40pc cheaper groceries: Shoppers go wild for entrepreneur’s cut-price food delivery company Funky Foods

A young Queensland entrepreneur’s cut-price grocery delivery business has exploded in popularity since launching just 11 months ago offering up to 40 per cent off the shopping bill.

Shoppers are going wild for a new Brisbane-based grocery delivery business which fights food waste and saves customers up to 40 per cent off their weekly fruit and vegetable bill.

Iranian born entrepreneur Kamran Kasaei-Nejad, 23, launched his online fresh produce empire Funky Food from the garage of his family home in Springfield Lakes in April last year and has amassed a huge client base in just 11 months.

Blowing up online, Funky Food is winning over shoppers with a business model that delivers fresh and nutritious - if a little misshapen - produce to shoppers’ doors every week for massively reduced prices compared to supermarket giants.

By purchasing ‘ugly’ produce that supermarkets won’t touch, Kasaei-Nejad is able to combat food wastage and provide shoppers with low-cost, quality produce.

Brisbane-based entrepreneur Kamran Kasaei-Nejad has started a grocery delivery business called 'Funky food'. Photo: Supplied

Funky Food launched online in April, offering small boxes that serve 1-2 people per week starting from $35.

It also offers larger, family sized boxes that serve 4-5 people per week starting from $55.

A small $35 Funky Food box, as shown below, consists of approximately 10kg of 20+ mixed varieties of seasonal fruits and veggies (seasonal produce may include leafy greens, kale, lettuce, arugula, squash, cauliflower, broccoli, tomatoes, potatoes, apples, peaches, plums, celery, cabbage, bananas, capsicum, lemons, limes, zucchini, cucumber etc).

An example of the contents in a 'Funky food’ box.

It offers shoppers more value than an equivalent shop at one of the major supermarket chains.

While browsing the Woolworths online fresh produce section, we spent a similar amount of money for less value.

An example of what you can get from Woolworths for a similar price.

Due to price fluctuations, estimating the exact figure of weekly savings compared to the supermarket giants can be difficult, however, Mr Kasaei-Nejad estimates savings are between 20-40 per cent.

“Every week we look at the amount that we actually put into the boxes and we compare it to the supermarket chains and create a blended average of what the supermarket chains are selling their things for,” he said.

“On a small box we’re averaging about 20 per cent, and on the big box we’re averaging about 40 per cent savings.”

Funky Food now employs 19 people and occupies a warehouse in Rocklea, delivering produce to thousands of customers from Brisbane to the Gold Coast.

“We’ve had some pretty crazy growth for one year, and we are profitable,” he said.

“We’re doing about 2600 customers per week now.”

A first-generation immigrant, Kasaei-Nejad attributes his Funky Foods environmentally friendly ethos to values instilled into him by his mother.

“Mum was always pretty waste-conscious, so it was drilled into us from a young age,” he said.

“She would always buy the seconds from fruit shops, and that’s what I always considered to be normal.”

Kamran Kasaei-Nejad with his team at Funky Foods.

After learning just how much of Queensland’s fresh produce is left to rot in the fields due to defects, Mr Kasaei-Nejad set out to find a solution.

“I was talking to this farmer, and the more he went on about it (food wastage) the more I was like you’ve got to be kidding me, it’s 2022 and this is what we’re doing”.

“It’s honestly just shocking,” he said.

Since the debut of his business, Funky Food has been nothing short of a rollercoaster ride for Mr Kasaei-Nejad.

It quickly amassed thousands of followers online, with comment sections full of praise for what can be achieved with ethical entrepreneurship and savvy online marketing.

“As a customer I really appreciate an org that is not focused on higher profits and also has an active social conscience”, Instagram commenter @hollypardey posted.

“Just got my first fortnightly order of this stuff and it was awesome! Heaps of stuff and all great quality,” wrote another poster @Laurenmaybrooks.

Unsatisfied, Mr Kasaei-Nejad aims to turn Funky Food into a waste fighting empire, providing more customers with customizable orders all around Australia.

“How do we get to enough scale that it actually matters…because the numbers of (food waste) is so ridiculous that the impact we’re having is nowhere near close to making a dent,” he said.

“Obviously the goal is to go national and get that customizability into the mix.

“But then that’s probably one of the biggest challenges, because how do you keep costs down while still doing that?”

Mr Kasaei-Nejad advises young entrepreneurs setting out on their first business venture to be prepared to experiment, and most importantly, learn from their failures.

“I think the thing that makes the most sense is you do something…you’ll learn a few things, you’ll most likely fail…so you take all your lessons from your first failure and put it into your next one…and then you repeat that cycle again and again and again.”