Does the Cost of Fruit Send You Bananas?

Everyone knows that they need to eat fresh fruit and vegetables, but with the price of food rising quicker than inflation, crafting a healthy dinner can be a real drain on the bank balance.

Consumer watchdog Which? agrees with the British public and in recent years criticised some of the pricing practices employed by supermarkets, which make it difficult to tell whether pre-packaged or loose fruit is cheaper.

With household budgets stretched to breaking point all over the country, shoppers are on the lookout for a bargain, in order to save money and live more comfortable lives, but according to Which? it is difficult to know how to get the best price.

In supermarkets, we often have the choice of buying fruit either loose, packed in bags or in punnets, or sometimes peeled, sliced or served in chunks. But the differences in the way that the supermarket breaks down the cost of each item, makes it impossible without the use of equations, to tell which is the cheapest purchase to make.

A punnet of plums in ASDA was one of the examples given by Which? A 400g punnet would cost a shopper £2.50 per kilogram, yet a punnet of six was priced at 25p per plum. Do you know how much a single plum weighs…?

Which? has highlighted the difficulties facing thrifty shoppers who are trying to make their pennies go as far as possible. Legislation means supermarkets must display a breakdown of the price. They get out of this though because it does not stipulate how this must be calculated. This means shops are free to use whatever unit prices they please, just to make it harder for all of us.

Shops are also not required to display a unit price when they are offering special deals, such as 'buy one get one free'. This can make it very challenging to work out whether the special offer is cheaper than buying an alternative brand.

The British Retail Consortium has denied the claims made by Which? and said that in some cases, the number in the pack matters more than how much it weighs.

However, according to the report from Which? it is the inability to compare the goods on a like-by-like basis which is at the heart of the problem.

Food inflation has caused problems in many households, with the cost of feeding a family increasing sharply. In some cases parents are even going without meals in order to feed their children, whilst others have had to cut corners just to meet the cost of bills.

Spend and Eat!

This really isn’t the way to go about getting your bills paid off; we all need to eat fruit and veg to stay healthy and live long lives. Why not try taking out a loan to ease money worries instead?

The great thing is that you won’t need a big loan for this, just a bit to cover your costs and ease your mind a bit. Loads of providers offer small loans at great repayment rates and great interest rates. However it isn’t always easy to find the best deal.

If you don’t know where to begin looking, let AK Management, a loan matchmaker, do the heavy lifting for you. Give us a call, talk to a professional on our team who’ll run through with you what you need and your circumstances. Then they’ll point out which loan is right for you. Nice and easy!

Don’t let a few bills take away from you the great feeling you get when you’ve eaten some fruit and veg. In this world we need to make sure we stay healthy, and that we enjoy it too!

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