Potager City

What's in the box: A box typically holds a seasonal mix of fruit and vegetables, mostly French grown with some imported items, either chosen by Potager City or picked by you item by item.

Potager City is a French fruit and vegetable service built around relay point pickup rather than doorstep delivery. You choose a collection point near you, then either build your own basket from individual products or pick a ready made mix, and collect your order there. The range goes beyond a typical veg box: alongside produce you will find drinks, sweet and savoury groceries, an anti-waste section, and fruit baskets for offices. Product pages name the grower or cooperative and the origin, often down to a French town, so it is easy to see what is local and what is imported. Many mixes blend French produce with items from Spain, Italy, Ecuador or West Africa, so this is not a strictly local scheme. Pre-composed mixes range from €9.99 for a 4.5kg mix of imperfect 'hors norme' produce up to €28.90 for a 6.5kg large mix, with an organic mix at €24.90. Subscribers save around €1 per mix and get small reductions on individual items. New customers get 50% off a first order with a subscription, or 20% without one, and the site advertises free delivery to relay points. It displays an average score of 4.2 out of 5 from 243 reviews. The main catch is that you must collect your order, so check for a relay point near you before signing up.