next door BRAND

their offers

IN THE WILD

Here's a snapshot of their entire offer suite.

I'm obsessed with brands that innovate a new way to use something that's currently being needlessly wasted, which is so true to the unassuming nature of the (Girl or Guy) Next Door personality. I've always wondered WHY we have a hunger problem in the U.S. when so much fucking food is wasted every single day. This service is ingenious + super affordable... and people (especially us granolas in California) are loving it!

Leave it to a Next Door brand to say, "There's nothing wrong with crooked carrots and lopsided potatoes, so come and get 'em!" - in their own way, of course. Saving something "everyone else" sees as damaged (but is really just imperfect) is exactly what you'd expect to see a Next Door brand doing.

their BRAND PURPOSE

IN THE WILD

Why they do what they do (beyond the money).

All of the copy below is the long-form way of saying exactly what they say in their tagline (above)... "Groceries With An Impact", which is the underlining message that's woven into EVERY point they make. It really drives home the community-centric nature of a Next Door brand that their core messaging is around the impact that their customers, suppliers, and selves are able to make when they work together. Community is a huge driver for Next Door brands.

Another very Next Door thing about Imperfect Foods is the way their socials are fully stocked with tips + tricks on how to use every last bit of food you have, and the packaging it comes in. Ingenious shit you'd never think of. They're one of my favorite feeds. Their unwavering commitment to their purpose is impossible not to be inspired by.

Small Wins Add Up

Where you buy your groceries matters. Together, the Imperfect movement of farmers, suppliers, customers, and community partners has saved 172.5 million pounds of food from lesser outcomes.

Imperfect Foods was founded in 2015 with a mission to eliminate food waste and build a better food system for everyone. We offer imperfect (yet delicious) produce, affordable pantry items, and quality eggs, dairy, proteins, and more. We deliver them conveniently to our customers’ doorsteps, helping them save time, money, and the planet. Our customers can get the healthy, seasonal produce they want alongside the grocery staples they rely on, without having to compromise their budget or values. We’re proving that doing the right thing for the planet doesn’t have to cost more and that shopping for quality ingredients can support the people and resources that it takes to grow our favorite foods.

Save food from waste.

Curb climate change.

There are a lot of resources that go into every bite of food produced in the U.S.—water, fossil fuels, land, seeds, fertilizer, labor—but 35% of it goes to waste. That means that all of the hard work done by both the people and the planet is wasted too. Even worse, as food decomposes, it releases high levels of environment-harming methane.

In fact, the carbon footprint of wasted food in the U.S. is greater than that of the global airline industry. We know—holy guacamole! 🥑

Your groceries make a difference

Shopping with Imperfect is an easy, everyday way to waste less food and save the resources that went into producing the food in the first place.

their BRAND POSITIONING

IN THE WILD

What makes them so different from everyone else.

THIS, Buttercup, is how you do it! Positioning at its finest. *chef's kiss* They've literally differentiated themselves + niched down so well that they've eliminated the need to compete with other grocery delivery services! They aren't in the business of "getting groceries"; they're in the business of environmental consciousness, and doing good for the planet. You're either down for the cause or you're not. They make that an EASY decision for you to make.

It's so true of a Next Door brand to be able to describe how different they are without bragging or being all "WE'RE SUPERIOR, and you should fall at our feet with praise." They're just doing their thang, which just so happens to make it easier for you (their loyal customer) to do YOUR thang - so you can do BIG thangs together.

Build a Better Food System Together

We work every day—at the farm, in the food supply chain, and in our homes—to do better and waste less food. Those collective efforts add up. When you shop with us, you’re part of a community moving in the ripe direction, together.

We empower individuals to take action in their kitchen by rescuing food that would otherwise end up in landfills and practicing waste-saving tips and tricks that add up.

Annually, 30 million tons of food go to waste in homes. But with every moment of meal planning and each scrap-tastic recipe, our customers are whittling that down.

Good for the planet & your wallet

We are the only nationwide grocer to take back your packaging for reuse and recycle (for free!). Together, we’ve prevented more than 6.5 million pounds of packaging from going to landfills. More proof that together, we’re apple-solutely unstoppable.

We donate any products we don’t sell to 60+ incredible partners around the country working to fight hunger.

So far, we’ve donated 15.1 million pounds of food to help people facing hunger.

We offer a full lineup of carefully curated groceries that are the best of their kind, a little imperfect, and always delicious. Most importantly, our groceries help build a less wasteful world.

We quickly realized rescuing food also saves the water, greenhouse gasses, and other resources that go into producing that food (and which would otherwise also be wasted).

Net-zero By 2030

We’re bringing the same passion for saving food to reducing the carbon emissions of our business—with plans to become a net-zero carbon operation by 2030. This includes designing our packaging, delivery, and facilities to be as eco-friendly and efficient as possible.

Fully electric delivery by 2027 We’re building toward a fully electric fleet, and our drivers avoid emissions by delivering to each neighborhood in one trip. In 2021, our deliveries resulted in 13,986 fewer tonnes of greenhouse gasses than if each customer went to the grocery store themselves.

their BRAND PERSONALITY

IN THE WILD

Who they are when they're being themselves.

Their brand voice totally gives off "dad joke" vibes, and that's so on-brand for a Next Door personality. There's something "apple pie" about a corny dad, you can't help but chuckle + roll your eyes at them. They're hard to take seriously in all the right "lighthearted" ways. I know 15 dads off the top of my head who have definitely used at least one of these food-related puns in the last year. 😂

Lettuce build a better tomorrow, today!

Broken eggs are no yolk!

If you are what you eat, then this community is wonky sweet potatoes, surplus mandarins, and off-sized apples. We’re pretzel pieces and broken almonds, okara flour cookies, and root veggie chips.

But most of all, we’re grape-ful.

These flowering broccolini, too-small strawberries, and lightly scarred apricots never would have made it to grocery store shelves—but we think they should make it into your bellies!

Sometimes less is more, but that never applies to chocolate. This #worldchocolateday, do the most with the ingredient that does the most and make some compost cookies.

No need to pour one out for those rock-hard lemons and limes! 🍊 There’s still so much sweet, aromatic goodness to be enjoyed. Here’s how to upcycle your nearly-gone citrus into the perfect summer garnish.

You can only save 3, summer produce edition. What are you nibbling on?

Get in bestie, we’re going to fight food waste.

Don’t let wilting veggie greens leave you bitter! Transform them into a green goddess dressing that fights food waste instead. Try it over a bright summer salad or use it as a dip for crudités. Hummus who?

Friends don’t let friends throw away their corn cobs. They’re packed with tons of flavor—you just have to know what to do with them! If you’re BBQ-ing it up this weekend, save those cobs to make make a delicious stock.

Strawberry season is in full swing, and it’s hard to believe that all of these probably wouldn’t pass grocery store standards. Obviously, we think they’re berry nice.

their brand passion

IN THE WILD

The Birkenstock (see below)... I can't! 😂

It's so subtle you probably won't even notice it, but putting eyes (graphic + googly) on the fruit humanizes it and therefore humanizes their entire brand. It's genius! Their colors, fonts, iconography (all the badges below), and logo make for a clean but fun visual style that's really true to the Next Door personality. If they went with really soft colors, really dramatic photography, or some other off-personality choice, it wouldn't connect the way it does. This is Next Door design done to perfection!

And let's get real, their whole visual brand identity lends itself flawlessly to the "dad jokes" vibe they've got going on.

WANT MORE next door branding inspiration?

😍

VISIT Imperfect Foods

 WEBSITE + INSTAGRAM

HOW YOU CAN USE imperfect foods AS INSPIRATION

IN YOUR BRANDING (EVEN IF YOU'RE NOT A NEXT DOOR BRAND)

✅ Instead of tossing your word salad and trying to come up with the perfect tagline, focus on figuring out why you're so passionate about the work you do (beyond the financial gain), because THAT'S where you're going to find the tagline that really "says it all."

✅ When you're looking for stock photography (or you're taking photos) for your brand, choose ones that reinforce your shades of personality. Think: GND = carrot toes in a Birkenstock, or Entertainer = mowing the lawn in your underwear with a Solo© cup full of fun, or Sage = standing at a whiteboard full of fun-facts, with a book balancing on their head and a baby balancing on their hip (or maybe that's just my friend Bethany 😆), but you get the picture. It isn't about being some kind of caricature of your archetypes; it's about reinforcing your vibe - and that's most definitely 100% unique to who YOU are.

AND HEY, IF YOU ARE A next door BRAND

Brandish That Shit Loudly + Proudly

Your kindreds love learning from YOU because your honest, humble, and hardworking ways are the breath of fresh air they need in their world of suffocating BS. They find immense comfort in knowing they can always count on you for pure, unadulterated practicality.

Don't rob them of that realness, because THAT'S what makes YOU so delightfully different, ridiculously relevant, and unbelievably validating to YOUR people!