Cheap fruit in the uk! Can anyone help?!

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jesz124
jesz124 Posts: 1,004 Member
in Food and Nutrition
This is a question for uk based MFP members. I get through quite a bit of fruit and seem to find myself visiting asda far too often to buy fresh fruit! Also it's so expensive as pretty much everything is out of season at the moment :-( I'm wondering where the cheapest place is to buy fresh fruit? Are lidl or aldi etc actually much cheaper than the leading supermarkets?
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  • Givemewings
    Givemewings Posts: 864 Member
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  • jst1986
    jst1986 Posts: 204 Member
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    Have to give another vote for a local market. You probably don't get the most 'attractive' fruit but its usually a lot cheaper, especially if you try and stick with in-season fruit and veg. In my experience places like Lidl are cheap too but it doesnt tend to last as long as when you get it home.
  • mumreeder
    mumreeder Posts: 222 Member
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    If you have an Aldi near you they are really cheap - they also do 69p deals for fruit/veg that is in season - and on the whole their fruit and veg it a lot cheaper than the super markets - my friend is vegetarian and gets through tons of fruit and veg and always gets hers there.
  • teshiburu
    teshiburu Posts: 262 Member
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    Local farm shops are usually a good shout as well for fruit and veg, it all depends where you live i suppose
  • Izzwoz
    Izzwoz Posts: 348 Member
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    Local markets are great for in season stuff, I also boost my fresh fruit with some frozen - mostly berries for breakfast and for using in smoothies, they are great and won't go off!
    Another trick, if your supermarket is on the way home, is to go shopping at the end of the day - tons of prepackaged fruit gets reduced because it will be out of date the next day but is still fine to eat.

    I used to buy fruit and veg at Lidl, but they went off so quickly, I didn't even get a chance to use them. Not sure if that was just bad luck, but it happened so many times that I stopped buying fresh stuff there.
  • pinky_pinkster
    pinky_pinkster Posts: 56 Member
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    I would say definitely Aldi or Lidl - much cheaper. Or Grocers on the high the street can be cheaper - the small independent ones. :wink:
  • lozadee
    lozadee Posts: 89 Member
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    Id also vote against lidl and aldi as it doesnt last, aldi is nice if your eating it that day but the next day its really sour and browning.

    I buy single stuff rather than bags becuase i cant limit the damaged bumps and bruises ect!

    Can you buy stuff make big pots of your meal and freeze it so its ready when you need it but still quality produce?

    Similarly frozen veg and fruit as someone else said is good :)
  • KarenJanine
    KarenJanine Posts: 3,497 Member
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    I would say definitely Aldi or Lidl - much cheaper. Or Grocers on the high the street can be cheaper - the small independent ones. :wink:


    This. There was a documentary a couple of weeks back saying how the supermarket prices on F&V are so much higher than independent green grocers and markets. I'm also fond of Lidl and Aldi F&V. Great prices and good quality too. Never had any problems with them.
  • A01fe
    A01fe Posts: 15
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    I buy a lot of fruit and veg from local asian supermarkets which are really really cheap. The fruit and veg doesn't last as long as the produce from Asda but fruit and veg doesn't last long in my house anyway
  • MrsSWW
    MrsSWW Posts: 1,590 Member
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    I buy almost all my fruit and veg from Aldi and have never had a problem with it going off, in most cases I think it's better than the big supermarkets. I used to go to Bolton Market but found last year their prices really shot up. Avocados are the exception to the rule, they're like bricks and wouldn't ripen if you kept them for the next 6 months :laugh: They have a Super 6 on offer ALL the time, sometimes 69p sometimes 39p, usually a mix of fruit and veg. http://www.aldi.co.uk/uk/html/product_range/4862.htm

    If you try to buy seasonal stuff you'll find it cheaper - the BBC food site is really useful, this link shows you what's in season (over to the right you can go in month by month so you know what's coming up next :smile: )
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/seasons/january

    ETA. Don't necessarily just think o fresh fruit, Aldi sell BIG tubs of peaches and pears in juice, really low cals and they are lovely on porridge or Greek yoghurt! Dried fruit is good too, just more difficult to keep the portions a bit smaller xx
  • jesz124
    jesz124 Posts: 1,004 Member
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    Thanks guys. All very useful info. I might give aldi a try then. Good idea about the tinned fruit as well. That had never occurred to me before, great idea! Cheers!!
  • Marmitegeoff
    Marmitegeoff Posts: 373 Member
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    Local Grocer or farm shop
  • kendrafallon
    kendrafallon Posts: 1,030 Member
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    Local market - simply because you're supporting the local economy and often it's cheaper than the shops. Admittedly it's not always the cheapest option
  • GuybrushThreepw00d
    GuybrushThreepw00d Posts: 784 Member
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    Local market.
    You won't find cheaper.
    However, if most markets are like the ones in Staines (which i'm sure they are), the fruit/veg doesn't keep for long. Most the most part i'd say it lasts 1 day.

    edit : I buy my fruit from tesco/sainsbury's. I quite like the Sainsburys frozen fruit, i can dump it into my protein shake, blend it and chug it back.... 1 portion of fruit done boshed!
  • wonderbolt
    wonderbolt Posts: 48
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    There are a few random fruit stalls smattered around my city centre (Bristol) in the mornings that sell a bowl of your 5 a day for £1! You might have to get up earlier to snatch one up but then you can just go to the gym before work :3
  • bexblonde
    bexblonde Posts: 80
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    Definitely local market or grocers, although I quite often get the Tesco value/Sainsburys basic ranges for the kids when I'm in the supermarket, I think they're pretty good value e.g. you can get a big bag of grapes, punnet of plums etc for £1 and they keep for quite a while as well.
  • thebigcb
    thebigcb Posts: 2,210 Member
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    Not sure of the price, but in Ireland Lidl is by far the cheapest and best quality fruit and veg compared to all the others(tesco etc)
  • beckythump87
    beckythump87 Posts: 5
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    Another vote for local market here, in the right season Norwich market is my immediate go-to to satisfy my greengage addiction! I always get a better price there for things like Pink Lady apples too.

    Failing that, I will say that the fruit and veg at Aldi is well-priced and good quality, in my experience. Maybe I've just been lucky, but I work for a large UK supermarket (as does my partner, he used to work on fruit and veg) - and we still prefer going to Aldi for our fresh goods :)
  • roolmc
    roolmc Posts: 47
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    I would think local markets, Middle Eastern/Chinese supermarkets, loose supermarket fruit, frozen berries and aldi/lidl are your best bets.

    Also, food in season tends to be cheaper, I subscribe to a weekly email from http://www.eattheseasons.co.uk/index.php to get an idea of what I should be looking out for.
  • bio_fit
    bio_fit Posts: 307 Member
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    Another vote here for Aldi.
    Especially over summer when they have blueberries in the super 6 - 69p for a pack of blueberries! When the same can be upwards of £2 in the 'big' supermarkets... currently 1kg of carrots is 39p, last week they had butternut squash for 69p. I have never had a problem with things going off quickly. With regards to fruit, grapes are noticeably cheaper than elsewhere - Apparently from the 10th Feb they will have pineapples, mangos and packs of 8x kiwi fruit all at 69p each.

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