Best place for fruit and veg?

[Strider55]

Sick to the back teeth of the fruit and veg we get from Aldi being minging and wasting money buying things that just get chucked out.

Last week it was mushy pears and beetroot, this week it's horrible brown lettuce and a bag of unopened peppers-date 23rd September rotten and juicy 🤢

Does anyone else find this and can recommend where to buy nice fruit and veg? We are on a budget but can't afford to buy fruit and veg just to transfer it straight to the bin! Our local fruit and veg shop is ok but not huge, and I've had mixed experiences with things bought there as well.

M&S, I don't buy much but what I do buy is delicious and there's never any waste.

It would be worth looking to see if you have a local market that has a fruit & veg stall. We used to get ours from supermarkets but switched to our local market and never looked back really, the quality, quantity and price are far better than anything in the shops

Do you have a street market nearby? Seasonal fruit and veg is usually pretty reasonably priced.

Lidl is good for fruit and veg

I only buy fresh fruit/veg as we need it and for eating as is (e.g. salad). If I'm using it for actual cooking, I always use frozen. 500g bag of things like chopped onions, sliced mushrooms, sliced peppers, chopped spinach, diced butternut squash etc are staples in my freezer. They are inexpensive, there when I need it and zero waste. I also use the steam bags of microwave veg which are a little more cost wise but always taste fresher than any "fresh" veg that ive bought.

We use our local market , the variety and freshness is really good for fruit and vegetables , we also use the market for meat , chicken and cheese . You can build up a good relationship with the traders who will give you tips on the best produce for the time of year .

No local market unfortunately! I've tried Lidl, I can't remember what the quality was like but might also look at M&S, I know they price match some items to Aldi.

No local market for me either. I find Tesco fruit and veg generally good. Though I look carefully at oranges or satsumas in a net as sometimes there is a manly one. Tesco extra large cauliflower s are always excellent.

I buy my fruit and veg weekly in Lidl. I always remove it from the plastic packaging and keep it all in the fridge. It lasts for a week or sometimes longer.
We do decide our meals by what needs using up first though.

I usually buy what on offer and try to cook and freeze as much as possible. I also use a lot of frozen fruits and vegs. Frozen berries - I stew them with a bit of sugar and then use with yogurt or porridge. Frozen mixed vegetables are good as a side dish.
I second M&S as often they have bigger apples in a pack or extra items as a promotion.

M&S and Waitrose. I also repackage everything into airtight bags and keep it in the fridge - this considerably extends the shelf life. I find Aldi is hit and miss - I suspect it’s to do with the storage in transit or something and possibly less diligent stock control.

I also get frozen - peas, sweetcorn, spinach, choppers onions, soffrito mix and a selection of fruit for smoothies.

M&S. we also rate Ocado fruit and veg, but appreciate that’s online only

we use Lidl but I live very close so buy food 2-3 times a week

Fruit and veg shops are actually generally cheaper than you think and you can get less instead of it all being prepackaged. The only place I find it awkward is getting apples, the kids’ bags in supermarkets are handy

M&S but we also have a great stall on weekly farmers market and pop up to his farm too where he has a shed with an honesty box - eccentric but great - I found Ocado incredibly good too but only do an order about every 5 weeks- even better than in store M&S

Agree M&S

Riverford!

The market.

make sure you are buying seasonal fruit and veg, store it correctly

Our local fruit veg shop is on the too good to go app
3.39 gets u a,massive box

I buy fruit n veg from Aldi and it always seems good to me.
That said I haven't bought pears or beetroot.

Apples always last, as do bananas

Is the storage an issue. We've got a new fridge and it seems better than the old one.

Uber eats does 50% off fruit and veg on Mondays

I find Lidl and Aldi hit and miss. Some stores seem to have better stuff than others.

I find Ocado, Teso and Sainsbury fairly good. I used to rate Morrison, but our local store seems to have gone down hill, especially the apples.

I’m afraid I have to agree.

Not ignoring the fact that you’re on a budget - but quite honestly I do think you would feel your money’s better spent if you switched to a weekly veg box for seasonal stuff, and bought the rest frozen from your supermarket.

With a veg box you can either pick individual items yourself or save a few pennies by ordering a pre-set box. In all the years I’ve used them I’ve never once had a disappointing or poor quality item, and some things are revelatory. And almost everything stays good for much, much longer than the supermarket equivalent.

I don’t order anything that seems unreasonably expensive. And it’s second choice to growing my own food, which isn’t currently an option. But I don’t eat meat, and want as much nutrition as possible from everything I eat - so the food market or local grocery with all its wares set out at the side of a busy road really isn’t an attractive choice.

Is anyone else finding that potatoes look fine in the package but when you start peeling them they have a lot of black/grey potato inside them. Aldi have been circa 70 per cent waste, Tesco a bit better, Sainsbury’s slightly better still and only M and S with no waste. The M and S potatoes are only around 20p more than Aldi and less than Tesco and Sainsbury’s.