HOW WE WORK WITH OUR GROWERS            

Box Divvy Hubs  are Conventional/Sprayfree

 

With Conventional/Sprayfree we try to buy from local growers as much as is possible when in season and we've worked with some for 20 years so we know these families well, visited their farm and know first-hand that they grow their produce (i.e. chemical-free, bio-dynamic, permaculture (meaning no chemicals, no manufactured fertilisers), using organic principles, in organic conversion or certified organic. There may also be some conventional produce when 'sprayfree' is not available.  We will not list these separately on produce as we may have a mix of suppliers going out in any on day so it's not possible to list which grower goes to which Hub. It's logisitically not possible for us. if we did this we'd need to  increase the price of the produce having to pay an administrator to change item descriptions on the fly.

                                                                                                                                                     

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GROWING REGIONS

The bulk of these growers are in the Sydney Basin 

 * Horsley Park  * Quakers Hill  * Camden  * Rossmore * Leppington  * Wallacia *Kemps Creek

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Fringe in areas like * Maroota * Dural* Hawkesbury * Oberon and * Orange. 

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We also have an increasing number of growers on the Central and Mid-North Coast. Plus more Backyard Growers getting on board. Check out the Facebook page for people interested in Backyard Growing and join in the conversation please Backyard Growers Box Divvy.

 

On average, we source around 70-80% of our produce from these local growers

during the growing season, dropping to 50-60% during the winter months.

 

INTERSTATE PRODUCE

Where we source produce from interstate and we don't know from which farms

it comes, we assume that the produce was grown conventionally- i.e. some

chemicals may have been used to control pests, weeds and fungus.

 

OVERSEAS ITEMS

The few items from overseas, mostly as not available in Australia, we search for the same chemical free approach but we cannot guarantee it for anyone with sensitivities due to border inspections as they fumigate including organic produce imported - this renders it non organic strictly speaking.

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The only three items we have are:

Kiwi - when not in season in Australia we purchase from New Zealand.

Garlic - when Australian is not seasonally available we typically purchase from Mexican or Spanish. Note please: In Australia from March there is 'Giant Russian Garlic' but this is actually a leek.

Drinking Coconut - not available in Australia and will come from Vietnam or Thailand.

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GROCERY ITEMS

Click on the picture in Marketplace and it will tell you where that item is from.

 

With groceries we do not nominate they are all Australian. Some things simply are not commercially grown in Australia so there is enough supply. There may be small growers but not available for open market sale.

 

Pine Nuts do not grow in Australia and cashews also, very limited small growers, who don’t have a large commercial sale exposure so again from overseas but roasted and packed locally. The nuts , roasted and packed locally, is what we promote.

 

Some nuts are grown in Australia but the drought has decimated these crops. In a good year almost half of ‘peanuts’ are grown in Australia but right now this is down to around 10%. Cashews there are almost no commercial quantities grown.

 

Many of the items, like dates, are also overseas grown as not available in Australia.

 

STICKERS ON APPLES
Part of the changing industry practice, whether organic or not, is adding little stickers to apples which is done by all but the smallest growers as grocers and supermarkets demand this for processing through the cash register. We don't like it but we cannot always get non stickered apples.

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NO STORAGE & DELIVERY to HUB

We do not store local produce and use a system known as 'just-in-time' meaning comes in that morning and out to the Hub for packing roughly within 24 hours of picking. Interstate is roughly 48-72 hours.

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We deliver to the Hub in refrigerated trucks to maintain the integrity of the produce. On humid days this means wiping the moisture off your produce - dry then leave on counter or refrigerate as per requirement of produce. Ripen first then fridge. Your Hubster will provide details on ripening 'freshly picked produce' which is very different to supermarket produce.

 

Our local produce is not sprayed with 'shelf stabilising' sprays nor fungacides so expect to eat the tender produce first - that is if not eaten on the way home!

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Produce is handled by pickers, packers and your Hubster so do wash before eating.