Butchers, bakers etc

joedenise

I use the butchers and greengrocers from time to time but they are definitely more expensive than the supermarkets but quality is much better. Unfortunately our market is rubbish now - they sell everything bagged up just like the supermarkets and no cheaper.

My daughter has a fantastic market near where she lives and buys all her fruit and veg there. Everything is £1 or 50p a bowl. Unfortunately she doesn't live very close to me otherwise I would be visiting it more often than I do at the moment.

Denise

redfragglebiker

Our local greengrocers is about comparable on price with the supermarkets but I find everything lasts a lot longer and tastes better. The butchers however tend to be more expensive. It might be worth asking the local butcher if they do family packs or weekly packs of meat as these can sometimes work out a bit cheaper if you split it up and freeze into useable portions. Sadly when they changed hands our local butcher stopped doing them but you used to get a mix of mince, chicken portions, chops etc for about £15

ash28

We use a local butcher who is cheaper and better quality than the supermarkets...almost everything is sourced within the county...it's not organic. And he delivers for free. He also supplies a lot of the other local butchers. I was comparing his prices to those of Tesco on Mysupermarket...and he is quite a lot cheaper, though to be fair perhaps the actual meat counter is cheaper than the prepackaged meat in Tesco.

We use a farm shop for seasonal vegetables....from the farm, not one of the farm shops attached to a garden centre. Cabbages are 40p....straight from the field. Cauli is 50p.....leeks cheap, onions cheap, potatoes very cheap compared to the supermarket, and it lasts ages.

The only place that might come close for veg is the Aldi super six when the price is 49p.

The only bakers are in town - Greggs and a local baker...the local baker's stuff is lovely - not cheap though. They have a little cafe and it's my preferred coffee place...and it isn't for the quality of their coffee!!

Spendless

I think it very much depends on what is available in your area. I live in a large market town, with plenty of butchers stalls in a covered in area, and they are definitely cheaper, better quality and more knowledgeable than any of the supermarkets. We buy 90% of our meat there, stocking up once a month and freezing the meat. Fruit and veg is cheaper too, though I don't often go there as I don't go into town weekly.

suze1984

Thanks for the responses everyone! We will be attempting this way of shopping at the end of the month on the understanding he is going to trapse round the shops with me :rotfl:

I will let you all know how much we manage to get for our money and if we thought it was worth it, might also be tempted to make my own bread :T

jackyann

Good luck!

my shopping goes like this:

monthly stock up on oil, cleaning stuff, pulses, dried fruit, flour etc. at our local community wholefood store (yes we're lucky!)
twice weekly runs for fruit & veg to the 2 nearest markets (the only green grocers is amazingly expensive)
weekly / 2 weekly meat shop at a choice of about 4 really good butchers: the expensive cuts might be dearer than a supermarket but the cheaper cuts are cheaper, better quality, and cut exactly as I want them. Sausages go much further as they are tastier.
weekly fish van is comparable to the supermarket, but for smoked salmon & "caviar" I go to Lidl.
monthly farmers' market for cheese and "specials"
weekly pop-in to the Co-op for milk, tins and a few other bits & pieces
bread is home-made, some trips to bakers, and I keep by me some of the "half-baked" bread that cooks up quickly

When I am away or out of routine and pop into one of the "big 4" I am gob smacked by the cost & quality!
I would agree that I have seen some markets where the quality of fruit & veg is poor, a great shame. If you have any Asian shops nearby, they often have good qyality & value fruit & veg (and that is where I buy spices, rice & cous-cous)

dandy-candy

My local butcher and baker are more expensive than the supermarkets unfortunately. However I find fruit and veg market stalls are cheaper, so they are worth checking out.

bbq_lady

I find our local market much cheaper for fruit and veg you can get a lovely bowl of mixed veg for a pound I had a cauliflower spring cabbage carrots onion and a few new potatoes yesterday.Local butchers much more expensive than supermarket and always make my own bread.

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

Once you have tried proper food, you will not buy meat at the emporiums again!

cat_g_83

Our green grocers is fab. Great quality and cheaper. Also they have more interesting fruit and veg that you don't see at the supermarket. The butcher's is more expensive for chicken (we eat free range) but everything else is cheaper and it is a much nicer experience!