I was fed up with my fruit and veg spoiling in my fridge – now I’ve tried Lakeland’s produce boxes, my fresh food lasts twice as long

It’s incredibly irksome to go to cook dinner and discover that the fresh veg you bought just a couple of days ago has already spoiled. But having tested the Lakeland Stay Fresh Produce Keeper (£12.99), I can happily say that this is an issue I now rarely encounter.

With food prices seemingly always on the rise, I’ve never felt so committed to finding kitchen storage ideas that make food last longer. After all, you don’t want your hard-earned cash to end up quite literally in the bin.

Now I’m not going to sit here and tell you Lakeland's Stay Fresh Produce Keeps have revolutionised my life. But I do think they’re an affordable and effective way to keep your food fresher for longer. Here’s how they work.

Recently, I’ve been looking extensively for ways to extend the lifespan of my fruit and veg, and one of the biggest changes I made was where I shopped. I’m lucky enough to have a fruit and veg market on my street (which has been operating so long my mum shopped there when she was my age), and I’ve found that the fresh produce sold here is not only cheaper than what I used to get in the supermarket, but lasts way longer, too.

Paired with the Stay Fresh Produce Keeper, I found I was onto a winner. Where supermarket veg seemingly only lasted a few days in my fridge before going soggy, my market carrots and peppers (pictured below) have been sitting happily in my produce box for about a week and a half.

I’d like to point out that I haven’t just been experimenting with the lifespan of two carrots and a pepper for the past two weeks. The box was spacious enough to also house mushrooms, spinach and another two peppers, which have found their way into my meals over the last two weeks.

I have been impressed with the capacity of Lakeland’s produce boxes. You can fit loads of veg comfortably inside. My only qualm is that they are pretty bulky, and as the owner of a tiny fridge, I’ve had to be a bit clever about how I organise a fridge.

I own the 4L Produce Keeper (£12.99), and while I think the 2L Produce Keeper (£9.99) would be a handy accompaniment on another shelf, I struggle to see how the 7L Produce Keeper (£17.99) would fit. I also found the 4L box didn’t fit in my standard fruit and veg drawer, so if space isn’t a luxury, I’d recommend checking the dimensions.

Now, for how it all works. The produce keepers work as they store fruit and veg in their optimum environment. They have double layers where the inner basket acts as a colander to rinse food, while the outer basket doubles as a water reservoir.

The boxes have air vents to promote airflow, and there is even a handy day indicator, so you can check how long the veg has been in there for.

You can also use Lakeland’s StayFresh Sheets (£9.99) alongside. Lakeland claims these sheets extend the life of fruit and vegetables by up to 50%. This happens as the sheet absorbs ageing ethylene gases to slow the ripening process. They’re designed to slot perfectly into your produce keeper to extend the shelf life even further.

Honestly, I think it is the combination of buying better quality fruit and veg, as well as using a produce keeper, that has caused my fresh produce to last longer. They definitely work, and they are very affordable. If you have the space, I would recommend investing in one.