To think that if you pay a premium for 'perfectly ripe' fruit...

[AmberNectarine]

...it should be perfectly ripe? Or at the very least edible?

DS desperately wanted pears in Waitrose the other day, but they had run out of the bog standard variety. All that remained were the 'Perfectly Ripe' variety, at a princely £1.50 for 4. Ah well, thinks I, at least I won't have to wait for them to ripen and grudgingly bought them while swearing through gritted teeth.

I have just cut one up and given it to him (I know cutted up pears can be incendiary, but I took my chances). He has taken one bit, chewed it, spat it on the floor in disgust and is now studiously ignoring said overpriced pear. Therefore I have eaten a bit. Not only is it not ripe, it has somehow sucked the moisture out of my mouth.

I feel robbed. AIBU?

YANBU, I've had this with 4 very expensive plums from M+S too. I waited for about a week and a half, but they never properly ripened or became edible!

It's been annoying me for years the number of places that describe fruit as "ripe and ready to eat" when it blatantly isn't. I don't know how they get away with it under the Trade Descriptions Act.

How could they possibly know anyway if fruit was ready to eat unless they went around squeezing every avocado, nectarine, pear etc each day. It's almost impossible to find stuff like that on the day you want to eat it - some shops seem to always sell it rock hard.

Recursive - I've had that with plums from M&S never properly ripening too. And nectarines that remain hard on the outside but when you finally cut into them because you think they must be ready to eat by now, they've gone all mushy in the middle.

YANBU.

But can I ask - is it me or are Pink Lady apples really stupidly expensive? Have been craving them whilst pg and bought some the other day. Normally just chuck them in trolley but because I had gone epsecially for them I noticed the price £2.99 for 4 apples?!?! Is that normal?

Oh and I am sick of paying extra for "ripe and ready" avocados which are FAR from either so YADNBU

Take them back and demand your money back. Don't let them get away with it.

Don't get me started on avocados. I can't remember the last time I bought one that was edible, whether described as ripe or not. Same goes for mangoes. And as for "ripen at home" - never in a month of Sundays will that ripen, no matter what it is.

I would take them back - Waitrose offer a refund and replace or double refund if you are not happy with the quality.

Has anyone seen the bags of odd apples in Waitrose? Helping the apple growers and because they're not what supermarkets would call 'perfect' are cheaper and you get more per bag. Think they should be pushing these more.

on the other fruit question, how is it that the hard plums etc are always cleverly marketed as 'ripen at home' - someone came up with a good one there!

I'd be more disgusted at my son spitting food out onto the floor, to be honest.

In his defence he is 21 months, but he was reprimanded. I nearly spat it on the floor, it was the only appropriate response. Right, I need Chorizo so will take them back!

Take them back. The pears haven't been conditioned properly by the supplier so they shouldn't have gone in the pack. I supply produce to Waitrose and it can go wrong sometimes. They won't know if you don't say anything to customer services.

BTW... 'ripen at home' means 'we've bought the cheapest, hardest, nastiest crapola on the market and we're trying to market our way out of a bad decision'. e.g. Italian kiwifruit in November. Bloody awful.

"is it me or are Pink Lady apples really stupidly expensive?"

They are very expensive.. circa £3/kilo. The Pink Lady brand means the fruit is grown under licence, and high demand means a premium can be charged. The varietal name is 'Cripps Pink' so if you see those on sale without the Pink Lady branding, they're basically the same thing.

Ahhhhh - thanks for the tip :) they are delicious but I thought it seems very pricey for apples!

Yes, that was my point about 'Ripen at Home' Cogito !

My children call Pink Lady apples 'Fizzy apples'

Iceland do pink lady apples, 4 for £1 I think if that helps?

God that's good hairy - there isn't one near me though :(

I've had the same with mangoes, which, when they finally do ripen taste like they have been frozen and then defrosted.

Our local market has Pink Lady apples at approx 65p per pound (£1.50 a kilo) and their fruit is generally ripe. The clue is Supermarket. They order a vast amount that has to go to a central depot before nationwide shipping and sitting in the supermarket stock room and on shelves so they have to allow for that

Without wanting to sound totally up my own arse and probably failing , this is why I buy mainly in season.
Every time I give in to the imported "ripe and ready", I have hard, unripe fruit that cost a fortune and ends up in the bin.

Netto you make perfect sense - unfortunately DS is pear mad at the moment...

I'm peach mad, I adore peaches, but other than in summer, they will be hard and horrid, no matter what the label.
(And yes, I know peaches are never local to Scotland!)

Supermarket fruit is rank and often inedible.
Pears, strawberries, avocados, nectarines....the list goes on...so many times I have bought these and they have NEVER become ripe or are so lacking in flavour or have an unpleasant texture and are inedible. Avocados are particularly bad. I've virtually stopped buying them as it's nearly impossible to get a good, tasty, non-stringy one that ripens nicely.
Makes me cross - I hate wasting food and I do not have money to throw away. Nor do I have time to traipse back to the supermarket to take it back.
Don't even get me started on them not supporting British growers of apples etc!

Grrr.

One tip is if you have a decent Asian supermarket near you often their fruit is very good, better than supermarkets.