I just realized the big difference in prices of vegetables and meat in the public market as against the supermarket. I go to the public market only on weekends when I have available time but my usual haunt is the supermarket. This past weekend, I bought 2 heads of broccoli at slightly over $2 in the public market. In the supermarket, 1 head would cost more than $2. And the meat in the public market is around 20% cheaper likewise with the fish. An added bonus is the fish and the meat are fresher in the public market. But the downside is that there is no air conditioner.
I also am under the impression that some items in the supermarket are priced higher than the ones in the wet market, because they have to pay their staff and also the electricity. It's always better to shop in the wet market most of the time, since you can haggle and get free bones for your pets if you're friends with the vendor.
If you go to farmers market type places then you can get even cheaper deals if you're willing to wait until the end of the day and not be guaranteed to get everything you want. Rather than take stock home they'd rather sell it at a reduced price and sell out of it than have to dispose of it. Supermarkets do the same thing though. I've been able to get food this way cheaper at the end of the day in supermarkets than public markets.
We have found that some of the items at the farmers market are more expensive than the same item would be at the grocery store. Take tomatoes, as an example. The tomatoes at Krogers are anywhere from $1-2 per lb. depending on the sale and the type of tomato. At the farmers market, they are always $2 per lb, so usually more than the grocery store. However, the difference in taste is incredible, and definitely worth the difference in price ! Where the supermarket tomatoes have very little flavor, and were picked green, the ones from the farmers market are both fresh and delicious. They came from a local farm, so they were picked when they were ripe, and then sold right away. If you go on Sunday afternoon, when they are getting ready to shut down the farmers market, the vendors want to sell everything they have left because it won't keep until the next weekend anyway; so you can usually get some really great deals on large quantities of fruit and veggies at that point in time.
Yeah but the quality may vary and I really have some concerns about raw meat exposed to heat and flies instead of being stored into a freezer until sold. In regards of vegetables and fruit I am far less nitpicky, my family always buy those in massive quantities at public Market anyway.
Public markets are usually cheaper than supermarkets due to the fact that food is in larger quantities and there are many suppliers. But in supermarkets, there are less suppliers and items are packaged. There are intended for those who want a shopping under one roof experience or in a hurry.
I always prefer buying vegetables and fruits from farmers market because I get better deals there. The only time I would buy either fruits or vegetables from a supermarket is when I'm in a hurry and don't want to drive further out to get to the farmers market. That though is something I always try to avoid.
Whether fresh produce is cheaper at the local market or in the supermarket does I think very much depend on where you live. For example - even though I live in an area where a large proportion of the world's fruit and vegetables are grown as well as an area where fresh fish is readily available directly off the boats - its actually quite the opposite - as its way, way cheaper to buy from the supermarket/grocery store - simply because - the supermarkets/grocery stores here have far greater buying power than the individual market vendors and can therefore sell the very same produce at greatly reduced prices.
I'm well aware of this huge difference between supermarket and local markets! Plus you'll also find that farmers' markets sell far superior products which are usually organic, fresh and not as over processed as store bought versions. There's a very good farmers' market in my city, but I need a car to get there. Sadly, I don't have a car, so I just have to make-do with supermarket stuff
