Why buy strawberries at supermarkets?

thor

Anyone notice how the price of strawberries has come down as it normally does this time of year in the local markets yet the supermarkets are still selling the 400g punnets(which used to be 454g) at £1.99 which is supposedly half price?
The tesco here has a market on it's doorstep where you can get the same punnet for 99p with a pot of cream thrown in. Yet the supermarkets are still able to sell at more than double the price. There must be a lot of zombieifed shoppers out there!:eek:

paulwf

Proper greengrocers and market stalls have always been cheaper than supermarkets for produce.

So why do people buy strawberries from supermarkets? At least in my town it is because the supermarkets have won, they don't have competition any more. The medium sized town I live in only has one greengrocer tucked away in an arcade and their produce isn't worth buying.

The busy suburb I live in lost its greengrocer a couple of years ago because a Tesco Express and Co Op Local opened up. An independent store does a few bits but doesn't have enough turnover to make sure everything is fresh. The Tesco and Co Op express stores hardly have any produce range, and half the produce shelves in Tesco are empty and the produce in Co Op is well past its best.

So much for the healthy eating initiatives...the in town supermarkets have driven out the competition then reduced their produce ranges as ready meals are far far more profitable.

fozziebeartoo

I bought strawberries yesterday from a fruit and veg stall - 3 punnets for a £1.00......BARGAIN!!

Except......they are sooooo sour they cannot be eaten "as is" and got up this morning and they are moudly already.

So my bargain is no bargain after all :mad:

At least with Sainsburys and Tesco I can eat them (the main reason to by them after all :rotfl:) and they aren't white and furry and rotten in less than 24 hours!

OrkneyStar

thor wrote: »

Anyone notice how the price of strawberries has come down as it normally does this time of year in the local markets yet the supermarkets are still selling the 400g punnets(which used to be 454g) at £1.99 which is supposedly half price?
The tesco here has a market on it's doorstep where you can get the same punnet for 99p with a pot of cream thrown in. Yet the supermarkets are still able to sell at more than double the price. There must be a lot of zombieifed shoppers out there!:eek:

Being as it is too early to grow strawbs up here and we have no markets, then us in the Northern Isles have to be 'zombified' and buy supermarket ones if we (or our two year old DS's!) want any strawberries.
Remember not everyone has the same resources available to them!

Claire_Bear

We're lucky in that we have a big market with loads of different fruit and veg stalls on every Saturday and Wednesday in the town where I work, and another one every Saturday and Tuesday near where we live. Like Fozziebear said, in Summer you can get 3 punnets for a quid and they're usually good if you eat them straight away (see the thread in Warnings about strawberries going off), whereas it's about £3 for one punnet in the supermarkets and they're the 'uniform' ones. We're lucky to have something like that locally though

LittleMissAspie

fozziebeartoo wrote: »

I bought strawberries yesterday from a fruit and veg stall [...] got up this morning and they are moudly already.

This is what happened to me last summer when they were in season, I had to throw them all away. And it's why I wouldn't bother buying from a market again, the supermarket ones last a few days so I have time to eat them.

geordie_joe

thor wrote: »

Anyone notice how the price of strawberries has come down as it normally does this time of year in the local markets yet the supermarkets are still selling the 400g punnets(which used to be 454g) at £1.99 which is supposedly half price?

Morrisons have been selling strawberries at half price, but they are the last of the season from spain and they only lasted a day or two before going mouldy.

I went into Morrisons this morning and the are now selling english strawberries from kent. They are twice the price but the difference is amazing. They looked a lot fresher and the smell was great. You couldn't smell the spanish ones, but the english ones have a great smell.

babs2008

I rarely buy strawberries unless they are cheap, but isn't half of it down to convenience. If I had to go to a market I would have to pay for parking and extra petrol, so that would balance the total cost out. I usually go for what's on offer in Aldi or Lidl and hate to pay more unless I need to (I sound like a scrooge).

jenniewb

Why buy strawberrys at the supermarket? Because when I hit the supermarket its often just gone 11pm and the markets are all closed. Had I bought strawberrys earlier in the day they'd have not lasted the journey home

jenniewb

Why buy strawberrys at the supermarket? Because when I hit the supermarket its often just gone 11pm and the markets are all closed. Had I bought strawberrys earlier in the day they'd have not lasted the journey home

Lisaberry

I would love to support local traders but the last local greengrocers recently became another foreign foodshop.

With 2 small children unfortunately convenience wins out. That and it's only the supermarkets nowadays that don't charge £1 an hour to park!

When I was little the fruit and veg man used to drive round in his van and everyone in the street would pop outside to buy their goods. Aaah the good old days!