Des produits frais avec la Box Nature

Eating healthy and buying local isn’t always easy. In fact, our busy lifestyles rarely leave us enough time to go to the market to buy fruits and vegetables. Fortunately, many companies now offer to deliver baskets of fruits and vegetables to our homes, offices, or pickup locations. We spoke with Elisabeth Absalon of Box Nature.

Can you tell us about the Nature Box?

The La Box Nature service was designed to raise awareness among everyone about the richness of our agricultural production and the quality of local fruits and vegetables—those that grow right in our own backyard. The idea is to promote local produce and ensure a steady market for the crops of certain small-scale farmers who work with us.

We offer delivery of fruit and vegetable boxes to individuals at their workplace or at a pickup location. We want to enable our customers to enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables picked the day before, delivered to them weekly. To do this, we work with passionate farmers from across the island who grow fruits and vegetables according to the principles of sustainable agriculture, minimizing the use of pesticides—whether organic or conventional. I believe it’s important today to take our consumption habits to a new level by doing so responsibly, and to consume in a way that supports others—by being aware, for example, that when we spend 1 euro to buy fruits and vegetables, that euro allows a farmer in Martinique to pay for a tennis lesson or a trip to the movies for his children—it’s as simple as that. We’re rebuilding the connection between producers and consumers, aided in particular by new technologies.

What are your distribution channels?
Our customers must place their orders on our website by midnight on Tuesday. We then pick up the produce from our farmers every Thursday, and our customers receive their deliveries on Friday at their workplace or at a pickup location.

We also offer our customers the option to return their used boxes. Some are stained or damaged and cannot be reused; we use these to transport fruits and vegetables while preparing the boxes, and when they reach the end of their useful life, we take them to the recycling center. The others we reuse after a thorough inspection…

What types of boxes do you offer?
We currently offer 4 types of boxes in two different sizes:
– A fruit box, consisting mainly of fruit.
– A fitness box, filled with fruits and green vegetables.
– A health box containing fruits, leafy greens, and local vegetables.
– A "Mon ti Marché" box, which is fully customizable, allowing customers to choose exactly which products go into their box.

Do you also work with local governments?

Yes, we supply school cafeterias with fruits and vegetables so that middle school students can eat produce from our region: mandarins, mangoes, guavas, and local oranges instead of imported apples or pears. And it’s working—the feedback has been positive. At first, the children are faced with fruits that aren’t uniformly sized, that sometimes look a bit unusual, with different textures and less smooth skins—since the fruits aren’t treated. However, once the fruit is cut open, the children discover that a good piece of fruit isn’t necessarily a pretty one. In fact, the fruit may look a little unattractive, but it still fulfills its purpose in terms of taste and vitamin content. Ultimately, they enjoy eating healthy fruits and vegetables.

Do you have any news?

This month, we launched a Citrus Ti Box to help people get their fill of vitamins. We hope to soon introduce other services to highlight the community-minded aspect of the Nature Box and reach out to people who are isolated or facing hardships. The idea is to foster a sense of solidarity among the people of Martinique. We also pay special attention to customer satisfaction and consult with our customers as much as possible to improve our service.

Kaylan FAGOUR

Phone: 0696 34 34 20