James Eid, founder of Earth & Wheat, with the wonky bread and vegetable boxes

Source: Earth & Wheat

James Eid, founder of Earth & Wheat

Earth & Wheat has marked its second anniversary with a rebrand that positions it as the ‘sustainable premium grocery subscription box that gives back’.

The start-up, which was founded by James Eid in March 2021 with a Wonky Bread Box, is expanding its range to include vegetables alongside baked goods.

It has unveiled a Small Variety Wonky Veg Box (from £15.99 with next-day delivery) and a Small Essentials Wonky Veg box (from £13.25). Both include a selection of wonky items redistributed from farms with around 4-5kg of 10 surplus vegetables such as potatoes, onions, peppers, cauliflower, cabbage, chillies, and courgettes.

The new boxes follow the launch of the company’s Artisan Bakery Box earlier this year as well as its Essentials Wonky Bread Box in late 2022 – a budget version of the firm’s original bread box.

The same subscription options of weekly, fortnightly, every three weeks or once a month are available for all boxes and can be paused or stopped at any time. Earth & Wheat will continue to donate one meal to food charity for every box sold.

The company said it is currently working with new high-quality sustainable food partners to source other produce, which will allow the brand to expand its premium food lines soon.

New look

As part of their brand refresh, the Earth & Wheat logo has evolved to feature a ‘bold and impactful’ font, now in a toasty shade of orange, with the wheat symbols incorporated into the ampersand. This, it said, gives it a ‘greater sense of energy and dynamism’ and is designed to work effectively across digital, including social media, and out-of-home advertising.

Earth & Wheat old and new logos

Source: Earth & Wheat

Earth & Wheat’s former logo (left) and its updated branding

The subscription boxes have been updated with the new logo and new slogan: ‘Taste More. Waste Less.’, with the Earth & Wheat website revamped to make it easier for customers to manage their subscriptions and orders online.

The right thing

Eid, a fourth-generation baker, came up with the concept of rescuing baked goods from going to waste after witnessing the ‘eyewatering’ amount of food thrown away by food manufacturers due to strict shop standards. Products were binned when found to be an odd shape or size, unusual colour or appearance, or due to overproduction.

Baked goods such as pancakes, pitta breads, crumpets and more considered ‘wonky but wonderful’ were first rescued from Eid’s own family bakery at Signature Flatbreads in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, before the company established partnerships with other bakeries across the UK. It sold 10,000 Wonky Bread Boxes in its first 12 weeks.

Earth & Wheat also took home the trophy for Sustainability Initiative of the Year at the 2022 Baking Industry Awards.

“It’s ethically the right thing to buy Earth & Wheat if you care about the planet, cutting waste from the supply chain and helping your community,” said Eid, who is now just 22-years-old.

“It’s more than a product choice – it’s a set of values, a movement, that we’re aiming to continue further. Earth & Wheat is the leading company in this space. We were the first to launch a ‘wonky bread’ box in the UK and our brand and products are now the go-to place for thousands of customers,” he added.