate and I received an email that my shopping would be delivered THAT SAME DAY! I’d expected delivery to take place the following day. That was a pleasant surprise. I have made sure that I place my order the night before I wanted delivery to take place in subsequent orders though. Oh, yes, there’ve been subsequent orders.
The only downside I’ve found with ordering from Just Fruit & Veg is the fact that they state that delivery will take place between 8:30 AM and 6:00 PM, instead of giving SMS notice when they’re close to delivering. It’s no different to many of the couriers or large online retailers like Takealot, so I sort of understand. All three orders I’ve placed so far arrived around lunchtime.
Unfortunately, I don’t have pictures of my delivered goods. But take my word for it, the products looked amazingly fresh and delicious. None of those Checkers or Pick n Pay stuff that looks like it was dragged around the store before being displayed for purchase. All three orders, over three weeks, looked straight up out of a magazine. Fresh, beautiful fruit and vegetables. Delicious looking and tasting bread. I bought lentils and mushrooms patties last week and it was the best-tasting (as far as I can remember) non-meat burgers I’ve eaten. I might try the beetroot ones next.
So all in all, a four-and-a-half star experience, with the only downside being delivery times.
*Oh, and this is not an ad or a paid post. It’s 100% my nonpaid experience and opinion.
