Our story
In 2019, we began our adventure to challenge the status quo of our food system. We decided to set up shop in Lisbon to find a solution to two problems: the fruits and vegetables we consume, which unnecessarily travel hundreds of kilometers from the farms to our plates; and waste, with ⅓ of all food produced being wasted and ending 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 not only to support regional farmers to achieve a full harvest, but also to offer consumers the chance to have a healthier diet, full of regional and seasonal products.
The result of this process? Equal Food. We offer a sustainable, healthy and convenient solution for everyone: a weekly basket of fresh, imperfect produce from local farmers, delivered straight to your door.
Our mission
We started this project in Lisbon, Portugal, to help create a world where ⅓ of food no longer ends up in waste. In the European Union alone, 50 million tonnes of fruit and vegetables (not even counting packaged and processed foods) end up in the trash every year. Around 1.3 billion tonnes of edible food around the world are thrown away every year, generating 8% of global CO2 emissions (FAO, 2020) .
A large portion of food waste is a direct result of market standards of beauty. A crooked pear, a blemished avocado, or an unripe lemon are not considered “pretty enough” and therefore often end up in landfills.
Our mission is to combat this problem and we look forward to a world where all food is used and nothing ends up in the trash.
Our values
We strive to maximize the amount of waste we can avoid by paying a fair price to our farmers and everyone else involved in our system. At the same time, we are constantly looking for ways to minimize our carbon footprint in transportation, minimize the amount of plastic used in packaging, and show how sexy imperfect fruits and vegetables can be. We also want to make people happy: farmers, customers, suppliers, and employees.
The way forward from here
We want to expand our range of regional, seasonal and imperfect deliveries of fresh products as much as possible. In the last year, we have already managed to expand our delivery range from Lisbon and the surrounding area to Porto and its surrounding areas.
We are planning to expand to other cities in Portugal and beyond. This growth must, however, be sustainable and in line with our values before we take the next big step.