Bo-Jangles

Alright I'm prepared to stick my neck out and be called a moaning minnie, but nothing new there. It's a grim and wet, ultra boring Sunday afternoon, so what the heck, might as well ask.

I've been through them all and back again and they're all shite. I had for some time been settled on the Agria (the loose and dirty ones ) as being the best of a bad bunch but just lately they've all been horrid, grey, glassy or rotten at the centre. They're always wet with half the paddock left on them, so they don't keep well and we often end up with a stinking putrid mess before the end of the week.

Pak n Save didn't even have any Agria on Friday just the 'all-purpose' red or white polished ones.

I chose the shiny red and now I've seen them with my glasses on they're full of little weevil holes or something equally yuck.

I am over it with throwing away crappy potatoes.

bourbon-biscuit

Shop somewhere else- Pakn'Save is ok for branded stuff but useless for fresh, imo. Do you have a proper veggie shop near you?

lardyl

Yeah having worked in a supermarket years ago their produce is not the best for quality, although it may be good for longevity.
How about how/where you store the spuds.
I have a potato bag, drawstring with a zipped side and blacked out. Keeps the spuds well even though its hot bright and humid here - the potato's worst enemies.
If I want a nice spud from New/W for example I get the Vivaldis in a 2.5 kg bag. Great when they are on offer and expensive otherwise.

Stormer999

Supermarkets all over the World are the last place for quality veg......just near frozen, look good on the shelf and rot the next day......go to a veggie shop they live or die by their quality....it's all they sell.

lardyl

trouble is if you look at the stuff many of the vege shops sell it's the same as the supermarkets, however, it is almost always cheaper and they should know how to keep their stock in better condition.

There are some great real vege shops out west auckland and a really good one in Northcote. Farmer's markets might be the way to go. Orewa one is Sunday morning. Never bought veges there but pizza bases, cakes and bread were great. Yum yum

Snap Shot

I like PNS potatoes (alright everybody, take aim at me). I have the white 'polished' potatoes which have always been ok for us. However, we live near Bulls which is where a lot of potatoes are grown.

I used to throw half a bag of potatoes away each week in Britain. So, these days I count the number of potatoes I need exactly and keep them in the salad drawer in the fridge. I did have a potato bag in Britain but I had a veg drawer back then too.

I think the local fruit and veg produce centres are just greengrocers like they used to be circa 1978. I don't get what it is with them. Might as well go to the supermarket.

lardyl

almost all of the time the white washed are fine for me and seem to be multi-purpose. I avoid the "Nature's offer" ones if I can though. Often get rubbish in those bags.

bet you can't tell who did almost all the shopping in this house.....

Snap Shot

I don't buy bagged Braeburn apples, made that mistake once. Never again. I pick them out individually from now on.

lardyl

yeah unless they are uber-cheap

Beaverstate

Bought 5 pounds of Braeburns today, delicious. They weren't bagged however. Also bought 4 pounds of nectarines, 2 pounds of blueberries, 3 heads of green lettuce, 1 head of napa cabbage, 2 pounds of baby carrots, and seven bunches of kale. All set for the week

RobClubley

Grow your own?
They're so much tastier!

Otherwise we find the veg shops are nearly always much better than supermarkets.

bourbon-biscuit

Miles cheaper and also better quality because of turn over- at least that's the case for the one in Cambridge! I also buy milk and butter and dried pulses from them, as well as spices- all much cheaper than the supermarket and also where I'd rather spend my $

lardyl

free range eggs are about 2/3 of price at our local vege shop which is 200m from the supermarket. no-brainer really.
other local vege shops stock those curry pastes for less than half price, and if you are sharp you can get a real deal. I got a box of 48 packs of flavoured noodles for $10, ok they had a short date but they were fine (well 1 was) nearly 2 years later (back of the cupboard jobbie)...LOL

Bo-Jangles

I have no issue generally with the quality of fruit and veg in our Pak n Save it certainly gets a higher turnover compared to the fruit and veg shops and other supermarkets around here.

Nearly all the fruit and vege shops arround us are disgusting filthy holes, full of flies, with wilted, sweaty stuff in plastic bags. They pile it high and sell it cheap but certainly have a lot to learn in terms of storage conditions; this place is sweaty, damp and humid old Auckland and not condusive to keeping fruit and veg in plastic bags ever.

Fruitworld is about the best of them but not any better or any less expensive than the supermarket and if they are that much cheaper, it's because the stuff is overipe, bendy or on the turn already. Its not unusual to see the girls in these places open up the bags and sift through them to make up into new bags of the less spoiled stuff. Yick!

Stormer999

But it,s you who complained about them in the first place.....

I've been through them all and back again and they're all shite.