6 Tips For Better Grocery Shopping

I am a small scale farmer. It’s one of my avenues of making money and building wealth. I own a small farm where I grow various plants and foods. I have bananas, plantain, avocados, mango, oranges, jack fruit, macadamia, papaya and passion fruit all at various stages in their growth. I also grow seasonal crops such as maize, beans, sorghum and other grains.

I supply them to various retailers and wholesalers when ready. A few years ago, I also ran a grocery shop where I sold various fruits and vegetables directly to consumers. I had to close down the shop for various reasons including that the location of my shop had low human traffic and was therefore not suitable for that kind of business.

My diverse experience in agriculture and agricultural produce from the farm to consumers gives me a thorough understanding of fresh produce.

Fruits and vegetables are major components of many meals all over the world and for these reasons, they are bought on the regular. Here are some tips to help you when doing your grocery shopping.

Go in the morning

Make the effort of going to buy your groceries early in the morning. This way you will get your fruits and vegetables at their most fresh conditions.

Most fresh fruits and vegetable vendors restock early in the morning. As you will be among the first ones there, you will find the best quality and sizes. As they will also not have been thoroughly selected by other customers. Next to the best quality and sizes, they will have been less tampered with and might have fewer germs. Grocery shopping involves lots of touching and feeling during the selection part of buying. By going in the morning, you will find groceries that have been touched less.

Buy half-ripe

When buying fruits, ensure that you buy them half-ripe. This way, you will ensure that they do not deteriorate quickly on your transit home and by the time you come around to eat them.

Half ripe fruits have a higher shelf life and they will help you save money and avoid food wastage.

Half ripe fruits are also an indication that they were picked recently which is a guarantee on their freshness.

Buy raw

Even though most fruits are mostly sold at their ripe and half-ripe states, try to reach out for the raw ones. Raw fruits have better chances of not have been ripened artificially through the use of chemicals which is better for your health.

Raw fruits last longer after purchase and will therefore have a longer shelf life. This will help you in the long-term planning of your meals and will help you save your money while also avoiding food wastage.

Buy unpackaged

Purpose to buy your fruits and vegetables fresh and leafy and unpackaged or unprocessed.

Avoid buying fruits that have already been cut, chopped or sliced.

Even though many vendors may try their best to maintain high standards of hygiene, there are no guarantees here. Untampered fruits and vegetables are cleaner, fresher, more nutritious and more hygienic.

They also have a longer shelf life and can be cleaned and stored easily.

Lots of vendors may use chemicals or other clever and uncouth methods to maintain the freshness of their chopped, cut, and packaged fruits and vegetables which may be harmful to your health.

Visit Farmers markets

For the best quality and prices for your fruits and vegetables, visit farmer’s markets. Avoid supermarkets and other such larger retailers.

As farmers markets are mostly operated by farmer’s themselves, you are guaranteed on the freshness and healthiness of your groceries. Also, because they sell them in smaller quantities, chances of artificial ripening of fruits are minimised.

Farmers markets may also be cheaper than other retailers and buying your groceries here could get you more value for your money. By buying from them, you will also be putting money directly in the pockets of those that laboured most for the produce which is most deserved.

Practice Loyalty

Buying from one or several vendors consistently can prove useful for you. This tip is very useful particularly when you purchase your groceries from the farmers market.

You could make arrangements with them to select the freshest fruits and veggies for you or to hoard some specific fruits or vegetables for you in times of scarcity or low supply. This could be during the off season for certain fruits that may not available all year round.

Loyalty can come in handy.

By practising these 6 tips, you will be able to buy your groceries with better information in mind and consistently applying them is guaranteed to improve your grocery shopping experience.