Here's the funkiest way to save dollars on groceries – and support the farmers through this storm season
Cosmetically quirky, financially smart, environmentally fabulous
It's no secret that Australians are feeling the pinch at the grocery checkout. Then, couple these rising prices with this mind-blowing fact: the average household wastes 4kg of food each week, costing roughly $3,000 per year*.
Enter Funky Food with possibly the coolest way to save money, save the planet, help farmers and feel good. Funky Food - Rescue Food From Waste
Brisbane-based Funky Food delivers fresh, cosmetically "imperfect" fruit and vegetables directly to households across the South East and throughout Sydney, offering boxes often up to 30% cheaper than supermarkets. By rescuing produce that would otherwise go to waste, Funky Food helps families stretch their dollars, support local farmers, and make environmentally conscious choices. Win win win.
Summer is the perfect example of this impact.
While Funky Food's new Exotic Fruit Box ($99) features in-season juicy mangoes, sweet pineapples, and vibrant dragon fruit, a tropical mix packed with colour and nutrition, Summer is also the season where storms hit hard.
This increasingly unpredictable weather often leaves growers with excess or "imperfect" fruit that supermarkets reject.
Funky Food rescues this produce, delivering it directly to households and keeping fresh Aussie fruit on Aussie tables, because… it all tastes the same.
"Every box helps farmers recover value, reduces food waste, and keeps fresh Aussie produce circulating, so whether you're blending a tropical smoothie or enjoying mangoes by the pool, your summer treats are making a real difference," said Funky Food founder Kamran Kasaei-Nejad. "Reducing food waste isn't just about the planet, it's about putting money back in people's pockets and supporting farmers."
"After hearing a farmer once say, "our biggest customers are the bins," I immediately doubled down on building a model that valued farmers, valued food and made sustainability affordable. Regardless of the season, we are here to pedestal the food that is deemed not pretty enough!"
Today, Funky Food:
- Employs 40 people
- Delivers more than 5,000 boxes a week across QLD and NSW
- Has rescued 7.4 million kilos of produce from waste
- Has delivered over 627,000+ boxes to customers
- Has saved 14 million kilos of carbon emissions
- Supports almost 40 Australian farms.
NEWS FOR SUMMER 2025/26:
Funky Food launches limited edition Exotic Fruit Box!
Here's how to have a Funky festive season! Funky Food has launched the limited-edition Exotic Fruit Box ($99). Each box is carefully curated with a vibrant selection of tropical and premium seasonal fruit.
Inside, customers can expect juicy red and green apples, ripe bananas, sweet oranges, fragrant mangoes, and tangy pineapples, with exotic touches like dragonfruit, lychees, passionfruit, cherries, and seasonal grapes. Sourced from local growers and trusted market partners, the Exotic Fruit Box is designed to delight the tastebuds, support Aussie farmers, and brighten up the week. Perfect for sharing, gifting, or simply treating yourself to a colourful, healthy indulgence.
ABOUT Funky Food
- Funky Food isn't just another grocery service, it's a food-rescue business. They're tackling food waste, reducing emissions, and working with real farmers.
- Funky Food make imperfect produce affordable because "funky" doesn't mean low quality.
- By giving farmers an outlet for cosmetically "rejected" produce, they help growers get more value and reduce waste at the source.
- Consumers can pick their own produce or go for surprise boxes, and they can tailor their subscription because it's not a one-size-fits-all.
- Funky's return-pickup of packaging reinforces their commitment to sustainability.
- Their pricing model is transparent: they charge a fixed cost for delivery + business costs, then pass on the wholesale price + a 20% "Funky" margin.
Here's Summer's Fabulously Funky Fruit & Veg –
- Mangoes – A little mangled? Totally mango-licious.
- Pineapples – Bumpy, bold, and bursting with tropical tang.
- Lychees & Passionfruit – Lumpy, puckered, and packed with punch.
- Cherries & Peaches – Crooked cherries, twisted peaches, perfectly peachy bites.
- Grapes – May be mini or misshapen, but all are magnificently grape-y.
- Watermelon & Melons – Wobbly, wonky, wonderfully weird and wildly sweet.
- Tomatoes – Twisted, top-heavy, totally tomato-licious.
- Capsicums – Chunky, curvy, colourful, crunch-tastic!
- Zucchini – Squat, squiggly, slightly skewed, super-satisfying.
- Sweet Corn – Always corny and completely crave-worthy (and all have the juice 😉).
- Eggplant / Aubergine – Elongated, eccentric, extra chunky = eggplant excellence.
- Avocados – Plumper, puckered, perfectly imperfect creamy goodness.
ABOUT Kamran Kasaei-Nejad, Founder of Funky Food
Kamran Kasaei-Nejad has always believed that good food shouldn't go to waste, regardless of how it looked. Growing up in a migrant household, he learned early the value of resourcefulness; nothing was ever thrown out if it could be saved, repurposed, or enjoyed later.
His mother's careful habit of salvaging produce, prepping ahead, and minimising waste became the foundation for a philosophy he has carried into adulthood, and a business that is out to change the way people think about – and buy – food.
At just 23, Kamran turned his lifelong mindset into action, launching Funky Food in Brisbane with a bold mission: to rescue imperfect, cosmetically rejected fruit and vegetables and get them onto plates instead of into bins. It began as a one-person operation, with Kamran sourcing produce that supermarkets wouldn't take because they were deemed visually unacceptable, packing boxes on the family balcony with help from his sister Kiana, and delivering them to the first handful of customers. And it quickly grew into a movement.
Early conversations with farmers cemented his purpose. One grower told him bluntly, "Our biggest customers are the bins." That moment lit the fuse. Kamran was determined to build a model that valued farmers, valued food, and valued sustainability.
Today, in just a few short years, Funky Food has grown into a thriving business employing around 40 staff and sending out more than 5,000 boxes every week. The model is simple and impactful: rescue imperfect produce, pay farmers fairly, offer it to customers at prices often up to 30% lower than the major supermarkets, and reduce food waste on a massive scale. What started as a balcony operation has become one of Queensland's most exciting food-rescue success stories. And at its heart is still the same belief Kamran grew up with: perfect doesn't matter. What matters is making sure good food gets used.
THE FACTS: Food Waste in Australia
End Food Waste Australia is leading the way in improving the sustainability of the Australian food system through research and evidence-based solutions:
- In Australia, around 7.7 million meals are discarded daily, with households contributing 32% of that waste, costing the economy an estimated $36.6 billion annually.
- The average household wastes 4kg of food each week, amounting to roughly $3,000 per year.
- "Reducing food waste isn't just an environmental or economic issue — it's a social imperative. If Australia successfully halves food waste by 2030 — an ambitious goal — FIAL estimates this could unlock $54 billion in benefits, significantly reduce emissions, and ensure more food reaches those who need it most."
Australian National Food Waste Strategy Feasibility Study by Food Innovation Australia (FIAL):
- Australia wastes 7.6 million tonnes of food annually; that's enough to fill the Melbourne Cricket Ground 10 times over.
- 70% of this waste could have been avoided, representing billions of lost meals and an economic impact of $36.6 billion.
- Household waste alone costs Australians $19.3 billion per year.
- Shoppers reported saving around $63 on a produce haul, by ordering a box of "misshapen" produce.
