Market vs Supermarket?

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 I used to waste money by buying veg from Tesco because it would go out of date or rotten within a few days.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.

jenniewb

I think you have to try and try again with markets. You learn to find the stalls which have decent products and those that don't. Those that don't let you touch the display and then take your order from a hidden box always sound alarm bells- if I wanted to shop like that I'd go to a supermarket and buy a bag of apples, not ask someone else to do a lucky dip for me!

I do find products don't last as long but accept this is due to them not being kept in the same way. Fresh produce from supermarkets is picked then kept in very unnatural conditions, some frozen in various substances (not always ice) others treated with chemicals but most kept in ways that you wouldn't get in nature and this does prolong the life of the food. Stuff at market stalls tends to be bought from huge farmers depots and not kept in such supermarket/perfect conditions and so they begin to decay where as supermarket foods are being kept frozen in time. If you want the more authentic, cheaper priced stuff, you have to be prepared to compromise and if possible, shop a few times a week rather then just once a week for fresh foods.

But a few tips:
Look for foods which are in season, they tend to fare better and are more likely to have a high turn over and so be fresher then other foods. Fresher = can last longer.

As soon as you get home, put everything bar bananas and peaches/plums/tomatos in the fridge (bananas will go black in the fridge, peaches and plums need to ripen but if they are already very ripe then do chill them.)

Vegetables can be frozen. Wash them first- it will save you extra hassel later as they can then be cooked straight from frozen. I prefer to prepare vegetables before freezing, chopping, topping and tailing etc, it just saves me time.

Only buy what you know you are going to eat. Preplan your meals, know what your going to cook, don't expect ideas to suddenly arrive in your mind. Unless your a chef or are used to being inspired by the insides of your kitchen, after a long days work and possible hellish journey home, wondering what to cook can feel like the last thing on your mind so you head for the easiest option, leaving many vegetables behind and ending up needing to throw it away.

Learn what perishes first, use it up first. Don't buy a whole load of will-only-last-two-days vegetables if you are not goint to eat it.

And if in doubt, ask! The stall owners will want to sell to you and make you happy so you come back for more. Ask them what they think will last longer, how to keep it, what to look for if its gone bad. In some cases outter leaves can look bad but the insides are still fine. You don't know this unless you ask.