Amazing veg, positive impact
Brilliant veg has the power to shape a better world - through what we grow, how we grow it, how it inspires you in the kitchen, and the joy it brings to your plate. With the support of customers, in the past year we've saved 21 tonnes of plastic, donated over 1 million portions of veg to charity, planted over 1,500 native trees, and raised £164,744 for our charity partner Ripple Effect. And there's still so much more to come.
More than ever, we want to inspire people to cook with amazing veg that makes a positive impact. Find out more about Riverford and what we stand for…
Slow grown for flavour
Instead of selecting fruit and veg varieties for their high yields, and pushing them on with artificial fertilisers, we focus on taste above all else. After decades of growing, we believe in the pursuit of four simple rules for flavoursome veg:
- Look after your soil, and it will look after the crop.
- Choose the right variety - all carrots were not created equal!
- Grow it in the right conditions - slowly, naturally, letting the flavour develop.
- Eat it fresh from the farm.
Our seasonal organic veg boxes bring you the absolute best of every season, delivered from our farms to your door within 48 hours. From old favourites done right, to the weird and wonderful world of kohlrabi, samphire, oca and cardoons - it's all grown for maximum flavour.
Planet friendly packaging
Our unique position as veg growers, pickers, packers, and deliverers means that we are able to create a closed-loop system, and use innovative solutions to minimise the amount and impact of our packaging.
- Home compostable packaging - All our fruit and veg packaging is paper or home compostable, where packaging is needed at all. Within a year of being composted, home compostable packaging biodegrades into carbon dioxide, water vapour, and organic matter, just like a plant decomposing.
- Collecting and reusing - Our weekly delivery model means we can pick up our iconic reusable boxes to be used time and time again. But it doesn't stop there; you can return any of your packaging, including home compostable, and our recycling team will make sure it gets reused, recycled, or composted.
Find out more about our planet-friendly packaging
More than just a veg box
We don't just want to deliver boxes - we want to help you fill your meals with veg! Our farm chefs are always sharing their inspiration and know-how to help you get to grips with the green stuff, eat with the seasons, and put beautiful, flavoursome and healthy 100% organic veg at the heart of every plate. Need some ideas?
- Digest our weekly newsletter - enjoy insights on ethical food, farming, and business, alongside some handy recipe ideas! These pieces will make you challenge the food on your plate and empathise with those who grow it.
- Our A-Z of fruit & veg will help you identify any mystery veg in your box, and how to store, prep and cook them.
- Visit our recipe hub to browse hundreds of our favourite recipes.
- Go to the Riverford YouTube channel to watch our Veg Hack videos and cook along with us.
- Look out for tips and recipes in your veg box, tailored to that week's contents, to help you get stuck in.
- For even more inspiration, visit The Riverford Field Kitchen restaurant, nestled in the heart of our Devon farm - and enjoy a veg-centric seasonal feast, made with ingredients grown just a stone's throw from your plate.
Greener veg, with no greenwash
Wouldn't it be great if we let the seasons tell us what's on the menu? Do we really need all this plastic? Could the way we eat protect the planet? These are the sorts of questions we've been asking at Riverford for over 35 years. We love asking questions, because questions lead to change. Here are just some of the things we do differently…
- 100% organic. We believe organic is the best show in town - for the environment, for our farmland, for animals, and for us. Everything we grow, make and sell is 100% organic.
- Employee owned. Since 2018, Riverford is an employee-owned business. That means we're free to make sure everyone is treated right - from the bees in our fields, to your local delivery team.
- We never air freight. And across the year, about 70% of our veg is UK-grown. Find out more about how we're making Riverford sustainable.
- Fair to farmers, fair to customers. We work with our small-scale growers and makers for the long term, agreeing good prices well in advance and always sticking to our word. And there are no discounts for new customers; instead, a fair deal for all.
- All our delivery vans will be 100% electric by 2025, for even greener veg. Every electric van saves 6.8tCO2e (tonnes of CO2 equivalent) every year!
The farmers who deliver
Riverford began in 1986, when Guy Singh-Watson started growing organic veg in a corner of his parents' Devon farm and delivering it to local friends. We've come a long way from one man and a borrowed tractor - but farming keeps our feet firmly on the ground.
We still grow mountains of veg on our original Devon farm, three regional sister farms, and our farm in France (where a bounty of colourful spring crops are ready just a few vital weeks ahead of the UK season). You can read more about each of our organic farms below - and you're welcome to visit, anytime.
- Wash Farm, Devon
- Sacrewell Farm, Peterborough
- Upper Norton Farm, Hampshire
- Le Boutinard, France
Fair pay for farmers
As farmers ourselves, we know how important it is to offer our grower friends a fair deal. Riverford once sold most of its vegetables to supermarkets; the relationships we had with buyers were unbalanced, short-term, wasteful, and abusive. We're determined that our own business will never repeat those behaviours with the growers and makers who help us keep our boxes full and interesting all year round.
That's why we created our ethical Supplier Charter. Unique in our industry, this charter promises fair prices, quick payments, long-term commitments, a flexible approach to specifications (wonky veg is welcome!), and more.
Award-winning Riverford
We're lucky to have received a bumper crop of awards for what we do, including…- The Observer's Ethical Product of the Decade for our iconic veg boxes.
- Our customers have voted us the UK's #1 rated organic veg box on Trustpilot.
- A hat-trick of wins at the Soil Association Best of the Organic Market (BOOM) Awards 2023, including Best of Organic Online Retailing, Best of Organic Box Schemes, and Best of Organic Marketing Campaign for our collaboration with FareShare South West.
A bit more about us…
Proper farmers with mud on our boots, we've been growing organic produce for over 35 years. Unashamedly nerdy about veg, we always choose the tastiest varieties - and never spray your food with artificial nasties. Caring for the soil and wildlife on our land, as well as the other growers and makers in our community, is at the heart of everything we do.
Ethical organic veg. Delivered.
Our mission is to provide you with the best of the season. Spuds like your grandad used to grow, the crunchiest cauliflower, and the carrotiest carrots, all delivered to your doorstep by our own local teams, with minimal fuss and unbeatable quality. And better yet, it's all 100% organic.
