The Good Business Issue

To reduce food waste, Misfits Market specializes in ugly organics, odd meat cuts and overstock packaged goods. Now it needs to scale its unusual supply chain way, way up

- Andrew Zaleski

If you’re like us, you need an occasional reminder that there are actually some positive developments in the world. Our ninth annual Good Business issue provides just that, with a look at individuals, companies and nonprofits tackling some extreme challenges, including the plight of migrants, racial and gender inequality, food waste, deforestation and child labor. We also examine efforts to hold companies to account—including a professor’s list that identifies those that dragged their heels on exiting Russia after its invasion of Ukraine and a snapshot of US corporate settlements and penalties issued since 2008. As the cost of next to everything goes up, it’s never been more important for businesses to show they’re doing more than maximizing shareholder returns.

As pandemic business booms go, Misfits Market has had a particularly steep curve. The Philadelphia-based online grocer, which specializes in bruised, lumpy or otherwise screwball organic produce, was already growing nicely by March 2020. It had steadily climbed from 600 square feet of storage space, consisting of two industrial refrigerators tucked inside a tiny garage in North Philly, all the way to a 140,000-square-foot warehouse in South Jersey. It had 90,000  customers and was shipping boxes of food to people living as far north as Maine, as far south as Florida and as far west as Illinois. And then: the lockdowns. “My first thought was, ‘We’re going to have to shut down the warehouse, and our revenue’s going to go to zero,’ ” recalls Abhi Ramesh, Misfits’ 30-year-old founder and chief executive officer.