cheapest way to buy fresh fruit and veg?

kingfisherblue

*zippy* wrote: »

We are going to try a local food co-op next week week that is run from our community centre once a week, £3 per bag of fruit and veg so hopefully they are good value, anyone know if families can have 2 bags? There seem to be a lot of then around now so might be worth investigating.

I use our local food co-op every week. We pay £3.50 for a bag of fruit, veg, or salad. We don't get any choice of contents, but can order as many bags as we like.

This week's contents were:
VEG:
bag of spuds
large head of broccoli
cauliflower
parsnips
carrots
2 onions

FRUIT:
4x apples
4x pears
3x bananas
1x pineapple
4x small oranges
2x sharon fruit

The fruit and veg is always fresh and lasts for quite a while. Apples are eaten very slowly in our house!

My sister doesn't live close enough for me to get her fruit and veg, so she was delighted to find last week that there is now a co-op scheme near her. She works full time, but the scheme is operating in the hospital building where she works (not sure about the main hospital though). It's slightly more expensive at £4 a bag, and I don't know what she gets yet, but the example she was shown was enough to convince her to give it a try.

To make veg last longer, we peel, chop and steam it, then freeze in single sized portions - handy for when my daughter gets home from a shift and wants something quick from the freezer.

sharond101

I find Tesco rarely has offers on fruit and vegetables which I find appealing. Asda are more regular with bags of apples/satsumas/melons/strawberries etc on offer at £1. There cucumbers have been 50p for ages and their lettuce, celery and spring onions have recently been this price too. 3 peppers are only £1.

I like Aldi too and check out their Super 6 offers. SOmetimes though Asda are cheaper.

Both times I have bought from a local fruit/veg stall the apples were soft not crunchy and the grapes were squidgy.

*zippy*

Thank you Kingfisher for listing your co-op bag, that is excellent value and and contains much more than I thought, can't wait to try ours now.

MrsE_2

kingfisherblue wrote: »

I use our local food co-op every week. We pay £3.50 for a bag of fruit, veg, or salad. We don't get any choice of contents, but can order as many bags as we like.

This week's contents were:
VEG:
bag of spuds
large head of broccoli
cauliflower
parsnips
carrots
2 onions

FRUIT:
4x apples
4x pears
3x bananas
1x pineapple
4x small oranges
2x sharon fruit

The fruit and veg is always fresh and lasts for quite a while. Apples are eaten very slowly in our house!

My sister doesn't live close enough for me to get her fruit and veg, so she was delighted to find last week that there is now a co-op scheme near her. She works full time, but the scheme is operating in the hospital building where she works (not sure about the main hospital though). It's slightly more expensive at £4 a bag, and I don't know what she gets yet, but the example she was shown was enough to convince her to give it a try.

To make veg last longer, we peel, chop and steam it, then freeze in single sized portions - handy for when my daughter gets home from a shift and wants something quick from the freezer.

I'm pretty sure there is nothing like that near me - I wish there was.
We have the expensive Able & Cole or Riverford farm boxes & thats it.

surfsister

where I live the market is very cheap big dog bowls of produce for a quid and at the end of the day two bowls!! I've come away with 50 bananas for a quid and all OK. Or if not grow some easy ones such as lettuce in a salad tray and basil is easy, produces oodles of plants from one packet - buy for 10p when Wilkinsons sell the of in the autumn.

Or go to asda when they sell veg of for 10p a pack at 9 pm in mine.

BAGGY

I go to our local Turkish food shop. 5kg of beef toms which tast like real toms) are about £3. 4 cues for a pound. Peppers by weight. Lemons/limes 10 for £1. Even apples are cheaper per kg adn you don't have to buy a bag of 8. Best of all it is opposite Lidl so I can do a price comparison.

dasophster

BAGGY wrote: »

I go to our local Turkish food shop. 5kg of beef toms which tast like real toms) are about £3. 4 cues for a pound. Peppers by weight. Lemons/limes 10 for £1. Even apples are cheaper per kg adn you don't have to buy a bag of 8. Best of all it is opposite Lidl so I can do a price comparison.

Same here. Everyone in our area goes there as fruit and veg is considerably cheaper than the Sainsbury's nearby and mostly of considerably superior quality, the only exception being Bananas that are £1.10kg! You'll find many Asian shops are the same xx

mrsjanebanbury2009

I agree with posters regarding local Turkish/Iranian/Greek/Asian grocers - buy in season and it's brilliantly cheap and very tasty. Beautiful tomatoes 79p a kilo at the moment, cucumbers 3 for £1. Also really good for tasty bread, cheese, olives, dates, etc etc - I shop there as much as I can and just go to the supermarket for non-food items and drinks.

elliebear15

Thanks so much everyone for your suggestions, good to know I am not alone in my struggles.
So far the co-op bag is looking most interesting, but also I will do some leg work and look around the local supermarkets to see when they start putting produce out reduced/short dated.
Can anyone please tell me the best way to find out if there is a food co-operative in my local area?

kingfisherblue

Hi Ellie, if you google 'food co-operatives', there are several sites with details of local food co-ops around the country. If you can't find anything near you, you could ask the council or library if they know of anywhere.

In my town, the largest social housing provider operates the co-ops, but you don't have to live in one of their properties to buy from them. They have several venues around the town, and all are open on Wednesday only (their delivery day is Tuesday, and volunteers have to bag up everything for delivery to the venues).

In this weeks bags I have received:

VEG:
cauliflower (bigger than the tiddlers in the supermarkets)
broccoli
bag of new potatoes
3x large carrots
2x leeks
2x sweet potatoes

FRUIT:
4x apples
4x bananas
4x satsumas
6x plums
8x apricots
pineapple

My mum's friend will enjoy the pineapple as I am severely allergic to it (I carry an Epipen as it causes swelling round my mouth). No one in the family eats pineapple in case I have a reaction - just a kiss from one of the kids could land me in hospital. I'd much rather pass it on to somebody who will enjoy it.

Good luck finding your local co-op for fruit and veg. If there isn't one near you, there is information about setting one up in the links on Google. Those who volunteer for our scheme receive a free bag of fruit and a free bag of veg each week.