One former employee recalled a point during the pandemic when Imperfect wasn't able to source enough carrots - a staple grocery item. Imperfect was at the mercy of what didn't sell elsewhere. ![]() Selling only surplus and scratch-and-dent food is not enough to run a full-service grocer, former employees told Insider. 'There's only so much ugly stuff you can buy'Īs shoppers emptied grocery-store shelves and online grocery orders shot up in 2020, Imperfect rode the pandemic surge.īut insiders say Imperfect couldn't keep up with its original mission, let alone its loftier sales goals. Behn, Simon, and Chesler did not respond to Insider's request for comment. Imperfect declined to respond to Insider's request for comment for this story. Imperfect also recruited talent from retailers like Trader Joe's and Amazon to match its wider range of products. Chesler served as the chief innovation officer until 2020 and remains on the company's board. In 2019, Philip Behn, who'd formerly worked at Walmart and McKinsey, replaced Simon as CEO when Simon stepped down because of health reasons. Customers and employees could feel good about how much food the company had diverted from landfills. Imperfect "attracted people who were drawn to sustainable things," said an employee who joined under Simon and left the company recently. ![]() Imperfect's offerings varied depending on the harvests of its growers and suppliers. Imperfect's founders Ben Simon and Ben Chesler started by selling fruits and vegetables that didn't meet supermarkets' standards, often because they were small or discolored. It has also lost two CEOs, half its C-suite, and its pandemic sales bump. Six years and $239 million in funding later, the company has lost its way, seven employees who left within the past year said. Imperfect Produce launched in 2015 as a crowdfunded startup with a mission to eliminate food waste. The article below, originally published in October 2021, investigates how Imperfect faltered after early success, as well as how the company strayed from its early focus on fighting food waste. Like many grocery delivery startups, Imperfect saw sales balloon early in the pandemic as shoppers looked for ways to buy food from home. Some Imperfect Foods executives will join Misfits' leadership team. Misfits CEO Abhi Ramesh will lead the combined company, which expects to reach $1 billion in sales and reach profitability by 2024.
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