ABOUT US

  • Surplus produce is produce that is at risk of going to waste - either because of its irregular / wonky shape and size or because there’s simply too much of it. By doing something as simple as incorporating surplus produce into their kitchens, a hospitality business can make a meaningful impact in the fight against food waste and climate change.

    To put the problem into context, 931 million tonnes of food is wasted at the wholesale, retail and household level worldwide each year. In the UK alone, 9.5 million tonnes of food goes uneaten per year - more than would be needed to feed the 8.4 million people living in food poverty here. That level of waste produces 25 million tonnes of greenhouse gases, and losses throughout the supply chain cost UK farmers, growers and markets £1.2 billion in lost revenue annually. In other words, food waste is an environmental, humanitarian and commercial disaster.

  • Over the past decade, the scale of how much food is wasted throughout the supply chain has become more visible to both businesses and consumers. And in recent years, we have begun to understand the environmental consequences of throwing away so much food.

    Businesses work with us because many of their stakeholders - from their kitchen teams to their leadership to their own diners and customers - have realized the size of the impact our food choices have on the world around us. And they have decided to take the simple but important step of incorporating surplus produce into their recipes in order to fight food waste and climate change.

  • In 2019 our co-founder Nathan spent a short time visiting a Chinese monastery and took part in one of their fasts, at the end of which the monks took him to the closest town to celebrate with an all-you-can-eat vegetarian buffet. A starving Nathan powered through his first two plates and loaded up his third, but found he couldn't eat another bite. One of the monks furiously chastised him for his irresponsible attitude toward food waste and forced him to eat every last morsel before he was allowed to leave the restaurant.

    So inspired by a rural encounter with a monk who wouldn’t accept any good food going to waste, we set out to build a fairer food system - one that’s good for growers, good for buyers and good for the planet.

  • We were formed in August 2021, and we launched our service to customers in March 2022.

  • Using surplus produce reduces our carbon footprint. When we waste food, there are two sources of carbon emissions:

    1. Embodied Emissions - These are the greenhouses gases emitted by planting, growing, harvesting and transporting the food (i.e. all the energy that went into getting the food ready to be eaten), not to mention the water consumed

    2. Disposal Emissions - These are the emissions released when we throw the food away (e.g. decomposition at landfill, incineration, aerobic composting)

    In a food system that wastes up to one-third of the food we grow, by building a more resilient circular food economy that incorporates more surplus, we ultimately need to grow and transport less food. In the UK, a 10% improvement in our food efficiency implies 950,000 tonnes less food waste each year, and a corresponding 2.5 million tonnes fewer carbon emissions - equivalent to removing 1.5 million cars from UK roads. That’s a win for all of us, and a significant boost to our planet’s health and resources.

  • We are part of the Centre for Climate Change Innovation at Imperial College’s Grantham Institute. Through our climate research partners at the Grantham Institute, we built a carbon footprinting methodology based on decades of research conducted by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change). And our water usage methodology is based on research from the World Economic Forum.

    All of these resources have been published by the relevant research bodies, and we are happy to provide links, publications and data sets. We are also available to discuss our methodology directly and to answer any questions.

  • We provide monthly impact reporting that demonstrates your commitment to sustainability by measuring how much surplus produce you’ve rescued and the corresponding mitigation of greenhouse gases and water usage. These reports are created for easy sharing with stakeholders and customers.

    We also have a marketing pack of digital collaterals that provide logos, characters and information about your work with Angry Monk that can be printed as is or modified by your marketing team to display at dining sites to highlight your surplus produce sustainability initiatives. These assets are regularly added to and refreshed. Our customers have found that using the Angry Monk brand and creatives in their restaurant areas (screens and menus) really drives engagement with customers, and they’ve even served “Angry Monk” juices and meals at staff events and executive meetings.

    For customers who consistently rescue large quantities of surplus produce on a monthly basis, we are able to create bespoke marketing assets for them to use, as well as scheduling regular pop-ups and on-site events where the Angry Monk team talks about the customer’s impact and does giveaways of fresh surplus fruit and smoothies.

SUSTAINABILITY & IMPACT REPORTING

  • Since our March 2022 launch we have listed almost 200 types of surplus produce, and we will generally have 50-60 items available per week - mostly fruit and vegetables, but occasionally herbs.

    Our top-10 selling items are:

    Aubergines

    Beans

    Carrots

    Cauliflowers

    Cucumbers

    Onions

    Peppers

    Squashes

    Sweet potatoes

    Tomatoes

  • We identify surplus on the basis of appearance, seasonality, weather patterns and supply chain factors. Of these, appearance is the easiest to understand: retailers grading produce for size, shape and colour reject items that simply don’t look right. This “wonky veg” is what comes to mind for many people when thinking about surplus, but it actually makes up less than 40% of all surplus.

    Most surplus is produce of which there’s simply too much:

    • Seasonality - The transitions between growing seasons for products and/or regions creates surplus as growers empty their fields and greenhouses, and warehouses clear their stock.

    • Weather Patterns - Warmer weather (magnified by climate change) causes some items to grow faster and/or larger than usual, creating both excess and “wonkiness.”

    • Supply Chain Inefficiencies - Supermarkets canceling orders, the loss of local independent grocers and delays in transport all lead to loss, surplus and waste.

    Some customers have found that the best way to understand surplus is to join us at the market for a visit. We welcome anyone interested in joining our rescue mission to come walk the market with us and spend some time talking to our procurement team, who are happy to answer any questions.

  • We currently source our surplus from London’s local fresh produce markets. We have a small procurement team based in New Spitalfields Market, led by a second-generation fruit and veg wholesaler who developed an expertise in surplus produce through his charitable work providing free produce to food banks and social enterprises throughout London. They are in the market six nights a week, giving us constant visibility into the availability, quality and pricing of surplus produce.

    We have also sourced surplus from New Covent Garden Market, and our ambition is to begin sourcing directly from British growers once our order quantities enable it.

  • We know that while the chefs who work with us care about the provenance and sustainability of their ingredients, they also have to ensure its quality to meet their diners’ high standards. As such, we target the best surplus available, with most of our products classified as Category 1. Quality is absolutely critical at Angry Monk, and we rescue only the most delicious surplus and imperfect produce while it’s still in top condition. We also regularly solicit customer feedback to improve our product offering.

    Our most common response from customers receiving their first order from us is a surprised “Was food this good actually going to be thrown away?” often followed by a concerned “I can’t believe food like this gets thrown away - there’s absolutely nothing wrong with it!”

  • Yes, and we currently have no plans to change this.

  • In 2020-22, New Spitalfields Market generated an average of 413 tonnes of food waste per month, with peak monthly levels over 800 tonnes. That’s almost 14 tonnes per day on average. And that’s just one wholesale market. Our goal is to rescue as much surplus from wholesale produce markets as possible, and then eventually going upstream to rescue produce directly from British growers to tackle the challenge of food waste closer to the source.

    Millions of tonnes of food go to waste throughout the UK every year. This is a massive problem which is responsible for 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and one which is not going to resolve itself. That’s why we’re here to build a greener, fairer circular economy that’s good for growers, good for buyers and good for the planet. We won’t stop until we’ve built a food system that we can all be proud of.

PRODUCTS

  • Established customers with a confirmed ordering schedule can submit orders until 5 PM, and customers without a set ordering schedule can submit orders until 2 PM.

  • There’s no set requirement: we have clients who order twice a week, once a week, or even fortnightly.

    Regardless of your ordering frequency, we encourage you to establish a set ordering schedule with us. This way we can include your deliveries in our courier routes, which enables you to submit orders up to 5 PM on the day before delivery.

  • We sell in wholesale quantities - i.e. per box or bag. Sizes are typically 5-10 KG and can range from less than 2 KG for smaller items such as berries, beans, and figs to 20+ KG for bulk items such as potatoes and onions.

    We are currently unable to offer produce on a per-piece or per-KG basis.

  • We currently operate within the M25, but we can deliver to other locations based on order sizes and frequency. Please contact us for more information.

ORDERING & DELIVERIES

  • If there are any issues around quality, then we will do whatever we can to make it right. Send us a photo of the problem item, and we can either remove the item from your invoice or credit it against your next order. Your feedback will also trigger a brief assessment of that item in our overall product list and a discussion with our QA team to try to determine the source of the issue.

    We highly value all customer feedback and are committed to providing the best possible service.

  • We are available by phone from 8 AM daily to troubleshoot any issues with orders.

    We have never missed a delivery, and our only experience with a late delivery was related to a last-minute order from a new customer, resulting in unplanned changes to our courier’s delivery routes. On another occasion involving a late order from a new customer, our courier was unable to accommodate the route change, so one of our co-founders hired a van to make the delivery himself.

    We take our commitment to our customers seriously, but we’ve also implemented the 72-hour requirement for orders from new customers and customers who order irregularly in order to prevent delivery issues from arising.

CUSTOMER SERVICE