Market vs Supermarket?

passatrider

I bought 1kg of steak mince form our local butchers recently and was charged £6.50. The same price as our local Tesco, but his was far more superior!

I never buy meat from supermarkets now if i can help it..

charlie-chan

I used to go to the market for small bits and pieces (one carrot or one cauliflower) but after last week where I bought five large maris piper new potatoes and a medium sized carrot for 51p in total.

Prior to that, I had bought some apples from a different veg stall and I put them in the fridge as soon as I had gotten home. They lasted me two weeks and only cost me £1.50 for five apples . I know that I can buy a bag of apples from Tesco for around that price but I never eat them all.

I am now converted to buying stuff from the market as its cheaper and lasts longer. I used to waste money by buying veg from Tesco because it would go out of date or rotten within a few days.

enevel

Markets vary a lot from area to area, but bear in mind stall holders will generally stock what they think will sell, at a price that will sell. (ie. artisan basket weaved courgetes for a fiver may be all the rage in Islington, but you're more likely to get cheap spuds in Sunderland).

The main thing is that market stall-holders are more likely to stock stuff they can get a deal on, which tends to mean stuff that is in season. They also tend to get produce from farm to buyer a fair bit quicker than supermarkets, so comparable produce will generally last longer. And there are fewer packaging costs (never understood the phenomenon of plastic-wrapped broccoli in supermarkets).

They are also less likely to stock some of the supermarket-specific produce that has been developed to be bruise free while it is shunted around the country in Eddie Stobart trucks for days on end (and, therefore, usually taste free as well). Remember: shelf life doesn't always equal quality. (A friend bought some supermarket plums which were taste-free. As an experiment he left them in the fruit bowl: four weeks later they were showing no signs of decay - they may as wel have been plastic. The market ones he bought were delicious, but lasted only a few days - like soft fruit is supposed to).

I mostly gave up supermarket shopping years back (due to both quality and price). Fruit, veg, fish & dairy all now comes from my local market. On making the change, my weekly food bill went down by 80%. Yes down 80%. Much of that is due to less reliance on ready meals and more on cooking from fresh. But I reckon, locally at least, produce is at least 30% cheaper on the market than in Sainsbury's or Tesco.

DKLS

Just keep a close eye on some market traders, I stopped going to leeds market as the F&V sellers would have beautiful fresh produce out front but would often fill a bag from the old stock out of sight. Ensure you pick your own.

adelight

I've found that the smaller the market and stall, the better the fruit and veg is. In Birmingham the market is really big and there's loads of room for sellers to take veg from the back and most stuff is "buy tonnes for pennis because you need to eat it today". But at the market in Kingston most of the time you help yourself to what you want from the front, there's only room at the bag for the expensive stuff they don't want dropped and the odd box of tomatoes that have a price to reflect that they're almost off.
If something is dirt cheap in big quantities it'll generally go off in a few days, but you can always get seasonal bargains and good quality for a reasonable price.

ska_lover

HI there,
I live in Leicester too Kippers, and have never had any problems with the fruit and veg off the market. I guess it depends on which stall holder you go to, as there are so many to choose from arent there

WhiteHorse

It depends on the market, but basic vegetables are usually cheaper. Quality-wise, markets usually win hands down.
Meat is another matter. In my experience, these mobile vans usually sell poor quality meat. Supermarket meat is pretty dismal too, so you would be better finding a small independent butcher. Watch out for Farmers Markets as these can be expensive, but the quality is usually far superior.

book-lover_2

As others have said, it does depend on the market. There's a market local to where I live, where they sell lovely fruit and veg for much cheaper than the supermarkets. And if the man is getting read to pack up and go home, he'll often throw a few things in for free. I bought some pears and apples from him recently and he gave me two whole bunches of lovely grapes for nothing.

wannabe_sybil

Like DKLS I have also shopped at Leeds market.

There is one fruit and veg stall near the fish stalls on the inside which I have found reliable, and the fruit and veg nearest the indoor market on the side of the police station is also good.

I have found that the trick is to take your time and go to the stalls that are the busiest. Do test purchases first.

Also do not get carried away with bargains so that you cannot carry/use up all that you get.

MrsE_2

kippers wrote: »

(I'm sure there has been threads on this subject before somewhere)

I live in Leicester and they market is hugh. However, everytime i have bought from the market i seem to get veg that only lasts a day or two and rotten stuff in the bottem of the bag, so i stopped shopping there.

I found that, its cheap but goes off tgo quick, so works out more.