Freshly Cut Vegetables

When exactly are the vegetables cut?

Quick answer

Within 10 minutes of your order leaving for delivery. Nothing is chopped the night before and nothing is held in cold storage waiting for orders to come in.

Cutting happens within 10 minutes of dispatch. That is the operational core of GoForFresh rather than a marketing line: we hold whole vegetables, and the cutting only starts once we know what is going out and where. The reason is that cutting is the moment a vegetable's clock starts running. Cutting ruptures cells, exposes interior tissue to oxygen, and accelerates the enzymatic and respiratory activity that degrades vitamins, texture and colour. A vegetable cut days ago and held in a chilled pack is a materially different product from the same vegetable cut minutes ago, even though they look similar in the packet.

📄 Supporting Research

Color, flavor, texture, and nutritional quality of fresh-cut fruits and vegetables

Barrett, D.M., Beaulieu, J.C., Shewfelt, R. — Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition (2010)

Key Finding: Cutting accelerates quality and nutrient loss in produce; ascorbic acid declines steadily through post-cut refrigerated storage.

Why is freshly cut better than a supermarket pre-cut pack?

Quick answer

A supermarket pack has usually been cut and stored for days. Nutrient content declines measurably with storage time and temperature, so produce eaten close to cutting retains substantially more of its vitamins and antioxidants.

The difference is time, not intention. A pre-cut supermarket pack has to survive a distribution chain — it is cut centrally, packed, transported, shelved and then sits until someone buys it, often several days after cutting. Research on post-harvest handling consistently finds that nutrient content declines with storage duration and temperature, and that produce consumed closer to harvest and preparation retains substantially more of its vitamin and antioxidant content. Some packs also use dipping treatments or modified atmospheres to keep cut surfaces from browning over those days. We avoid the entire problem by not cutting until the order is going out, which is also why we do not need any of those treatments.

📄 Supporting Research

Nutritional comparison of fresh, frozen and canned fruits and vegetables

Rickman, J.C., Barrett, D.M., Bruhn, C.M. — Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture (2007)

Key Finding: Vitamin content of vegetables declines measurably with post-harvest storage time and temperature.

Are the vegetables washed and peeled?

Quick answer

Yes. Vegetables arrive washed, peeled where appropriate and chopped, so you can start cooking straight away without prep at your end.

Everything is washed in potable water and peeled where the dish calls for it, then chopped in the cut you selected. The point is that you open the pack and start cooking. We do not use any chemical wash, browning inhibitor or preservative dip — because we cut within minutes of dispatch and deliver in the cool early morning, we do not need a treatment to hold appearance over days of shelf life.

How should I store the cut vegetables at home?

Quick answer

Refrigerate as soon as they arrive and use them the same day for the best texture and nutrition. Keep them sealed and cold; do not leave the pack out at room temperature.

Put the pack in the fridge as soon as it arrives and aim to cook it the same day. Cut vegetables keep best sealed and cold, and the same reasoning that drives our 10-minute cutting window applies in your kitchen too: every additional hour at a higher temperature costs texture and vitamin content. If you have to hold something to the next day, keep it at the back of the fridge rather than the door, where the temperature swings least.

⚠️Honest Note: We deliver early morning partly so the produce spends its first hours in your fridge rather than in transit. Same-day cooking is genuinely better, but a day in a cold fridge is not a disaster.

When exactly are the vegetables cut?

Why is freshly cut better than a supermarket pre-cut pack?

Are the vegetables washed and peeled?

How should I store the cut vegetables at home?

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