By Jessica Good
I WAS sad to see my little greengrocer close recently. Situated next to a major supermarket, the shop was up against considerable competition among other things.
Taught to support the small independents from a young age, I can recall being given a carrot by the fruiterer to munch on while mum shopped for fresh groceries, and a frankfurt from the butcher as we watched him skillfully carve the meat from the bone, before carefully wrapping it in paper.
Eggs came fresh from the chook pen in the backyard. Hardly anything came wrapped in plastic, not tomatoes and especially not lettuce, which I’ve been guilty of buying in a packet lately; my only defence, convenience.
It’s become too easy to just swing through the fruit and veg section of the supermarket when stocking up on the essentials. It’s no wonder, despite the drought and rising fuel costs, the profits of some of the big supermarket chains are going up, while the same things, combined with rising food prices, take a sizeable bite out of the family budget. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission report into the sector has proposed a number of initiatives to help increase marketplace competition to reduce grocery prices.
They include the introduction of unit pricing to help consumers obtain the best prices. But Master Grocers Australia says it will be an expensive exercise for independent supermarkets owners, running into the millions of dollars.
Like many shoppers I look at the price tag when picking an item off the supermarket shelf, but if it’s higher I rarely put it back down. And I won’t change my shopping habits, even if the Commonwealth’s GroceryChoice website lists the price of milk cheaper in the next suburb.
The way I see it, we have another choice, support the little guys when you can or join the hordes of people taking great satisfaction in tending to their own vegetable garden, where the only competition you’ll encounter will be with your neighbour or friends over who can grow the biggest, most-flavoursome tomatoes.