Category Archives: eco brands

We all get the munchies from time to time. I don’t know about you but I’m guilty of succumbing to the office vending machine; pulling out the squashed brown banana from the bottom of my bag or soldiering on with nothing but a major lull in energy levels. So it was with much interest to find a girlfriend of mine snacking on a natty little Harvest Box of healthy nuts, crackers and dried fruit a few weeks ago.

Melbourne based William Cook and his two mates suffered similar snack woes in 2010 which led them to launch the Harvest Box early this year – a 4 portion box of snacking pleasure including a surprise range of over 50 types of nuts, dried fruits, seeds and treats….all delivered straight to your office desk, or front door!
We particularly love the fact that this healthy snack aims to make a small footprint. Ingredients are primarily sourced within Australia and the packaging is 100% recyclable. Ordering on their website is a breeze – and with nut selection names like dinosaur eggs, hot mumma, taj mahal, cradle mountain and kokoda trail… you’ll go nuts deciding which one to trial first!

We spoke to William to glean a little more about this great idea: 

1. Tell us about your background and the launch of Harvest Box? I have worked in large corporations and have also run my own catering business, therefore I have experienced both sides of trying to eat better at work. I remember working for large organisations where you would often be stuck in meetings or working back late and all you had at work was biscuits, unhealthy vending machines or fruit that nobody else was prepared to eat! So after many discussions over many evenings myself and two other mates decided to stop complaining and actually do something about turning workplace snacking on its head. We decided to think about it from the busy workers point of view and provide a product that is healthy, delicious, convenient and never boring.

2. Where do you source your fruit & nuts from? Wherever possible we have hunted down the best tasting local produce we can find. We think Australian produce is the best. Our dried apple is from Tasmania, our dried Mango and pineapple comes from Queensland and our Almonds are from Mildura to name just a few. Seasonal constraints may dictate that from time to time we need to use imported produce, but this will be the exception. Wherever possible our dried fruits, nuts and seeds are free from preservatives, sulphites additives and added sugar.

3.What steps do you take to reduce your carbon footprint in Harvest Box production? We have been focussed on this from the start. Our boxes are made from recycled cardboard and can be recycled. Our punnets can also be recycled. Finally we decided on utilising Aust Post current regular delivery network rather than using couriers. This allows us to not add excessively to the current transport environment footprint. Whenever we think of new product angles the environment and our impact is always one of the first things to tick. Lastly, we will always choose local ingredients over imported. Not only are they better quality but there is the benefit of reduced air miles.

4. What’s been your biggest challenge in launching the range? Finding enough hours in the day and prioritising your work load. We have found so many people want to talk about our product. Because Harvest box is committed to providing our customers choice, we are constantly looking for new ingredients. This is fun but does take time. All 3 of us also have young families and I have an 8 month old baby so we have to make sure we split our time as fairly as possible between work and family. Being able to send our Harvest Boxes home each day makes life a little easier!!

5. What can we expect to see from Harvest Box in the future?   Looking to the future is the best part of running your own business. We want to keep increasing the amount of mixes we offer but we are also looking at supplying cafes and supermarkets with our individual punnets. We are in an exciting development stage we just have to make sure we grow in a sustainable manner. We love people coming to us with ideas so if any of your readers like what we do and have any suggestions feel free to drop us a line through our online feedback form on our website.

Whether you are a high flying exec, or a desk bound office worker, we think these snack boxes are the answer to many a bad snack habit (speaking from vast experience!). Keep a stash in your drawer, and you’ll never head to that chocolate fundraiser box or vending machine again!  Snack boxes cost $6.95 including delivery. Head on over to the Harvest Box website to order, and if you enter the code 169BTG9RF when ordering you will get your First Box FREE and second box for half the price (thats only $3.47!). Thanks William.