HOW WE WORK WITH OUR GROWERS            

Box Divvy Hubs  

 

At Box Divvy we’re passionate about supporting Australian agriculture. We prioritise sourcing from local farmers across Australia, working with many families for over 20 years. We’re committed to sourcing produce grown with either none or reduced chemical input.

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Farmers are the custodians of the land and so they share with us many of the new ways they are tackling pest management and sustainability practices on their farms. These stories are shared on your Hub’s Facebook pages.

There are various forms of growing from mainstream/conventional, bio-dynamic, permaculture, organic principles, certified organic, hydroponic and many more.

Whilst our supply is dynamic, with multiple growers contributing daily. We’re committed to keeping our produce affordable and accessible, so we opt to simplify by offering the freshest local and Australian produce available. Some items are not available in Australia, like drinking coconut or seasonally like garlic so we will then source overseas for that limited time. You can see where your food comes from in Marketplace.

 

By choosing us, you're not only getting fresh, responsibly sourced fruits and vegetables—you’re also backing Australian farmers, supporting sustainable practices, and reducing food miles. That’s a win for your table, for local communities, and for the environment. See NSW below:

                                                                                                                                                     

GROWING REGIONS NSW

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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​​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.