Lots of people are shunning the supermarket to buy fresh fruit and vegetables from their local market, and the trend is gaining popularity. Why? Because local fruit and veg markets not only offer considerable savings on weekly food bills, it also offers consumers an opportunity to shop more responsibly. Increasingly, consumers are making more ethical choices in the products they buy from locally-sourced clothing and food through to the coffee chains they use to drink and socialise in. A growing number of people want to do more to support their local economy and with the traditional town market disappearing in many parts of the country, buying fresh fruit and vegetables from their own market stall is a way of securing its future.  

Previous research has suggested that consumers can save as much as 30% on buying fruit and vegetables from their local market compared to the supermarket. These savings can be even higher when local, seasonal produce is in plentiful supply. Some people have perfected the art of combining both market and supermarket shopping to take advantage of all the available discounts but it’s becoming increasingly clear that across the country many shoppers want to do more to help their local market prosper.

Basildon Market has a vibrant fruit and vegetable stall which has been used by generations of customers. If you’ve never bought fruit and vegetables on the market before, the following tips will help make life easier and ensure you’re ‘market savy’ on your first trip:

1. Become a regular. If you want to keep on making savings on your fruit and vegetables then get to know the stallholders by showing your face regularly. Local markets promote a more personal relationship between stallholder and customer which will benefit you in the long-run as they’ll save you the best deals. All stallholders want repeat business and are more open to haggling.
2. Ask the stallholder if the produce is for now or for later. Anything you buy for now will obviously have to be eaten more quickly and unlikely to still be fresh in a few days’ time.
3. Only buy what you need. Local markets have held on to the tradition of enabling customers to buy the amount they need, rather than pre-packaging a standard quantity. This helps you to reduce waste and ensure you have nothing more and nothing less than you need.
4. Markets use less packaging which is obviously more environmentally-friendly but forces the customer to think ahead in terms of meal-planning. To get the most out of a market, consider blanching and freezing vegetable portions to minimise waste.
5. Saturday is often clearance day on the market which means you might be lucky enough to pick up a bigger bargain, especially if you shop mid to late afternoon.