The team here at Ripe London is dedicated, maybe a bit obsessive, about sourcing the best fruit in London for your office fruit deliveries and subscriptions. It's this attention to detail that has kept our founders on speed dial with so many offices in London, and why food writers including Yotam Ottolenghi and Nigella Lawson have been customers at our delicatessen, Panzer's and our All Greens chain of greengrocers, for many years.
How we source our fresh fruit for delivery
To answer this question, we asked our CFO (Chief Fruit Officer), Jason. He and the team have been sourcing fresh produce for businesses for over two decades, so there’s no one better to ask.
So, Jason, how do you ensure freshness for office fruit deliveries across the city?
“Our working day starts when most of our customers are tucked up in bed. We buy daily from New Covent Garden Market, which opens at midnight and closes at 6 am. The buzz of the busy market is always exciting, even when you've been going for as long as I have!
You'll be amazed at the quality and variety of the fruit on offer. There’s over 100 speciality suppliers and farms at the market with seasonal fruits and vegetables.
Our job is to go to each supplier and pick out the freshest produce possible for our customers. It takes skill, speed, cunning and sometimes, a bit of luck.
The team are experts at finding the best produce at the market. They spend hours moving from supplier to supplier hand-picking apples, plums, raspberries, blackberries, cherries and veg from the best fruit and vegetable suppliers at the market to ensure every box we send out to our customers contains fruit and veg that is in season, ripe and delicious.
It's a whole process. We constantly work on it to develop it into a fine art of choosing nothing but the freshest fruit."
How long have you been going to New Covent Garden Market?
"I've been going to the market for over 20 years. I'd urge any Londoner who hasn't experienced the fruit or flower market to pay a visit – it should be on every food lover's list. From sustainable veggies to the most exotic fruits, it's a feast for the eyes and never a wasted shopping trip. I love being there each night, choosing what goes into our deliveries."
Why do you care so much about finding the freshest produce?
“Our mission has always been to secure the very best fruit at the very best price – and we manage to do that week in, week out because of our established relationship with growers and suppliers. We've been working with the same guys at New Covent Garden Market for decades now and these longstanding partnerships mean that they know exactly what we want."
How do you manage to keep the price of your office fruit boxes so low with all of this hard work?
"It's all thanks to the relationships we have with our supplies, and the quantities we're able to buy in. It means that we can supply the best quality fruit available in the market at the best prices – as we always say to our office fruit box customers, why settle for inferior supermarket fruit when we deliver the best quality straight to your office?"
Jason and his team also have the lowdown on all seasonal specialities and new fruits the minute they come to market.
What's your favourite fruit at the market right now?
“One of the recent favourites is the nectacot – it's a cross between an apricot and a nectarine with the juicy sweetness of a nectarine and the milder flavour of an apricot. It's perfect for an afternoon snacking session at your desk.”
Sourcing the best fruit in London
As you can see, sourcing the freshest fruit in London isn't easy. It involves many early starts and a relentless love for fruit. If you love fruit even half as much as Jason and would like some for your team in your office, get in touch with our team today.
