Welcome to Abel & Cole - the best seasonal organic food delivered to your door

how do deliveries work?

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What is your delivery charge?

We add a small delivery charge of 99p to all orders.

The minimum we ask that you spend on each order is £10. This excludes the 99p delivery charge.

Why can't I pick my delivery day and time?

We deliver to certain areas on certain days - it's better for the environment, and means our vans can do about 80 deliveries in a day. A typical supermarket van does about 20. You don't have to be in -just tell us somewhere safe to leave your delivery - or we can take a key to a shed, garage or communal entrance hall. Give us a ring and we'll talk you through the options.

Why don't you deliver to my area?

We're not a massive company, and we don't cover the whole of the UK - yet! However, we are constantly extending our delivery areas, so do leave us your email address and postcode, and we will get in touch if we come to you - with a special offer to reward your patience!

How will my chilled food stay cold?

Our chilled food, including all meat and fish, is delivered to you in a cool box so that it's cold on arrival at your door, and remains so if you aren't there to receive it immediately.

Traditionally these cool boxes have been returnable white polystyrene boxes, with frozen gel ice packs inside surrounding the products, all of which we have re-used time and time again. We are still using this type of cool box, but over the past few months have been trialling something new and it's been a success! The difference is that instead of non-recyclable polystyrene boxes, we can use the normal recyclable cardboard boxes, but with special chilled insulation inside them. The insulation is known as woolcool® and is made from 100% British sheep's wool, sealed within recyclable food grade polyethylene wrap. The great news is that woolcool® is much better news for the environment than polystyrene, so we're very excited about it! So we are phasing in these boxes whilst using up the polystyrene boxes that still have life in them.

The sheep's wool is naturally washed, scoured and felted to make the insulation material and is incredibly effective at keeping the boxed contents cold. It absorbs moisture from the air which minimises humidity and condensation to maintain stable temperatures. The recyclable food grade wrap which encloses the wool in woolcool® is micro-perforated to allow the fibres to breathe and create the natural cooling system, while also protecting your food. In fact, it's proven to keep contents chilled below 5°c for at least 24 hours.

All the wool used is from the fleeces of British sheep, helping to raise the value of wool in the UK, supporting British sheep farmers and rural communities. woolcool® is also processed and manufactured in the UK.

These boxes are being introduced over the months to come, so look out for them and please let us know what you think.

What shall I do with my boxes afterwards?

Please leave all your boxes out for collection on your next delivery day; your driver will pick them up so that they can be used re-used. To make sure the boxes don't get damp when the gel packs thaw, please keep the gel packs in the clear plastic bag provided and leave this out for your driver to collect as well. We really appreciate you returning your boxes, as we rely on this to be able to re-use them.

The woolcool® can be re-used as long as it's not damaged; if this is ever the case then it's fully recyclable, compostable and biodegradable. The food grade wrap is also recyclable but not degradable or compostable. It has a triangle with a '2' in it to indicate that it goes into the standard domestic plastic recycling stream.

Where will you leave my box?

You don't have to be in - just tell us somewhere safe to leave your delivery -or we can take a key to a shed, garage or communal entrance hall. Call us to find out more!

What if there's nowhere for the driver to leave my delivery?

Common places to leave a box are: inside an upturned recycling box, under a hedge, or in a garage (please leave it open for us!). If you're unsure of where we can leave the box, just give us a ring and we'd be happy to discuss it with you.

No, honestly, there really isn't anywhere! What shall I do?

We almost always find somewhere a delivery can be hidden - do give us a ring. Otherwise, we recommend a Hippo Box. You leave it unlocked for us, we lock your delivery in, and you get it out with your key.

The standard Hippo has room for a large Abel & Cole box, medium chill box and a bag. The King Hippo has room for our largest chill box, two large vegetable boxes and a bag.

Hippo has offered us £10 for every customer we send their way. We'll give that back to you, with a £10 credit against your order when Hippo pay us. Make sure you mention us when you place your order!

Contact us

We set up our website to make it as easy as possible to order online. However, sometimes it is just easiest to speak to a friendly person and have a chat about the best options for you. Our Customer Services team are here to help so why not call or email now.