I've ordered 9 times from Martie, and I love it. I think what they're doing is fantastic, and it pains me to write a review as I'd really prefer to gatekeep it. I like the majority of products I've tried, and despite a couple of minor product issues (I would rate 4.5 stars instead of 5 if I could), I will continue to order pantry items etc. from Martie. Any issues I've had have been resolved, which is of course annoying, but personally I think it's worth it as I enjoy giving startups a chance to fix issues and better themselves/the consumer experience when their overall mission is for sustainability and affordability. I've saved a lot of money using Martie and also gotten to try healthy products (I'm typically gluten/dairy/soy free), but with any discount shop, there will be a few pitfalls.
Examples -
- Care in packaging has gone down hill - everything used to be extremely well packed/wrapped up (like, glass jars wrapped individually in brown gridded paper), but in my most recent order, all the items were just thrown into the box haphazardly, resulting in 2 soup cartons getting damaged
- Sometimes products are not actually good/tasty - but this can happen with any grocery purchase/experience and isn't exclusive to Martie. Just try to do research before buying.
- I've ordered skincare that arrived unusable (like one face wash was separated inside the bottle and had to be thrown away)
- Their website mission is to sell quality food, and "never sell products with harmful ingredients," but some of the brands are definitely mainstream and not good for you. For example, right now on the site you can find Skittles Cotton Candy, with ingredients including "Sugar, Natural And Artificial Flavors, Artificial Color Fdc Red #40." You can also find a somewhat random box of "Cookie Crush Christmas Tree Cookies" made of "Enriched Bleached Wheat Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Sugar, Vegetable Shortening (Palm Oil), Water, Corn Sugar, Nonpareils (Sugar, Corn Starch, Red 3, Confectioner’s Glaze, Carnauba Wax, Yellow 5, Blue 1, Yellow 6, Red 40), Natural and Artificial Flavor (Milk), Salt, Soy Lecithin (Emulsifier), Sodium Bicarbonate, Yellow 5, Yellow 5 Lake, Blue 1 Lake, Blue 1." So I think this company mission is misleading, as not all the products on the website are quality.
Regardless, Martie has given me the opportunity to learn about and try new, healthy products at affordable prices, and I can just opt out of ordering the Skittles. You can too!
*updated review with a photo of my recent haul!
