We’ve done our best to compile the most common questions our customers have asked us over the years. However, if you still can’t find what you’re looking for, do get in touch with our award-winning Customer Care team.
We will only be delivering in your area on a set day each week. Your delivery day and time depends on where you live. Our routes are planned to minimise carbon emissions and food miles. This also means we can’t offer delivery time slots. This ensures we have fewer vans on the road and can keep the delivery charge low. Our drivers begin delivering from 4am, but will not knock if they arrive before 8am or after 7pm, unless your delivery instructions state that they can do so. If they arrive outside of these times, or there’s no one at home, they will follow your instructions and leave the delivery in your designated safe place.
No, you don’t. We want our service to be as convenient as can be for you. We take delivery instructions so your driver can leave your order wherever you want it.
You can swap any fruit or veg in your next box for another seasonal favourite, from a list of different options. This can be done on the box’s page by clicking on the green pencil next to each item. Or you can go to this week’s boxes to easily compare all of our Fruit & Veg Boxes in one place and make your swaps there. You can also create a Dislikes list of fruit & veg that you never want to receive here, and leave your box to surprise you each week. These options only apply to our Small, Medium and Large Fruit & Veg Boxes and Very Veggie Veg Boxes.
There are no strings attached whatsoever. We can stop your orders or cancel your account at any time. You can do it online just a few clicks by going to the ‘personal details’ section of my account.
There is a minimum order value of £12.00. No matter how much you order, our delivery charge stays the same: £3.50. Time to stock up.
We’re committed to packing only the very best produce we can find, so if something has been damaged in transit or isn’t fresh when it arrives at your door, please let us know. If you’re ever not happy with your order, we have a no-quibble guarantee. Just get in touch with our friendly and award-winning Customer Care Team on 03452 62 62 62 or at organics@abelandcole.co.uk, and we’ll make sure that you’re reimbursed.
Definitely not. We want you to be free to explore. We have a variety of fruit & veg Boxes to choose from (as well as meat and fish), so there’s something for everyone. We’re so much more than just a box scheme so you’re free to order whatever you like providing your order meets our £12 minimum. However, to make the most of the range of seasonal produce on offer, we recommend enjoying a weekly box. We work with our farmers every week to pack our boxes full of the best organic and sustainable produce, so that you can experience all that the seasons bring to the table.
We’ll show you what's in all of our boxes for this week and next. That way you’ll have plenty of time to put together next week’s menu. Look out for your order deadline – no changes can be made after this point. You can compare the different weekly boxes here and see what suits you best at any given week.
You only need to order a box if you're taking advantage of a box offer. Your order can be made up of whatever you fancy from our shop. Just bear in mind that we have a £12 minimum order requirement.
Your food is delivered in a refrigerated van and all food is protected in our boxes. Anything chilled or frozen comes packed in Woolcool®, our eco insulation, made from sheep’s wool that will keep it at the right temperature until you unpack it. The only exception to this is milk. Whilst we will pack 500 ml bottles in boxes if there is other chill on order, our 1 and 2 litre bottles will be hand delivered by your driver. If you order a 500 ml bottle of milk and don’t have any other chilled items on order, it will be hand delivered by your driver. Between April and September, the driver will leave your milk with ice packs, to keep your milk cool.
There are no strings attached whatsoever. You can stop your orders or cancel your account at any time. Wondering how to cancel Abel & Cole deliveries? You can do it online with just a few clicks by going to the “personal details” section of my account.
If you need to skip a delivery visit the ‘Manage Holidays’ page where you will see your usual delivery dates highlighted. Simply click on the days you don’t want a delivery on.
We’re committed to packing only the very best produce we can find, so if something has been damaged in transit or isn’t fresh when it arrives at your door, please let us know. If you’re ever not happy with your order, we have a no-quibble guarantee. Just get in touch with our friendly and award-winning Customer Care Team on 03452 62 62 62 or at organics@abelandcole.co.uk, and we’ll make sure that you’re reimbursed.
We will always try our best to deliver everything that you choose for your box. Very occasionally, a change will need to be made, for example due to the unexpected poor quality of a certain type of fruit or veg, or due to weather conditions. This will usually happen at the last minute, as our fruit & veg is delivered to us fresh from the fields for packing. When a change is made to a swap that you’ve chosen, we will inform you by email. But when we make a change to an original item that’s been chosen by us, we won’t inform you of this switch.
When we need to make a change to what was planned for your box (for example due to unexpected quality or transport issues), our system isn’t able to take into account what else you have on order that week. So you may end up with a double portion of a certain fruit or vegetable because of this.
On some occasions, there may also be a limit to the number of varieties that are available (due to seasonality), so very occasionally a duplicate may be unavoidable. This is more likely to happen if there are several seasonal fruit & veg items on your Dislikes list. If you would like to amend your Dislikes list, you can do so here.
A few of our Fruit & Veg Boxes, including our All British Veg Box, Seasonal Salad & Veg Box and Fruit Bowl Favourites Box, have fixed contents, carefully curated by our brilliant Buyers each week to celebrate the very best seasonal fare. Because of this, we’re not able to apply swaps or your Dislikes list to these boxes.
If you find that the planned contents of a fixed box don’t suit you one week, then you can easily compare all of our Fruit & Veg Boxes here, and swap to a different box.
Box swaps only apply to certain Fruit & Veg Boxes – it’s not possible to swap anything in any of our other boxes and bundles, like our weekly Meat & Fish Boxes.
When you decide to swap an item of fruit or veg in your box, you’ll be offered a selection of different swaps to choose from. We take several different factors into account to create this list of swaps.
Our first consideration is the comparable cost of the fruit & veg. A more expensive item of fruit or veg that’s planned for your box might have a greater number of swap options available, for example, because we’re able to include more expensive options for you to choose from. This is to make sure that we can continue to pay our growers a fair price for their delicious, organic fruit & veg.
Another consideration is availability. If we have an abundance of something that is widely available for a short season, we might be able to include it in many of our boxes and/or in the list of swap options, regardless of its usual cost. In the same way, if availability of a certain crop is very limited, we may not be able to include it as a swap option.
Occasionally, we may need to change the swaps that are available to you throughout the week. If something becomes unexpectedly unavailable, for example due to poor quality or because it has sold out, it will be taken off the list.
We will choose these swaps for you, from the options listed for any items on your Dislikes list. If you would like to amend your Dislikes list, you can do so here.
We try to keep the value of our Fruit & Veg Boxes comparable to ordering fruit & veg separately. They may even result in a small saving, depending on what has been planned for your box or what swaps you choose.
If you subscribe to one of our weekly Fruit & Veg Boxes, this can offer good value for money. You’ll always pay a fixed price for your box each week, whereas the cost of ordering your fruit & veg items separately will fluctuate, depending on what you buy
You can change your order, or how often you receive it, as many times as you like up until your order deadline. To amend your order click on the van. Or log in to your account and go to ‘My Next Delivery’.
Once you’re logged in, you can browse our shop, from dairy to drinks, pantry to pastries. When you spot something you like the look of, hit the ‘Add’ button next to an item’s price and it will be popped into your basket. When you’re finished browsing, click ‘Checkout’ to complete the order. You can check over your order any time by clicking on the van.
Yes. It’s two days before your delivery day, so you’ve plenty of time to shop between deliveries. If you are making your order online, you have up until midnight on your deadline day to add items or make any changes. If you prefer to make your order over the phone or email, you will need to contact us during our office hours.
If you need help staying on track with your deadlines, visit the My Account’ page where you can set up text message or email deadline reminders.
All future orders will show up under ‘My Next Delivery’ or by clicking on the van icon. You’ll also receive an order confirmation email, after you've logged out or left the Abel & Cole website. Please note, you can still make changes to a confirmed order up until your deadline (two days before your delivery day).
Yes. We offer regular deliveries of fruit, milk, tea, coffee and more. You can explore the collection, here. Get in touch via officeandwholesale@abelandcole.co.uk or 020 8944 3715
We will only be delivering in your area on a set day each week. Your delivery day and time depends on where you live. Our routes are planned to minimise carbon emissions and food miles. This also means we can’t offer delivery time slots. This ensures we have fewer vans on the road and can keep the delivery charge low. Our drivers begin delivering from 4am, but will not knock if they arrive before 8am or after 5pm, unless your delivery instructions state that they can do so. If they arrive outside of these times, or there’s no one at home, they will follow your instructions and leave the delivery in your designated safe place.
Our delivery times change from week to week. This is because we use a route optimisation tool to make sure we use as little fuel as possible – it’s better for the environment. You don’t need to be in when it arrives. As we’ll leave your delivery in the ‘safe place’ listed in your instructions. We’re in the process of launching texts on the morning of deliveries – Reach out to our Customer Care team to see if you’re eligible.
No, you don’t. We want our service to be as convenient as can be for you. We take delivery instructions so your driver can leave your order in a safe place.
We can leave it anywhere you think is safe, which could be as simple as leaving it by your front door. Some other examples are: tucked out of sight behind a wall, flower pot or bush, inside a recycling bin (just make sure it’s not your collection day!), inside or behind a storage area (such as a utility cupboard or bike shed), inside an outbuilding like a shed, greenhouse, playhouse or garage. We can also offer you a secure keyholding service for keys to a communal entrance, porch, garage, shed, side gate, etc., which is also ideal for blocks of flats, for which we could also take door codes. Please call us on 03452 62 62 62 to find out more.
If your delivery is stolen, give us a ring on 03452 62 62 62 and we will refund you and work out a better place to leave your order in future.
Absolutely, as long as we deliver to the lucky recipient’s area. We create an account for them and take your payment details. If you already have an account with us, you still need to set up a new account to ensure it goes to the right address. This account can then be closed, once the delivery has been made. We're happy to help, so please give us a call on 03452 62 62 62 if you’d like us to set up a gift account for you. Alternatively, you can order gift vouchers for your friends here.
Plastic Pick-Up is a service we offer as part of a national scheme to reduce the amount of plastic that goes to landfill. In collaboration with our Flexible Plastic Fund and UK Plastics Pact partners, our customers can collect hard-to-recycle plastic bags and wrapping in a special Plastic Pick-Up bag, which we’ll then collect when we drop off their Abel & Cole deliveries. We’ll send this material to our recycling partners, to be transformed into sustainable building materials right here in the UK.
Whilst it's our responsibility as a retailer to eliminate as many of these materials as possible from our packaging, flexible plastic films are, in many cases, the most effective material for the job. These plastics can't be easily replaced and this is especially the case for a lot of meat and dairy packaging. These materials are not normally collected for recycling because they are very hard to identify, but they have value and can be recycled. It's therefore important for us to make sure that any plastic bags and wrapping that we do use are sent to a facility that can process them, and not to landfill. But this arrangement requires close collaboration between retailers and recyclers, which is why we've created Plastic Pick-Up.
Nearly all plastics can be recycled. However, different plastics can't be recycled together as this results in poor-quality material. Since recyclers make their income from selling recycled plastic back to manufacturers, it’s only profitable for them to recycle plastics that can be easily identified, and collected in large amounts.
Fortunately, the majority of plastic food packaging is made from a mixture of just four plastics: LDPE, HDPE, PET and PP. These can be identified on rigid packaging thanks to 'resin identification numbers' which are embossed onto products such as drinks bottles and yogurt pots. For flexible films, identification numbers can be much harder to verify as they’re easily broken up. As a result, it's very hard for recyclers to know how much they have of any one plastic type, or the quality of their end product.
Working with retailers is a huge benefit to recyclers because we can provide a record of which materials are used in our packaging. Using Plastic Pick-Up also means we can ask our customers to return only what will be valuable to our partners. This collaboration lowers the risks involved with collecting flexible packaging, setting the stage for more widespread collections in the long-term, as well as changing our packaging to be even more recyclable.
We’ve tried to make the whole process as easy as possible. Just add a Plastic Pick-Up bag to your next order – you can adjust how frequently you want to receive these. Then once your bag has arrived, there are just three simple steps you need to follow to help prepare your packaging for collection and recycling.
When your bag is full, seal it and leave it out with the rest of your boxes for your driver to collect.
We can accept clingfilm that has been rinsed and dried.
The plastic we collect is sorted by our partner, Regent Hill, who bale the waste together ready to send on to processing at Fiberight in Swansea. The plastic processed there is sent on for use as construction materials either as filler or in high performance films such as groundsheets. In the future, we hope to convert the flexible plastics we receive back into packaging grade material or even food contact materials. This will be possible once we can ensure a high enough level of purity in the recycled materials we receive.
We’re happy to collect waste materials from any retailer so long as they fit within the ‘Bag It’ list on our information page, here.
The recycling bags are made using recycled LDPE and are emptied to sort through the returned waste and then sent with the flexible plastics you send us to be recycled into building materials.
These are sorted by our partner, Regent Hill. Anything incorrectly added will be removed and disposed of responsibly in the UK. For some items, such as crisp packets, this will mean going to incineration. For recyclable items, such as glass bottles, they’ll be sent to be recycled conventionally. If you are ever unsure about whether something is meant to be packed into the bag, the best course of action is to dispose of it in your general waste bin, unless it is recyclable in your kerbside collections.
The plastic bags we use are made with 100% recycled content and allow us to collect and transport the flexible plastic waste in a secure fashion with no impact on our food safety or van efficiencies. The bags are then recycled with the waste that we collect, so that they can be used again as building materials.
Yes, your bag will only be collected on delivery of a fresh Abel & Cole box.
You can increase the number of bags you get, but we do ask that customers don’t order too many as we want to make sure that we can provide bags to all of our Plastic Pick-Up customers.
Unfortunately, because of the food safety and space limitations in our vans, we can’t offer collection of anything that isn’t in a recycling bag and therefore you should seek out another route to recycle those plastics.
We have carefully selected the types of plastic that can be feasibly recycled as part of Plastic Pick-Up. The plastics we refuse can’t currently be recycled through the mechanical process we use but some large retailers send their waste for chemical recycling and may accept these items.
If in doubt, the best thing to do is to put it the plastic into your general waste bin. Whilst we encourage everyone to return as much waste as possible, it’s important that we ensure the plastic we send to be recycled is high quality. The inclusion of materials such as cellulose-based films or crisp packets limits our partners’, ability to make useful materials at the end of the process.
It’s best to remove stickers so that we aren’t mixing materials together. If it isn’t possible to simply pull it off, we recommend cutting it out of the plastic and putting it into your general waste bin.
Our vans are designed specially to maximise the available space so that we can minimise our carbon emissions and get the highest efficiency in our deliveries. As a result, we need to ensure that any waste returned is in a compact container that keeps it sealed away from our fresh deliveries. This is how we decided on our Plastic Pick-Up bags, as they can be recycled with the flexible plastics they contain.
We need to maximise space in the van and therefore have designed our bags to be as compact as possible whilst being able to hold at least a weeks’ worth of flexible plastic.
Make sure to seal the bag and then leave it out in a safe location for your driver to collect.
The best place to leave your bag in is in a secure place by your box, so that it’s protected from wind and rain.
To ensure that we don’t contaminate our delivery vans or the recycling stream, we ask that you rinse your packaging so that the presence of organic waste doesn’t prevent it from being recycled.
All of our recycling bags are returned sealed and are kept in a secure container in our vans. This ensures that the plastic waste never comes into contact with our customers’ fresh deliveries.
Your driver will collect your empty boxes, reusable Woolcool® insulation, ice packs and sealed Plastic Pick-Up bags. The only glass bottles we can collect are our Club Zero ReRooted refills. We will also collect any empty Club Zero, pots, pouches and milk bottles. You can find out more about our packaging on our Packaging FAQs page, here.
Most of our packaging can be recycled or reused but it depends on what your local authority will allow. You can find out more by contacting your council. Or checking your postcode on the Recycle Now website, here.
Our ice packs are filled with water so whilst we don’t recommend using it to dilute your squash, there’s no need to worry if you accidentally ingest some from a leaking pack.
Our use of packaging is under regular review and so far we have been unable to find an animal-free alternative to the Woolcool® insulation that works well enough and satisfies all of our criteria. Please do get in touch if you’re aware of any suitable alternatives – we welcome tips that help to improve our packaging.
Abel & Cole have always tried to minimise the amount of packaging we use. That’s why we deliver your food in cardboard boxes which we pick up and re-use. We only use packaging when absolutely necessary, to protect the fruit & veg while on its way to you or to keep it fresh. We’re fully aware of the environmental impact that plastics have, and this is why we are actively looking for alternatives. We have already reduced the amount of plastics we use and are working hard to reduce this further.
For the last decade, biodegradable and compostable plastic packaging has been seen as a sustainable solution to the challenges caused by plastic pollution. We’ve always encouraged our partners to make considered packaging choices, so we’ve been largely supportive of using these materials to date, and have even introduced some compostable plastic packaging of our own. But as more research continues to be done into the real-world benefits of these materials, it’s becoming increasingly clear that they behave differently in lab conditions than they do in our compost bins. The UK also doesn’t currently have the infrastructure in place to collect and compost the variety of compostable materials that are already being used to replace plastic. What’s more, our focus on recycling and removing compostable plastics from our range will support the move towards a more circular society. You can read more about our decision (including the research behind this) over on our blog.
Visit our Packaging FAQ page to learn more
Log in to your account and go to the ‘Personal Details’ section of ‘My Account’.Here you can amend your address, delivery instructions, contact details, password, and card details.
If you're reporting a problem, we'd prefer you get in touch with us directly so that we can resolve it for you straight away. Please ring us on 03452 62 62 62 or visit our contact page. If you want to share your thoughts about something you’ve tried, please submit a review in the My Reviews section of your account. Here are some handy hints for your review:
We're passionate about what we do and want to tell you all about it. However, we wouldn’t want to overwhelm you, either. You can amend your contact preferences through the My Account’ page. Alternatively, please call us on 03452 62 62 62 and we will stop any or all contact.
If you have had any problems with your deliveries, please do get in touch with us as soon as possible and we'll do everything we can to help. If you want to close your account, you can do so from the ‘Personal Details’ section of ‘My Account’.
There is a minimum order value of £12.00, plus a delivery charge of £3.50
We take payment via credit or debit card (excluding American Express) across all platforms. We can also accept Apple Pay if you’re using the website on an Apple device. Or Google Pay if you’re using the website on a PC or smartphone. We’re not able to take payment via Apple Pay or Google Pay via the app. We’ll charge your preferred payment method on the day of delivery, not at the time of ordering. When you set up your account, your payment details will be saved, so you don’t have to add them each time you place an order. If you cancel your account, your payment details are deleted.
In a nutshell, organic farming means it’s food as it should be, food you can trust, food that doesn’t cost the earth, and food where the animals come first. It’s a conscientious way of tending to the land, which works with nature and not against it. Organic farming will always mean:
Organic certification remains the best assurance of positive environmental impact that we can request, and we will continue to seek certified products and ingredients to ensure you have the best range of organic produce to choose from. Some items, such as salt or water, cannot be certified organic because they cannot be ‘produced’ in the first place. Wild caught fish, and foraged food, again has not been produced – or in this case, farmed – in conditions that are controlled enough to be certified. Honey can only be certified organic if it comes from beehives surrounded by more organic land than the UK can currently offer, which is why our British honey cannot be certified organic. We’re still as passionate as ever about organic food and farming, and we’ll continue to champion our certified growers and makers. We’ve added organic and non-organic filters to the website. So you can quickly filter your preferred products and make sure you’re only shopping for what you want.
Our commitment to helping our customers continue to make sustainable changes has led us to look at a wider range of products that are farmed and produced in a way that’s still better for people and planet, but aren’t certified organic. In every case, we’ll continue to seek the assurances of respected third parties, such as the RSPCA or B Lab, on top of the strict requirements of our sourcing policies, such as gold standard animal welfare or responsibly-sourced ingredients. As well as our in-house experts, we also work closely with organisations such as Compassion in World Farming, and the Marine Conservation Society, to ensure our decisions stay as informed as possible. With policies, expertise and partnerships as strong as ours, we’re confident that whether it’s hand-dived, pasture-raised, picked or gathered, it’s the most sustainable option we can offer.
There are strict controls and checks in place to ensure the organic food in our shop is certified and produced to the legally-required standards. We are certified by the Soil Association, which is the main certifying body in the UK and you’ll see the logo on lots of our products. There are eight others (known as Organic Control Bodies), approved by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). Organic products from abroad will be certified by the relevant body in that country, shown by the organic control code on the label. For organic items grown or produced in the EU, there will also the EU ‘leaf’ logo on the label. We hold copies of the organic certificates for all of our suppliers. Each certifying body will carry out a regular audit (usually annually) of the suppliers under their control and we also make visits to them ourselves. Produce is tested by the accreditation bodies to ensure it's organic and we will also do random spot checks for pesticides.
Due to the quantity and variety of produce we need, unfortunately it isn't possible to rely solely on British or local suppliers. Seasonal availability means that at certain times of the year we'd struggle to have enough fresh fruit & veg to go around! If we have to get it from abroad, we only ever ship it in over water rather than airfreight, and we’ll always mention where the food has come from on our product pages.
No. None of our suppliers have been certified as halal or kosher.
Yes. We have a wide range of vegan and plant-based food that can be found in our Free From section.
You can filter the website to show only products that are vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, biodynamic or dairy free. PLEASE NOTE: Abel & Cole handles celery, celeriac, peanuts and nuts. Due to our packing process and re-use of boxes there is a risk of cross-contamination from these allergens.
Our food system has a crucial role to play in realising the UK’s ambition to reach net zero. That’s why our business declared a climate emergency in 2019, then publicly committed carbon reduction targets to the SBTi in 2021. Since then, we’ve made huge progress in reducing emissions from our own operations. Together with our farming partners, we’re continually supporting efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, by championing organic farming, healthy soils, and restoring biodiversity. However, for the sake of our environment, animal welfare, and human health, we want to see all solutions, whether organic or not, exhaustively tested for safety and efficacy.
The use of Bovaer is prohibited under UK Organic standards, and as such our organic range, including all of our milk, cheese, butter and yoghurt, is completely free of its use. This means the Yeo Valley Organic range that we stock is Bovaer-free, as per their statement here, and we stock no other brands that are linked with Arla. All of our products are subject to our strict policy checks, outlining the standards that everything in our shop must comply with. This includes our animal welfare policies, ensuring our meat, dairy and eggs are all sourced from farms with exceptional welfare, and we regularly visit them to confirm this for ourselves.
B Corps™ are leaders of the global movement of people using business as a force for good. We’re part of a community dedicated to improving their sustainable impact. Since day one, we’ve always wanted to do things the right way. We’re proud to have stayed true to these values over the years. We’ve helped farmers achieve organic certification, challenge ourselves to be green, and support charities at home and further afield. You can find out more on our blog and check out our profile on the B Corp™ website.
We’re on a mission to make shopping sustainably easy and delicious, putting people and our planet first, every step of the way. You can read about how we’re making a difference in our Sustainability Reports. Our reports celebrate some of the amazing things we achieve with the support of our green community, across the three areas of our sustainability strategy: Planet, People, Product. It also sets out our ambitious targets for the coming year and beyond, as we continue our exciting sustainability journey. Read our report, here.
We certainly do. Our official app is available to download for Apple and Android devices. You can download our app in the Apple Store or via Google Play
You can download our app in the Apple Store or via Google Play.
One of the changes we’ve made to the shopping experience on the App is the removal of the checkout shopping basket. This means a single click will pop something on order for you. The change is designed to make shopping sustainably easy, so you spend less time managing your order and more time enjoying the very best of our sustainable selection.
If you click on the van icon at the bottom of the app screen, you’ll be able to see what’s coming next and in future weeks. However, please be aware that items you have on a recurring order will only show on the next date they’re due to arrive.
You certainly can. You’ll find the option in the ‘Account’ section of your app.
Our official app does work on an iPad but unfortunately cannot yet be viewed in landscape mode, as it is not yet compatible with our app. You can still enjoy our app on your iPad by viewing it in portrait mode.
Abel & Cole Limited,
16 Waterside Way, Plough Lane,
Wimbledon, SW17 0HB
