Hungry Harvest helps the needy by delivering fresh, discounted produce to your door

Tamala Edwards Image
Wednesday, November 2, 2016
VIDEO: Hungry Harvest helps the needy by delivering discounted produce to your door
Hungry Harvest is a company that just launched in Philadelphia. They deliver fresh produce to your doorstep - at a discount.

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Hungry Harvest is a company that just launched in Philadelphia. They deliver fresh produce to your doorstep - at a discount. And just by buying a box, you're helping your neighbors in need.

When Letitia Hobgen hits the Philabundance Fresh for All in Glassboro, New Jersey, she loads up on fresh fruits and vegetables.

The mother of 5 has epilepsy, which makes driving and holding a job risky.

So any help putting healthy food on the table is welcome.

Her choices now include what you might call produce with personality, donated by Hungry Harvest.

"Our apples are a little bit small, or our eggplants have funny noses on them. That doesn't diminish the taste," said Evan Lutz, CEO & Co-founder of Hungry Harvest.

Evan Lutz started the company in 2014 out of his college dorm room in Maryland.

"I was like there are so many people that are hungry. There's so much food going to waste. I need to start a business model that can tackle these two problems," he said.

He pitched his business on ABC's "Shark Tank" and made a deal with Robert Herjavec that enabled him to expand into the Philadelphia market last month.

"So we made 10% for $100 thousand dollars," he said.

Hungry Harvest works with local farmers and wholesalers to rescue produce that would otherwise go to waste and then sells it to subscribers.

"For about 25-30% cheaper than a grocery store and we're delivering it right to people's doors," said Lutz.

For every box sold, the company donates 1-2 pounds of produce to Philabundance.

Subscribers are getting something good out of it and somebody in your community in need is getting something good out of it as well.

"It's a good thing for all of us. We're looking to end hunger in the area, in our 9 county area. We can't do it by ourselves," said Scott Smith, Director of Food Acquisition at Philabundance.

So far, Hungry Harvest has rescued more than a million pounds of ugly but perfect edible produce and every pound saved is a meal for a family in need.

"You don't throw away things that aren't perfect, so vegetables are a great thing to give back that aren't perfect because they could still be used and a lot of people would be very grateful for them," said Letitia Hobgen.

Hungry Harvest is offering $5 dollars off your first order of at least $20 dollars through the end of November. Just use the promo code LAUNCH.

For more information or to subscribe to Hungry Harvest, CLICK HERE.