Trap Fruits is next in our Local Heroes series, where we big up the people, small businesses and neighbourhood spots that make London great. Set up by Peigh Asante (who’s also a creative and co-founder of Swim Dem Crew) and Baff Addae (who’s also a footballer), Trap Fruits is a community greengrocers that delivers fresh fruit across London, with boxes available as one-offs or weekly and fortnightly.
As Londoners with Ghanaian heritage, Peigh and Baff reflect the two cultures in their boxes, by packing them with British classics like apples and cherries and Afro-Caribbean produce like plantain and custard apples. “Trap Fruits really started organically, we started buying fruit for ourselves and our immediate family and it grew from there” says Peigh. Seeing custard apples for sale at a fiver a pop in Peckham led Peigh to go direct to the wholesaler and the idea for the business grew from there. Things started to take off just as the pandemic hit, which was “tough but exciting in equal measure”, with Trap Fruits making access to fruits and to healthy eating simple at a time when it was sorely needed. “We’re still in our infancy and each day is an education – we’re really learning as we go,” says Peigh.
The core of the business is the fruit delivery, although they also “offer up catering services and have a residency market stall at Lower Stable Street Market in Kings Cross”, but Trap Fruits is as much about building a community as it is about selling apples and bananas. “One of the highlights was seeing how the community came together to help feed families over the autumn half term. It was just amazing to see what could happen when we all come together, ” says Peigh.
The aim for 2021 and beyond is to continue the growth of the community “and for people include Trap Fruits London as part of their weekly buying routine.” And there are some particular fruits he’s excited to get into the boxes and out to people, “we’re currently in mango season and the mangoes we have in the boxes right now are to die for!! I’m also looking forward to summer and cherry season. Cherries are an interesting one it’s almost a full-circle moment for me. The estate I grew up on was called Cherry Orchard and that was also the name of my first ever school, so, I’ve got an emotional attachment to them.“
Aside from fruit Peigh’s also shouting out “Sisterwoman vegan, a social enterprise exploring wellness through food; Jeniel Fraser, a pastry chef from South London and also the first-ever chef we collaborated with; and Olive and Pickle, they’re from south-London, young mums and they do really amazing grazing boxes.”