Frequently Asked Questions

There seem to be quite a few organic vegbox schemes serving the North East these days. Why should I choose NEOG?
Since we started in 1995, interest in organic food has increased dramatically, which is great, and there are many more companies doing basically what we do, some locally and some supplying organic vegboxes on a national or regional basis. We like to emphasise the local, which is why we only deliver to our specific North East area. Many organisations selling organic veg do not grow their own but simply buy it in, pack it and send it out again. We, however, aim to grow as much as we can on our land in Northumberland before we turn to our wholesaling partners to make up the extra needed on a particular week (and then we buy as locally as possible). Because we have been operational since the mid 1990s we feel we have encountered (and hopefully solved) the many day-to-day problems involved with running a business like ours, which many of the newer box-schemes may not have the experience yet to have met with. Thus, hopefully, our customer service to you will be second to none.
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Why should I buy organic food?

People buy organic food for a number of different reasons. These include taste (organic food can taste better than chemically grown food), health (organic food has no pesticide residues, antibiotics etc), support for locally grown food (while not all organic food is local, much is, and it's easier to find out where it has come from), and environmental reasons (ranging from reducing carbon outputs to increased wildlife). Here are five reasons from the Soil Association as well...
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Why is organic food more expensive?

Organic food costs more to produce than non-organic due to increased costs of labour and less area yields. For example, as chemicals are not used to clear weeds from vegetable fields much more hand weeding is needed which takes much more time. Farmers cannot use so much land as non-organic as they must leave a certain proportion of their fields fallow each year, and livestock farmers have lower stocking rates.

It must also be borne in mind that the costs of non-organic farming are paid for by society all the time – the cost of cleaning up agricultural pollution and the costs to the NHS for ill health are two examples. The cost here is not included in the price of the food but we pay extra later.
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Where can I find out more about organic food?

Obviously the internet is a good place to start – try www.soilassociation.org and take it from there. There are many interesting links on the NEOG website, ranging from specific food-related information to more general ethical sites.
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How does NEOG's box-scheme work?

It's a pretty simple system... Customers place a regular order for the type of bag they want. The veg is harvested and bags put together at our premises near Bedlington. On Wednesdays and Thursdays the bags are delivered to drop-off points ('links') throughout the region and then collected by you.
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How do I pay for the produce?

Most people pay for the first trial bags by cheque and then when they are happy with the service set up a standing order with their bank. Other methods are possible, and can be arranged.
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What happens when I’m away?

Contact the office by phone or email and arrange to have your deliveries temporarily stopped.
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What happens if I want to make a late cancellation?

We ask that customers cancel any bags by mid-day on the Thursday before the date in question. This is so that we don’t harvest or buy in any produce that is not actually needed and then goes to waste. If late cancellations are made there is a small charge to cover the costs incurred.
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Can I set up a link group myself?

If you are interested in being a link person get in touch with the office to discuss possibilities.
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I’m allergic to…/My family won’t eat…

In certain circumstances (especially for food allergies) we can ensure that your bag doesn’t contain specific items. It will have a named label attached to it. We don't offer the option of choosing the specific contents of your bag, as we support the concept of seasonal eating. Your bag will always contain the produce that’s coming out of the ground at that time.
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What can I expect in my vegbag? How many people will it feed?

The bags contain a selection of seasonal organic vegetables, usually containing potatoes, carrots and onions (though we may remove the carrots and onions in the summer when our fields and tunnels are bursting with other things). There are more salad items in the summer, more roots and brassicas in the winter. The amounts will vary during the course of the year but the value is fixed. Numbers of people it will feed will depend upon how much veg you get through in a week! We find that no two customers are the same - but you can get an idea here of roughly how much is in an average bag.
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What happens if I receive produce I am unhappy with?

Contact the office for a full refund of the affected items. Sometimes things get through the quality control system in the packing shed, due to the volume packed and the speed we need to work at. Sometimes things may deteriorate in the bag (remember our veg are never treated with preservatives). Sometimes the defect may be impossible to see from the outside. We always want to know if you get anything you are not happy with. It keeps our standards up and helps us to refund you promptly, and hopefully keep you satisfied with our service.
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Where does the veg and fruit come from?

Generally speaking, the produce will be as local as possible. We grow as much as we can on our 12 acre site in Northumberland. It isn’t large enough to grow everything we sell, so we supplement it with additional bought-in produce when needed (particularly in the ‘hungry gap’ months). Our main additional suppliers include:

What is the Hungry Gap?

The ‘Hungry Gap’ is that period of the farming year when all of the last year's harvest has been taken in, but nothing of the new year’s is ready to harvest. Things will be being planted and prepared for planting, but there will be very little fresh UK produce around. Many items, such as root crops (potatoes, beetroot etc) will have been in storage prior to use and so may not be at their best. Traditionally people would have eaten a lot of dried and pickled foods at this time. The whole of the UK is affected by this phenomenon, and much of what we sell during the months of April to June may be imported. Our importing policy is that we buy in from as close to the UK as possible and nothing is air-freighted.

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I don’t recognise this vegetable. Help!

We try to put information in the bags if we are giving you any vegetable that we think some of you might not be familiar with, but if you do have a question then please call or email the office.
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Can you supply my restaurant/shop etc?

Generally we aren't doing wholesale, as our top priority is to supply our box-scheme customers. In the summer months we sometimes have a glut of a particular item (e.g. courgettes) which we may want to sell on in bulk. Contact us if you are interested in this, and we will get in touch if and when there is anything available. We can give you details of wholesale suppliers of organic veg if you wish.
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