The idea for Wonky Box’s latest venture, Wonky Flowers, all stemmed from a supplier. “No pun intended,” Wonky Box’s co-founder Angus Simms says with a chuckle as he shares how this project bloomed to life (that one is definitely intended).

It was one week after Valentine’s Day 2025, and Southern Fresh, one of Wonky Box’s suppliers, invited the team to visit its subsidiary business, Burwood Nurseries.

After showing off the flower farm, Burwood then showed the visitors its packhouse, with a huge pile of flowers that were to be thrown out. Given it was following Valentine’s Day, it was an example of “an extreme case” that happens at various points throughout the year, like on Mother’s Day and Christmas, says Simms.

“But the problem exists at a smaller scale, it’s happening all the time. They were saying to us that we have to chuck flowers like this out if the stems are too short, if the stems are slightly off angle or quite simply, if we have too much of it.”

Wonky Box is a subscription service dedicated to rescuing the produce that doesn’t meet the criteria to be sold held by major supermarkets. The fruit and veg you receive might look a little funny – hence ‘wonky’ – but since launching in 2021, they’ve managed to save over 4.3 million kilograms of fresh produce from being wasted.

Last year, they added a new arm to the business, Wonky Pantry, which allows customers to add in other products, from pancake mix to coffee beans, to their usual order and on June 5, they launched Wonky Flowers.

Reliant on Mother Nature

“Flowers are actually a very similar product to produce in the sense that it grows within seasons, it’s reliant on Mother Nature, the weather to actually grow to specification,” says Simms.

“And then at the end of the day, if Mother Nature doesn’t play ball, then either they can fall short on supply or they can actually grow too much.”

They are also sold in similar ways – flower and produce growers are price takers not price makers, Simms explains. At the mercy of the market, they don’t know what price they’ll get for their products until they’ve already sent them out. Sometimes they’ll make a return, but often they don’t, he adds.

In recent years, due in part to the Covid-19 pandemic, there has also been a sharp decline in the number of flower growers in Aotearoa, with many shutting up shop.

Until that conversation with Burwood Nurseries, Simms didn’t know the extent of the situation – food waste appears at the forefront of the media and in research, but nothing much exists in the floral space.

So Burwood Nurseries and Wonky Box started exploring the possibility of a partnership.

Changing the narrative

Simms’ initial concern was how this new chapter would fit in Wonky Box’s narrative.

“We continue to tell a story in the produce world that encourages consumers to be more acceptable to ugly produce… My slight concern was that in the flower world was when people are gifted flowers or when people want to brighten up their home with flowers, the purpose behind that is because you literally want them to be looking beautiful.

“But the reality from learning and from actually being there was that the defects or the rejection reasons or the specs were so minor that you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between a product that had to get thrown away and one that didn’t,” says Simms.

“If the stem was slightly too short, in no way, shape or form is actually affecting the bloom, the flap, the actual flower itself, the petals. Neither is it when it’s actually just grown in surplus as well. There’s literally no difference in terms of appearance between a wonky flower and a regular flower.”

DIY flower arranging

Wonky Flowers works in exactly the same way as the Wonky Box, says Simms. They are a standalone product, and can be chosen on a frequency of weekly, fortnightly or three-weekly, with options to skip weeks as needed. For $52, the box arrives direct from Burwood Nurseries on either Thursday or Friday, depending on your postcode, with 17 seasonal stems, flower food and tips on how to arrange them.

Both the flowers and produce boxes aim to appeal to the creators of the world, Simms adds.

“With the Wonky Box, it’s not necessarily a meal kit, it’s a surprise box of veggies essentially and you have to get creative in the kitchen… Ultimately it’s great for so many reasons, it encourages our customers to be eating within the seasons, it entices their kitchen flair.

“It’s going to be a variety within the different flowers that come in the box, they’ll be within season but they will change from week to week… The whole purpose behind it is that it’s almost like a DIY kit. You get your box and it’s not just the experience of receiving these awesome looking flowers but you’ve also got the experience of actually arranging the flowers and piecing them together.”

It also removes the stereotype that flowers are for special occasions or gifts only, encouraging regular consumption in a way that is easy and affordable, says Simms.

“When you’re participating in it, you’re doing a hell of a lot of good to the grower… the planet and ultimately it’s more about brightening up your own home.”