Buyer beware

[phillaurie]

I wasn't going to post this but I've got the grumps so i will, was I the only one who noticed that Turnips where charging £7.80 per kilo for Jersey Royals last weekend, compared to £4.80 from the mushroom stall, from the same supplier.

Surely someone should do something about the general level of rip off at some of the stalls, and Turnips in particular which charge premium price for product which is often the same as on Lewisham Market, eventually people will twig what is happening, its reputation will slide and people will stop coming to the market which will be sad for everyone.

regards

Phil

[John Whiting]

Turnips is notorious. Anyone who shops regularly in the Borough Market for produce must be so naive as to need a minder or so rich that the price is immaterial.

Edited March 31, 2004 by John Whiting (log)

[MobyP]

Turnips is the most expensive place I've ever been to for veg. When is Lewisham market on?

[curlywurlyfi]

they also have a neat trick of pricing everything per 100g. So you think 'oh, £2.20 for the carrots, that's not bad' and then realize that a kilo is in fact twenty quid. Much better, if you're at Borough, to lurch down the Walworth Road to East Street market, and getchore larvely veg there. Might not have the baby baby fennels, though.

[Spam]

I nipped into turnip a couple of weeks ago to buy some rhubarb, and ran away when they tried to charge me £5/lb. I got back to the office and went down to the North End rd where I bought equally good 'barb for £1/lb. Shocking, but at last a good reason to live or work in Fulham.

Edited March 31, 2004 by Spam (log)

[MobyP]

I moved around the corner - off North End road - last year. The veg seems pretty decent, but haven't gotten into the habit of it. Are some places better than others?

[Jonathan Day]

Turnips has long been scandalous for pricing. I can't imagine that their wholesale prices are as high. I find I only use them for the odd item that simply can't be found elsewhere, and only then when it's absolutely essential to what I'm making.

Still, having a larger operator whose prices way out of line with quality is not a good thing for Borough Market. It creates a "price umbrella" for the other shops, and encourages exploitative behaviour. That, in turn, will mean that the market attracts undiscriminating tourists more than regular buyers. Perhaps this is what the trustees want, but I doubt that.

[Spam]

I moved around the corner - off North End road - last year. The veg seems pretty decent, but haven't gotten into the habit of it. Are some places better than others?

The bottom end (Fulham Broadway) is generally much better, especially on a Friday morning when there is a fishmonger and a French cheesemonger with really good goats cheeses). There is also a chap with much more interesting produce than just tomatoes and HUGE pineapples. Just got back from there actually with some good looking beetroot and a few other bits. The beet leaves will be limp by the time I leave here at 6pm but it is very cheap. Buy to cook, and not keep is what I say! You just need to keep your eyes peeled - I go most days, but until wednesday it is pretty crap.