Farmers Market - Load of Bo**ox?

az2wp0sye65487 · 20-07-2009 10:59AM #1

Decided to head to a Farmers Market yesterday and see what was on offer. The main reasons for going were

1) To support local/independent producers
2) To sample 'fresh' & 'organic' foods
3) Curiosity

Anyway, some of the fruit & veg looked nice, got some carrots, broccoli & peppers.

Then went and got an apple tart & a soda bread from another stall.

Finally, picked up some strawberries and some home made jam.

Now, in fairness, the quality of the food is better than supermarket quality. But after leaving, on the way home; I started to think about the prices.... when we were there we didn't even think about the prices, everything looked lovely and we picked up the few things we wanted.

Veg - €7.50
Strawberries - €9.00
1 jar of jam - €3.00
1 soda bread - €4.00
1 apple tart - €6.00

Total:€29.50 !!!

WTF!

As I said before, what we got is very tasty, but still... We ended up in a supermarket yesterday for 1 or 2 other things, and while there I had a look at some of their prices - €5.00 for 2 punnits of strawberries!

Where was your woman going with her €9.00 for one?!?

Have any of you been to farmers markets? Would you go back? On reflection, the food is good, but very expensive...

bronte · 20-07-2009 10:59AM

Overpriced to feck tbh! Puts me right off them.

Run_to_da_hills · 20-07-2009 11:02AM

In fareness you pay the price for organic and home grown, if you are not satisfied, Lidl orTesco is only down the road.

djk1000 · 20-07-2009 11:03AM

I agree completely! I've given up on farmers markets, mainly because of the price, but also because I have a strong suspicion that some of the stalls are just buying wholesale and selling retail with a big markup.

Believe it or not, I bought some Asparagus in a farmers market last year and I remember the girl at the stall apologising and looking embarassed when she told me the price.

Cuddlesworth · 20-07-2009 11:04AM

Economy of scale. What's hard to understand about it?

WindSock · 20-07-2009 11:05AM

Wow, you got ripped off. I got 3 punnets of berries yesterday for €10. And a few plums thrown in and a gourd. You've got to haggle a bit. 'You know...10 for that you must be mad! :pac:.'

tech77 · 20-07-2009 11:07AM

Botox at a farmer's market?
WTF, talk about dodgy.

That_Guy · 20-07-2009 11:09AM

No use crying over it now really. What's done is done. Those crafty farmers.

biko · 20-07-2009 11:12AM

I get some stuff at markets and some in the shop.
It will cost a bit extra to get fresh stuff at the markets, the farmers don't have the same backing as Tesco/Dunnes/... but to me it's worth it

Jesus Wept · 20-07-2009 11:17AM

€9.00 for a strawberry does sound extortionate.

Fratton Fred · 20-07-2009 11:19AM

so they sell you produce at greatly inflated prices, grown on farms that are heavily subsidised at the tax payers expense.

Bargain.

builttospill · 20-07-2009 11:22AM

Kassidy Little Necktie wrote: »

Decided to head to a Farmers Market yesterday and see what was on offer. The main reasons for going were

1) To support local/independent producers
2) To sample 'fresh' & 'organic' foods
3) Curiosity

Anyway, some of the fruit & veg looked nice, got some carrots, broccoli & peppers.

Then went and got an apple tart & a soda bread from another stall.

Finally, picked up some strawberries and some home made jam.

Now, in fairness, the quality of the food is better than supermarket quality. But after leaving, on the way home; I started to think about the prices.... when we were there we didn't even think about the prices, everything looked lovely and we picked up the few things we wanted.

Veg - €7.50
Strawberries - €9.00
1 jar of jam - €3.00
1 soda bread - €4.00
1 apple tart - €6.00

Total:€29.50 !!!

WTF!

As I said before, what we got is very tasty, but still... We ended up in a supermarket yesterday for 1 or 2 other things, and while there I had a look at some of their prices - €5.00 for 2 punnits of strawberries!

Where was your woman going with her €9.00 for one?!?

Have any of you been to farmers markets? Would you go back? On reflection, the food is good, but very expensive...

You were like, totally merc'd dude.

My name is URL · 20-07-2009 11:33AM

Local produce FTW!

I sell free range eggs at our Farmer's Market :pac:

az2wp0sye65487 · 20-07-2009 11:35AM

The-Rigger wrote: »

€9.00 for a strawberry does sound extortionate.

It was a BIG strawberry

Abi · 20-07-2009 11:41AM

Everyone knows you are going to pay over the odds at the farmers market to start out with. Its organic / home made produce, add on the cost that the council charge for the use of the stall, and then factor in that the sellers have to stand there in all weathers. I love farmers markets because the food is tastey, and the sellers always appreciate your custom.

Stevie, did you not ask how much the items were before you purchased them?

jaffa20 · 20-07-2009 11:43AM

The strawberries seem overpriced but the rest seem ok. They are homegrown local vegetables so you expect them to be a bit expensive. if i wan't some, i just go out to my garden;)

BaZmO* · 20-07-2009 11:44AM

€9.00 for some Strawberries!!

I've some magic beans for sale if you're interested?

dresden8 · 20-07-2009 11:45AM

Abigayle wrote: »

and the sellers always appreciate your custom.

I'd say they're very appreciative at those prices.

ytareh · 20-07-2009 11:46AM

While I do appreciate some of the finer points of this debate eg how big was the 9 euro punnet of strawberries I pretty much agree wholeheartedly with the original poster.I dont think these places were ever CHEAP(actually they werent that bad at all in the early years ) but they have become a rare luxury treat in the last 5 or 10 years .They have no chance of surviving the recession if they dont become a bit more realistic in their pricing .
Mind you come to think of it a lot of the trouble is the general spiralling out of control of food prices .Like wasnt some Groceries Price Order legislation a couple of years ago meant to mean CHEAPER food?!That was a joke they just put the prices up beforehand and then 'reduced' them .What's the betting the new Tesco 'price cuts ' will be gone(along with all the Irish suppliers jobs...) by Christmas with the prices risen to match todays ...?

ihadu · 20-07-2009 11:47AM

the buying power is with the supermarkets now, when you shop there you save but someone is getting ripped...the producers.

these are fair prices (i know they seem steep) for fresh, organic produce.
i try to support them and the craft butchers of ireland, the reasons are fairly obvious

That_Guy · 20-07-2009 11:48AM

Surely they must have their prices laid out for you to see what you are potentially paying. If you didn't take note of the prices then really it's your own fault for paying such prices.
I just hope the food you got was nice so that in some way it was justified in paying that amount of money for them.

BaZmO* · 20-07-2009 11:51AM

Actually, I was in the one in Temple Bar on Saturday and noticed that one one of the vans that they were loading up at the end of the day had an English reg.
Now, I suppose it's possible that the van was just bought by an Irish producer, but if it wasn't, and it was a case of the producer driving down from the North to sell his wares, would that not go against the whole ethos of a Farmer's Market? Especially the bit about everything being local.

But then again, Broccoli from NI is more local than Broccoli from Spain or Green Beans from Nigeria.

ejmaztec · 20-07-2009 11:51AM

BaZmO* wrote: »

€9.00 for some Strawberries!!

I've some magic beans for sale if you're interested?

If I buy them is all my money going to disappear?:eek:

What do they do, and how much are they, anyway?

az2wp0sye65487 · 20-07-2009 11:53AM

Abigayle wrote: »

Everyone knows you are going to pay over the odds at the farmers market to start out with. Its organic / home made produce, add on the cost that the council charge for the use of the stall, and then factor in that the sellers have to stand there in all weathers. I love farmers markets because the food is tastey, and the sellers always appreciate your custom.

Stevie, did you not ask how much the items were before you purchased them?

I didn't. We were looking around and the girl held out a plate with some samples of what she was selling. I tried a strawberry, it was lovely, so i said I'll take one of these (holding up a punnit) I got the jam from her too, and she went "its 3 for the jam, so that's 12 altogether" Wasn't even thinking to be honest. only thought about it afterwards!

ytareh wrote: »

While I do appreciate some of the finer points of this debate eg how big was the 9 euro punnet of strawberries I pretty much agree wholeheartedly with the original poster.I dont think these places were ever CHEAP(actually they werent that bad at all in the early years ) but they have become a rare luxury treat in the last 5 or 10 years .They have no chance of surviving the recession if they dont become a bit more realistic in their pricing .?

It is fairly big. I'd say it's about the same size as a catering tub of butter.

BaZmO* · 20-07-2009 11:54AM

ejmaztec wrote: »

If I buy them is all my money going to disappear?:eek:

What do they do, and how much are they, anyway?

Who said anything about money?! The price for these beans my friend is 1 cow.

As for what they do......they're magic.

AnonoBoy · 20-07-2009 12:02PM

I saw a pot of marmalade for a tenner in Fresh the other day.

IvyTheTerrible · 20-07-2009 12:06PM

Kassidy Little Necktie wrote: »

I didn't. We were looking around and the girl held out a plate with some samples of what she was selling. I tried a strawberry, it was lovely, so i said I'll take one of these (holding up a punnit) I got the jam from her too, and she went "its 3 for the jam, so that's 12 altogether" Wasn't even thinking to be honest. only thought about it afterwards!

It is fairly big. I'd say it's about the same size as a catering tub of butter.

Ah sure if it's that size (a jam punnet?) then it's not SUCH a rip off. What weight was in that?

Berty · 20-07-2009 12:14PM

Its like the environment. Its all good and well to try to protect it when times are good but when times are tough to feck with it.

The same thing goes for your farmers markets. Its all good and well when we are rich to support local guys but when push comes to shove we need to buy the cheapest products we can.

I have scottish water from Tesco. It tastes different to Evian but cheap as feck!

Aidric · 20-07-2009 12:16PM

The Farmers Market's grew hugely in the boom years to satisfy the ego's of those seeking organic produce. Darina Allen told 'em all to buy organic and they lapped it up in a bid to outdo their neighbours.
I'm all for supporting local but €9 for a punnet of strawberries, go fcuk yourself. These people need to reduce their prices in line with a decrease in spending power for most people in this country.

kida · 20-07-2009 12:18PM

Some are genuine(stalls), but there are some dodgy characters at them too.

The one in Temple bar has 2 veg stalls both with their organic certs and 1 meat one with its organic cert also. Organic produce if grown locally could be VFM.

Some of them have veg stalls with nothing specifying organic or local, good chance these could be commercial produce being resold. Some of the veg is even clean:eek:

Beanstalk · 20-07-2009 12:28PM

Grow your own! 'Dig for Ireland!'

Farmers Market - Load of Bo**ox?

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