While at a grocery store today I overheard a conversation where a customer was asking when they could be expecting to get blueberries in as it is about that time of the year. The response from the owner was they usually get whatever the farmers provide them with and it shouldn’t be too long for things like blueberries. On top of that, today I was around an area where a lot of farms are actually nearby and it seemed like a lot of stores sold strawberries for substantially less than the larger supermarkets.
It got mw to think, do you ever actually consider shopping at an actual farm to save money? For example, here a box of strawberries could usually vary from about $3 to $6 for a small box at most places. Businesses need to make a profit as they markup prices based on the wholesale cost of course. But like here, I can imagine where if your area actually has a lot of farmers why not go and see if they have a pick your own fruits types of offerings? For example, you bring your own container, pick as many strawberries as you want and then they charge you by the weight.
I don’t think this is usually on the radar for most people even though you can save a lot of money. Now for large supermarket chains they can still technically offer that same product for less since they buy in such large volumes. But it’s not always at a sale price of course. So going to by directly from the farmers can be a viable way to save money as in many ways it can be the next best thing to actually growing your own food.