The latest announcements of increases in household expenses have prompted Brits to think of new ways to save money.
Alongside fuel costs and rising energy bills, the prices of groceries have risen sharply over the past few months.
So BristolLive Reporter Aaliyah Miller decided to visit a wholesale fruit and veg market in the city with £20 in hand, to see how much she could get for her money.
Aaliyah said: “Bristol’s fruit market is located in a warehouse car park in St Phillips, certainly not the most picturesque of locations.
“The produce comes fresh from local farms and promises to be the best you can get your hands on that is ‘often picked just hours ago’. But you have to be an early riser to get your hands on it as they open on Monday – Friday from 5:00 am – 11:00 am and on Saturdays from 5:00 am – 9:00 am.
“I took my trip on a Thursday just before 10 am and had no idea what to expect.”
Aaliyah decided to scope out the market to plan what she was going to purchase before making any choices.
She said: “Each lot sold similar products, with crates full of the freshest fruit and veg. I was quite literally mesmerized by a crate of apples that looked like something from a storybook.
“As everything is sold in bulk, it took careful thought to decide what was worth buying. A crate of 20 punnets of strawberries was tempting but I certainly can’t commit myself to finishing them before they go bad. So, I put my sensitive head on and strategized which produce was the best pick.
“My first purchase was a crate of clementines. There are around 30 in the box and it was priced at a bargain of £2! Considering Tesco sell a 600g pack of around 6 clementines for the same price this was an undeniable bargain. Clementines are a popular fruit in my household so I have no doubts these will get finished.
“Next, I opted for a crate of class one carrots which were priced at £6 for 10kg. A 700g of Tesco’s organic carrots are priced at £1.00, for comparison.”
At this point, Aaliyah had spent £8, so continued on with her search for more fresh fruit and veg.
She said: “I decided potatoes would be my next purchase and so I asked the salesman which the best value bag of cleaned potatoes was. He pointed me over to a 25kg bag which was priced at £7. A 2.5kg bag of Maris Piper potatoes in Tesco will cost you £1.15.
“At this point, I was getting to the end of my budget with only £5 left to spend. So I opted for a 10kg box of white onions for £5.50, which put me 50p over my budget. Alternatively, 1kg of Tesco onions would have cost me 85p.”
She said that she was feeling quite impressed with her purchases.
Aaliyah did comment that, with the amount of food she had purchased, she wouldn’t have been able to eat through it all herself, so would be gifting her family and friends bags of fruit and veg.
She did think that the products were impressively fresh and the value for money is evident.
Aaliyah commented: “For those who might be searching for ways around the rising prices on the supermarket shelves, buying your veg in bulk and splitting it, (as well as the costs), with friends or family members who are also looking to make cuts to their spending seems like a reasonable way to do it.”
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