Our history
We started, in 2019, the adventure to challenge the status quo of how our food system works. We decided to settle in Lisbon, to find a solution to two problems: fruits and vegetables that we consume, and that unnecessarily travel hundreds of miles, from farms to our plates; 1/3 of all food produced is wasted and ends up in the trash.
With limited experience in the food and agriculture sector, the only thing we were sure of was that our goal would be to not only support regional farmers to achieve a full harvest, but also to offer local consumers the chance to have a healthier diet, filled with regional and seasonal products. The result of this process? Equal Food Co. now offers a sustainable, healthy and convenient solution for our customers: a weekly basket of fresh, imperfect produce from regional farmers delivered directly to your doorstep.
Our mission
We started this project in Lisbon, Portugal, to help create a world where ⅓ of food no longer goes to waste. In the European Union alone, 50 million tonnes of fruit and vegetables (not even counting packaged and processed food) end up in the bin every year. Around 1.3 billion tonnes of edible food around the world is thrown away annually, generating 8% of global CO2 emissions EMISSIONS (FAO, 2020). A large proportion of food waste is a direct result of market beauty standards. A tart pear, a spotty avocado or a green lemon are not considered "pretty enough" and therefore usually end up in landfills. Our mission is to combat this problem and we look forward to a world where all food is put to good use and nothing ends up in the bin.
Our values
We strive to maximise the amount we can avoid waste by paying a fair price to our farmers as well as everyone else involved in our system. At the same time, we constantly look for ways to minimise our carbon footprint in transportation, minimise the amount of plastic used for packaging and show how sexy imperfect fruit and vegetables can be.
We also want to make people happy: farmers, customers, co-workers and employees.
The way forward
We want to expand our regional, seasonal and imperfect fresh produce delivery offer as much as possible. In the last year we have already managed to expand our delivery offer from Lisbon and its surroundings, to Porto and its surroundings. We are planning to expand to other cities in Portugal and beyond. This growth has to be sustainable, however, and in line with our values before we take the next big step.