Food

Buy Fresh Organic Salads Online in The UK At the Best Price

21 January 2020

About us

At Pikt, customers call the shots. We supply fresh produce tailored to your requirements in line with our ethical values. Sustainability is key to our success. We respect people throughout the entire supply chain, from growers to customers. Ingredients are organic and we’re proudly verified by the Soil Association. We provide fresh organic salads home delivery.

We believe in giving back rather than being profits driven. We put you first. Everything we do is in accordance with organic principles, reducing the size of the supply chain and preserving the planet in the face of fluctuating prices – aiming to operate our business towards net-zero for 2030. Our focus is on sustainability, ethical and honest relationships with our growers and you the customer with no hidden agendas. We work towards a better future for the majority, not a minority.

Our history

SunFresh Produce Ltd is the company that began our journey. We started delivering organic fruit and vegetables to shops, but always had bigger goals. After canvassing attendees at a food festival in 2018 about what they loved about food and what they didn’t, we saw the light: bespoke fresh organic produce available online for home delivery.

Customer choice

We listened carefully to our customers to enhance our service. They told us that they want a say about the content of their boxes and to minimise waste while receiving the choicest ingredients.

Receiving ethically sourced food that is fairly traded was important, and an open and transparent scheme was also a must. We delivered on all these preferences, as we put you, the customer, first.

Bespoke boxes for you

Pikt boxes are hand-packed at the click of a mouse, with your convenience being our priority. We supply a fantastic selection of fresh, organic produce and let you offset the box’s carbon footprint.

Alternatively, rounding up the price of the box means that your change goes towards good causes through the Fresh Republic Foundation: a charity committed to sustainability, fair dealing and worker welfare.

Homey box

If you want the freshest organic salads home delivery is the way to go. This box covers your normal weekly shop. You will get up to 25 portions of gorgeous organic fruit and vegetables for your household.

Some delicious choices available include ginger root, broccoli, avocado and butternut squash. Further exciting picks include grapefruit, fennel bulbs, aubergine, mango, speciality potatoes, celeriac and pineapple.

Cooks seeking to experiment can get to grips with white cabbage, pomegranate, leeks, garlic, blueberries, Braeburn apples, parsnips, bunched kale and cavalo nero, to name but a very few.

Fruitist

The Fruitist box (regular or large) supplies a weekly quantity of organic fruit for a healthy lifestyle.

Prepster

The Prepster 3 or 5 is a handy fresh ingredient box. Stock is easily managed and there’s no plastic waste.

Order by 8am and receive next-day delivery from DPD (UK mainland).

By purchasing salads from Pikt, you are buying into a sustainable lifestyle and helping to preserve the environment. What’s more, the produce is delicious and bursting with freshness – joining our scheme is a no-brainer!

Where to Find the Best Organic Vegetables for Home Delivery?

20 January 2020

Why Organic Vegetables?

Organic vegetables are grown without using harmful pesticides and fertilisers. To be able to label food as organic, strict guidelines must be followed, so you can guarantee all organic vegetables will have been grown using natural fertilisers. This means:

There is a less harmful impact on the environment.
The vegetables are fresher.
The vegetables have a higher nutritional quality than non-organic vegetables.

Extensive research has shown solid evidence that, by eating organic vegetables, you can increase your intake of desirable antioxidants whilst reducing your consumption of harmful pesticides.

How Do I Know It’s Organic?

It isn’t easy to get organic certification, and all organic farms and manufacturers are inspected at least once a year. If a company is certified by the Soil Association, you can guarantee the food has been grown organically.

Are There Any Other Benefits?

Not only are you looking after your own health, but by using a vegetable delivery service you are helping to keep the environment healthy too.

Did you know that 95% of the food we eat comes from the soil, and this soil is a non-renewable resource? By eating organically, you are helping to keep soil healthy. Healthy soil captures carbon dioxide and stores it as carbon. This means we can help reduce harmful greenhouse gases by farming organically and keeping the soil healthy.

Organic farming also helps protect our wildlife. Unfortunately, over the last 60 years, much of our wildlife has lost its natural habitat due to farming methods. Organic farmers are dedicated to protecting our wildlife by:

Creating spaces for nature within their fields.
Allowing nature (such as bees and beetles) to control pests and weeds.
Ensuring soil is nurtured to help reduce erosion and pollution.

Why Use a Delivery Service?

There are many benefits to having fresh organic vegetables delivered to your door:

You can reduce your single-use plastic consumption.
They are quick and easy to order.
You save time by having fresh organic produce delivered straight to your doorstep.
You can select which vegetables are delivered.

By choosing to use an organic vegetable home delivery service, you are choosing to shop ethically. Companies such as ourselves believe that everyone who is part of the process is treated fairly and with respect. As a B Corps verified business, we run a company with the highest ethical standards.

With so many organic vegetable home delivery services available, eating healthily and ethically is achievable. No longer do you need to wander around supermarkets selecting vacuum-packaged vegetables. There is a massive drive to be free from waste. In supermarkets, there is a huge choice of vegetables available all year round. However, this isn’t environmentally sound. With your organic vegetable boxes, you will receive seasonal vegetables that taste better and suit our diets for that time of year.

The National Food Bin: how much food gets wasted in the UK

13 November 2019

Each year, as a country, Britain throws billions of pounds in the bin – the food bin that is. Our food waste is increasing, and despite wanting to be more ethical and environmentally friendly, we are not doing enough to reduce it.

Our latest infographic dives into the problem of food waste in this country and offers a simple solution to reducing food waste in your home, restaurant or office.

The National Food Bin: how much foodgets wasted in the UK

13 November 2019

Our latest infographic dives into the problem of food waste in this country and offers a simple solution to reducing food waste in your home, restaurant or office.

4 weird and wonderful fruit garnishes for cocktails

18 October 2019

Leonardo da Vinci didn’t forget to frame the Mona Lisa. So, you shouldn’t forget to add a garnish to your expertly-crafted cocktails. They’re works of art, after all. A fruit garnish can elevate your drink from an enjoyable tipple to a memorable, multi-sensory experience. When done right, that is.

Discover these four weird and wonderful garnishes (and garnishing methods) to take your cocktail from okay to outstanding.

The usual suspects

If we’re talking fruit garnishes, it’s pretty difficult to ignore the citrus family. They’re the mainstay of glass-rims the world over, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be presented in exciting ways. Here are a few ways to elevate your oranges and lemons.

Doing the twist

If you’re worried you’re not getting enough out of your orange garnish, try a ‘coin twist’. By cutting a section of skin from the orange and retaining some of the pith, you’ll be able to give it a squeeze over your drink to release its oils. If you’re feeling theatrical, you can ignite the oils with a match when squeezing it.

Rub the skin around the rim before dropping it in your drink, and you’ll have infused the entire cocktail with zesty orange flavour.

A sweeter treat

A candied orange or lemon peel brings a sweet edge to the citrus zest we know and love. Depending on the drink, it can be a great way to balance out bitter flavours or elevate sweet ones. Here’s an example that pairs candied peel with an orange whisky sour. Delicious! And, far more interesting than a run-of-the-mill lemon wedge.

If you have a spare few hours, you can make your own. Here’s a recipe to get you started. Check out our stock of oranges and lemons for the key ingredient – or get adventurous and try using one of our grapefruits!

Further afield

Citrus makes a great garnish, but it takes extra work to justify calling it ‘weird’. Here are a few fruit and veg garnishes that step up the strange, but taste just as amazing.

Berries and spice

Raspberries don’t look out of place at the bottom of a champagne flute, and strawberries have graced many a daquiri glass. Pairing fruit with herbs and spices, however, can take cocktails to the next level.

Try combining strawberries with peppercorns, mint or basil for a few layers of flavour, or juniper berries with rosemary or thyme for a ‘Spanish gin and tonic’. While we’re on G&Ts, Sipsmith recommends trying a stick of rhubarb or some lavender as well.

Light it up

If you’re looking to think outside the box, it’s time to do away with the fruit and go straight for the tree. Wood smoke has become a popular way to ‘garnish’ meatier whisky-based cocktails like the Old Fashioned, with apple and cherry trees providing some of the most fragrant choices. Smoke guns made for the job are easily found online.

If you want to add a smoky, savoury flavour without the equipment, burning rosemary and trapping the smoke in a glass or cocktail shaker can work just as well. Here’s a great example.

Time to experiment

Excitement lies beyond old limes and soda. We’ve given you a few ideas to get you started, but it’s just the beginning. There’s a world of vegetables, flowers and even human toes(seriously) to discover, so take your cocktail shaker in hand and set out on the path to mixological mastery. We’ll supply the fruit and veg, you’ll supply the imagination.

Fancy a roast squash? 7 facts to make you go ‘gosh!’

16 October 2019

Why we love organic squash

Butternut, pumpkin, hubbard, dumpling – whether you’re a summer squash person or a winter squash person, there’s an organic squash for everyone and for every occasion. It’s the best nosh, a squash!

At Pikt, we’re enjoying the crisp Autumn weather (OK, the soggyAutumn weather). What makes it even better is this is the season for warm-your-cockles soups and hearty stews. Sorry, we just made you hungry, didn’t we?You’re in luck: squashes are affordable, delicious and easy to get a-hold of this time of year. But we know some of you are daunted by these varied veggies. So, we’re here to demystify the squash with some fun facts.

The basics

Squashes are one of the world’s oldest known crops, with some sites in Mexicoestimating they’ve been a staple crop for over ten thousand years.

The word ‘squash’ is an adapted version of the word ‘askutasquash’ meaning ‘eaten raw or uncooked’ in Narragansett Native American. Sounds crunchy…

Squashes come from the Americas, but can be grown pretty much anywhere as they just need a temperate climate, full sun and good soil – and, of course, organic is best!

Checklist for choosing your catering food suppliers

7 facts about squashes

1. There are many kinds of squash

There are hundreds of different squashes, from the tromboncino, which is long and green, to the patty pan, which is yellow and shaped like a flying saucer.

2. Squashes, gourds and pumpkins are all in the same family

The squash is part of the Cucurbitaceae family, and is closely related to the cucumber and the watermelon.

3. Yes, you can eat the skin

The skin of a winter squash is often perfectly edible, such as with varieties like the delicata squash. For our thicker-skinned friends, try roasting or par-boiling the veg and then scooping out the flesh with a spoon.

4. Red, orange and yellow colours are because of carotenoids

Carotene gives carrots, tomatoes and mangoes their warm hue, and the same applies to many types of squash. This means they are a great source of provitamin A and anti-oxidants.

5. Summer squash keeps you beach-body ready…

Summer squashes, like courgettes, are high in water content and low in calories. Perfect for a healthy snack!

6. … And winter squash is fibre-full!

Winter squashes, like butternuts, are low-fat but packed with nutritious fibre to keep you feeling full for longer.

7. ‘Pompkin pudding’ is the first recorded pumpkin pie recipe

Whether you enjoy a Pumpkin Spice latté or think pumpkins should only be for carving on Halloween, everyone can agree that pie is the bomb-dot-com. Amelia Simmons wrote the ‘American Cookery’ book in 1796, and though she didn’t invent the pumpkin pie, she did write down the recipe, here.

Our favourite squash-tacular recipe: vegan butternut squash soup

Getting a bit chilly? Are you in the mood for a warming stew or a nice bit of soup? It doesn’t get easier than this soulful bowlful from Madeleine Olivia. With three main ingredients and a touch of seasoning, you are minutes away from a scrummy, veg-packed dinner. Just looking at that picture has our mouths watering.

And for pudding? Well – pumpkin pie of course! Order your Autumnal veggies here and share your recipes with us on Twitter @PiktFresh.

What ‘counts’ as a vegan-friendly restaurant?

25 September 2019

The numbers vary, but there are, at the very least, hundreds of thousands of vegans in the UK today. Vegan and vegetarian restaurants are becoming more popular and, generally, eateries up and down the country are providing more plant-based options for their customers. It’s a global trend, with a 2018 Foodable Labs study showing that more than half of chefs in the US put vegan items on their menu in the last year.

Who’s going vegan-friendly?

Popular brands are jumping on the vegan-friendly bandwagon. Wagamama is a leading example. Their recent marketing efforts highlighting their vegan menu demonstrate that they don’t just tolerate different dietary preferences or needs – they celebrate them!

So, if you want to become a vegan-friendly restaurant, here are the six things that ‘count’:

You have dedicated meals for vegans

No, chips don’t count. No, a side-salad without the dressing also doesn’t count. To be vegan-friendly, you need to have real, tasty options for vegansto enjoy. And, maybe even a dessert choice – brownies are a good shout.

You put effort into reaching vegan customers

You don’t have to be a vegan restaurant to put vegan customers at the heart of a marketing campaign or two. Think about it: people are looking for places to eat out as a family or friend-group. They’ll be looking for a local place that welcomes everyone without there being a big fuss about it.

You make the little changes that count

If you’re just starting out on your journey, take a step back. Maybe you don’t need to change up your whole menu. Maybe swap the margarine for a vegan-friendly spread. Or, tweak a couple of your sauces. Or, use vegetable oil instead of beef dripping in your fryers. Or have soymilk to hand.

There are lots of little, low-effort changesyou could make that would make both vegans and vegetarians very happy indeed.

You pay attention to your sourcing

Not all vegans are the same.Yes, there’s a vegan certification standardthat draws the party line between vegan and not vegan. But, your suppliers could be growing beautiful organic fruit and vegthat many plant-based eaters would be happy to enjoy, even if egg shells were popped under the tomatoes to help them grow. Which brings us onto our next point…

You label your menu clearly

People in the vegan community today are still having debates over things like honey vs. agave and certain other products. Many would consider themselves as following a plant-based diet even if they do occasionally eat something not ‘strictly’ vegan.

Restaurants can provide the options to give people the space to make their own, educated, decisions. Just label things clearly!

Take for example the menu at this café. They give details on ingredients, so people know what they’re opting in for, and label things with ‘vegan’ (V) and ‘vegan option available’ (VO) to take the guesswork out of the decision:

Vegan friendly restaurant - imange of a menu

You consider your décor and packaging choices

A vegan-friendly restaurant is not all about the food. The packaging you use and the décor have a part to play. At Pikt, we advocate for plastic-free packaging, because it’s better for our planet. And, we’d suggest that if you are considering leather seats at your establishment, maybe go for a natural fabric alternative instead. We’re just saying, it’s probably cheaper…

And, for the folks at home, have you tried cooking vegan-friendly meals for your family? Choose organic fruit and vegand try out this fantastic paellarecipe from Lazy Cat Kitchen. Enjoy!