Island Fresh Delivery Service Marks Six Months
Island Fresh Bermuda is marking six months of recipe box delivery on the island, with locally sourced materials providing ready-to-cook meals for its customers.
A spokesperson said, “Bermuda has a new entrant on the food seen: Island Fresh Bermuda. They provide a recipe box delivery service where your box has all the ingredients for three meals a week for two or four people and is delivered free to the home.
“Island Fresh launched in October 2020 and has been quickly gaining traction across the island. Now heading into their sixth month of deliveries, co-founders Rebecca Bateman and Hayley Evans have been working away to fill the orders from their growing customer base.”
Mrs. Bateman said, “Hayley and I discussed this idea back in March 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic was first becoming headline news. As businesses and grocery stores were implementing delivery services in order to keep people at home, we thought this could be an opportunity. We wanted to make cooking at home even easier, especially given many people have been spending most of their time at home in 2020.”
Ms. Evans said, “We wanted to make cooking at home even easier, especially given many people have been spending most of their time at home in 2020.”
The spokesperson said, “The meal kit comes in a reusable cardboard box with all your ingredients portioned out to make delicious meals you may not already have as part of your weekly repertoire. By giving the exact ingredients, it is minimizing food waste and reducing the consumer’s carbon footprint. The company is dedicated to sourcing materials and produce locally as a way to give back to their island home.
“Island Fresh has partnered with many local farmers, including J&J Produce, Windy Bank Farm, Amaral’s Farms and Wadson’s Farm as well as local companies, including Gavin’s Butter and UMAMI spice. The service is a subscription model to make it easier for customers to sign up and receive their box every Sunday. They currently offer two products, at the moment, which include a family box and a 2 person box. The family box has enough ingredients for 2 adults and 2-3 kids or 4 adults and a 2 person box which has enough ingredients for 2 adults.
“The company has recently started offering gift cards after several requests from loyal customers during the holiday season, and you can even add a wine pairing to one of the meals each week, supplied by Two Rock Wines.
Ms. Evans said, “Myself and Rebecca thought that this would not only encourage healthy eating, which is so important in this day and age of ready and frozen meals, but it would also help teach people new skills and the feedback from some customers is that their partners and even their children are learning to cook independently.”
Mrs. Bateman said, “I am hopeful that our service encourages Bermudians to expand their palette of foods, especially different vegetables and spices. I find that we tend to buy vegetables that our parents made for us or what we are used to and may not always think to try something new. I am hoping our recipes that incorporate ingredients like cilantro, tarragon, rosemary…may spice up your kitchen.
“The feedback from our customers has been fantastic, for some they have told us it has brought date night back, others just relieved from the stress of going to the store or working out what to make day in day out.”
The spokesperson said, “Island Fresh is excited to launch their first vegan box offering. This is the same model as their current box; including 3 meals for either 2 adults or a family.”
Ms. Evans said, “We are responding to customer demand. We have received many messages asking about vegetarian and vegan options and we are ready to add to our product line. We have worked with a really talented local chef so this product can offer a selection of delicious vegan recipes including a variety of vegetables, curries, pastas and vegan meats and cheeses.”
The spokesperson said, “The company posts its upcoming menus two weeks in advance and orders need to be placed by midnight Tuesday for delivery each Sunday. It’s a subscription based service with no minimum sign up period so that customers are able to pause or cancel at any point if they are on vacation for a week.
“For more information about Island Fresh, visit their website.”
