The price of watermelon and rockmelon!

Christine_72

I'm guilty of not paying attention and not checking my shopping docket.. But yesterday i went to the store to pick up a few things and my groceries came to $50. So i checked the docket when i got home, and the quarter watermelon i bought was $12 and a whole rockmelon (cantaloupe) was $8. I just about fell off my chair, and it has put me off of buying any more purely on principle! I have been having both for an afternoon snack everyday for the past few weeks and i really look forward to it, i may have to cut waay down. It's summer here so fruit should be cheaper.

Is this a ridiculous price for fruit, or am i overreacting?

JTlivez

Eh, it varies by country and where you get it from (outdoor market, super market etc). That seems like a bit too much in my opinion, however others might think that price sounds right.

neldabg

Yeah. That's too high a price for fruit. I'd definitely try and look for other grocery stores with a better deal, look for coupons, or switch to cheaper fruit for now.

jemhh

That is pretty pricey!

One time my husband was going to the grocery so I asked him to get some grapes if they had them. He came home with and said he never knew that grapes were so expensive. I looked at the receipt and he had bought a bag of almost 3 lbs of grapes at $5.99/lb , which meant they came to over $17. It hadn't occurred to me to tell him what a good price for grapes would be. They usually go on sale for $1.99-$2.49/lb.

zyxst

Yes, even in the off season it's too high. Cantaloupe is about $6 each here (food is shipped in). There's not much watermelon.

Christine_72

I think i'm going to scout around the fruit and veg shops in future instead of the local grocery stores!

Christine_72

jemhh wrote: »

That is pretty pricey!

One time my husband was going to the grocery so I asked him to get some grapes if they had them. He came home with and said he never knew that grapes were so expensive. I looked at the receipt and he had bought a bag of almost 3 lbs of grapes at $5.99/lb , which meant they came to over $17. It hadn't occurred to me to tell him what a good price for grapes would be. They usually go on sale for $1.99-$2.49/lb.

Ha I've done that before, but this time i was watching the cash register. I politely told the checkout girl that she could keep them

ShammersPink

Enjoy the melon!.

The worst is, when something is overly pricey, and then you manage to let it go off.

That has happened for me with soft fruit, which is expensive, and has a short life. It's my partner's favourite fruit (raspberries especially), but his lifestyle can be quite erratic, and I'll get some, and then he won't be home in time to want dessert for several days in a row, so we will waste some.

I hate that.

It's tricky though, because I'm trying to make it possible for him to get his 5-a-day, and he doesn't get much while he's out - just a minuscule amount of salad in his sandwich.

tiptoethruthetulips

Been a tough year in Australia for fruit and veg, drought in some locations, floods in others - I am not surprised its expensive.

amusedmonkey

This would be rediculous where I live. I refuse to buy berries because they go for $5 for 125 grams. Watermelon in the summer get as cheap as $1 for a 4-5 kilo watermelon, so we buy it often. It's okay to not buy on principle. As much as I enjoy berries, I feel robbed buying them.

crzycatlady1

Ouch! With it being off season I don't think you can even get a whole watermelon here but cantaloupe are around $3-$4 right now. You can also buy watermelon pieces/slices (deli department preps them) and it's $3-$4 for a 2lb container. Right now apples are still the in-season thing and I can get 3lb bags for between $1-$3 depending on the week. Whole pineapples are around a dollar right now too, but I don't know what I'd do with one?

lemurcat12

I never buy melon out of season so dunno, but that would be very high here for in season (much more than I've ever seen, but who knows with exchange rate and all that). Melon is quite cheap in season IME.

I know it's in season for you, so I assume it depends on local stuff.

Christine_72

I got ripped off! The watermelon was $4.50 per kilo (2.2lbs). I passed by the fruit and veggie shop and rockmelons were $4 and watermelon $1.99 per kg, so I'll be going there from now on.

$12 aud = $8 US. My watermelon weighed 3.6kg =7.9lb. You guys do the rest of the math

williams969

I only buy melons in season. I know you're in Australia, OP, so I'm guessing they should be in season now, or very soon. But, that's too expensive, IMO. Or I'm spoiled by living very close to California and Mexico, where those are abundantly available.

Watermelon $0.29/lb and $0.59/lb for cantaloupe/other melons are the typical summer prices here. That translates to about $5- $8 for a whole, giant watermelon and $2- $3 per for other melons.

Christine_72

williams969 wrote: »

I only buy melons in season. I know you're in Australia, OP, so I'm guessing they should be in season now, or very soon. But, that's too expensive, IMO. Or I'm spoiled by living very close to California and Mexico, where those are abundantly available.

Watermelon $0.29/lb and $0.59/lb for cantaloupe/other melons are the typical summer prices here. That translates to about $5- $8 for a whole, giant watermelon and $2- $3 per for other melons.

Wow, I'd be taking full advantage of those prices if i lived there

williams969

Christine_72 wrote: »

williams969 wrote: »

I only buy melons in season. I know you're in Australia, OP, so I'm guessing they should be in season now, or very soon. But, that's too expensive, IMO. Or I'm spoiled by living very close to California and Mexico, where those are abundantly available.

Watermelon $0.29/lb and $0.59/lb for cantaloupe/other melons are the typical summer prices here. That translates to about $5- $8 for a whole, giant watermelon and $2- $3 per for other melons.

Wow, I'd be taking full advantage of those prices if i lived there

We do! We moved to Las Vegas from the northern Midwest of the US, where local produce was only available/cheap for a couple weeks a year (Wisconsin is all about the corn, hay, and dairy cows. Well, there's apples and cranberries there, too, but I don't like them).

Machka9

Last time I checked, here in Tasmania, half rockmelons were going for about $2.50, and I thought that was over-priced.

Christine_72

Machka9 wrote: »

Last time I checked, here in Tasmania, half rockmelons were going for about $2.50, and I thought that was over-priced.

@Machka9 Do you have Foodland down there? Thats where i bought them from.

I could have made a whole Pavlova for that price

Machka9

No ... we get our stuff in Woollies, Coles, Hill Street (an IGA, I think) or Salamanca Fresh.

livingleanlivingclean

I buy organic melon for less than that where I am.... And non organic melon, especially water melon is generally cheap. What part of Australia are you in?

Christine_72

livingleanlivingclean wrote: »

I buy organic melon for less than that where I am.... And non organic melon, especially water melon is generally cheap. What part of Australia are you in?

S.A

Machka9

Of the places I listed, the Hill Street place (about half a km from where I live, so I walk there) and the Salamanca Fresh place (about 1 km from where I work, so I walk there too) both have quite good quality produce for reasonable prices.

I'll often wander down to Salamanca Fresh on a Monday at lunch and pick up my fruit for work for the week there.

Christine_72

Machka9 wrote: »

Of the places I listed, the Hill Street place (about half a km from where I live, so I walk there) and the Salamanca Fresh place (about 1 km from where I work, so I walk there too) both have quite good quality produce for reasonable prices.

I'll often wander down to Salamanca Fresh on a Monday at lunch and pick up my fruit for work for the week there.

Foodland and woolies are less than 5 minutes from my house. The fruit and veg shop is around a 10 minute drive, but it will be worth the savings to make the trip.

Lol i just realised i called doing a 10 minute drive "a trip". It's only because we're bang in the middle and walking distance to the major supermarkets, and I'm not used to driving far for groceries.