Photo: sxc.hu
One fruit bears the truth: the simple easy peeler. When your teeth glide through an orange segment, its exterior wet and firm, and the juices squirt onto your chin, you know you’re on to a good thing.
Bite into a dry and dusty fruit, however, and you’ll feel as though the juice has been sucked out of your body.
If a supermarket can get this right, chances are most of the fruit is good. For some reason, fair or not, I’m inclined to avoid fruit at Tesco and Dunnes – too many bad experiences – but SuperValu has never let me down. I find that Lidl and Aldi’s fruit is very reliable as well.
Of course, the best quality fruit you’ll find often comes from your local greengrocer. These shops are a threatened species, with more and more finding it difficult to compete against the might of the supermarkets which, since 2005, can sell food below cost as a way of bringing customers through the door. Aldi’s Super6 deal – a selection of fruit and veg for knockdown prices – is particularly good value.
Lots of local greengrocers offer better value than some of the supermarkets; many more are very competitive. Both fruit and vegetables can work out cheaper when they are loose, particularly as you don’t have to worry about buying more than you need, only to throw half of them out. The greengrocers have regular deals and offers. Have a look next time you’re in your main supermarket and compare the prices with your greengrocer. You might be surprised.
Readers, can you recommend a greengrocer? Or do you find them more expensive than the supermarket? Where do you find good value and quality fruit?
