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Tuesday, June 26, 2012

I was back in the wilds of Sussex today, screening the filthy rich, so I decided to do my bit to support small independent retailers by getting some locally sourced bananas. To be honest, I'm not sure how locally sourced they were (possibly not Sussex), but it was a choice of either the Co-op or the village greengrocer, so I went with the veg in the shed.

Asda charges around 69p for a kilogram of bananas. Although they won't let you have that many if you order them online. The one they delivered on Sunday cost me 15p. So I picked up two bunches in the fruit & veg shop at lunchtime today, and handed them to the farmer's wife with the scales. She charged me £2.51. Which was embarrasing, as I was holding about £1.50 in change. For a moment I thought I'd have to put some back, and started wondering if she'd left her shotgun leaning against the scales, but just as I was about to question her accuracy (with the scales, not the gun), I noticed the price list on the wall, and saw that bananas were £1.31 a kilo. Frankly it would have been cheaper to hire some staff and send them into town.

I coughed up (to be honest, it was more of a splutter), and regretted not going to the Co-op, but having checked the prices there, I found they were charging £1.15, which wasn't a great deal better. They might be good with food, but they know how to rack up the prices when they're more than ten minutes from a town centre.

Anyhoo, the good news is that I'll be saving a fortune on food tomorrow. I'm attending a conference in Crawley, where I'll be thoroughly testing the theory that there's no such thing as a free lunch, by eating everything I can lay my hands on. It's being held at the K2, so it shouldn't be too taxing. I think the guest speaker's Jimmy Carr.

7 comments:

Phil's Mum said...

Well, that IS the penalty people pay for living in exclusive places.  Of course, you should really be paid extra when you work there, so you can afford their prices.  Try suggesting that to your boss.

Peter Chapman said...

Be sure to get a picture of the big climbing wall for Amelie.

Phil said...

I will. I'll get the view from the top.

Phil said...

I will. I'll get the view from the top.

Zed said...

I suspect the bananas are being sold at cost price or lower, because they're one of the things that most people buy regularly and notice the price of.  When I had a family involvement in a greengrocery, I used sometimes to check out supermarket prices - a few things were way lower than Alex could sell for, but others were a lot higher.  Oddly enough, mushrooms were one of the things regularly overcharged for - they all cost the same wholesale but button, cup and flat mushrooms all had different prices. 

Phil said...

I always assumed there wasn't mushroom for negotiation, but clearly I'm wrong.

Zed said...

Okay, okay, I deserved that.  I shouldn't take life with such keen yet strangely solemn interest where fruit and vegetables are concerned.  *don't make the fun guy joke, don't make the fun guy joke*