UK shoppers pay double for fruit and veg in packs

UK newspaper The Sun conducted a probe into the cost variations between packaged and loose fruit and…

UK newspaper The Sun conducted a probe into the cost variations between packaged and loose fruit and vegetables. Their findings revealed that some vegetables cost up to double when they are sold in packets compared to loose.

A survey of products on sale at four supermarkets – Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Asda and Waitrose - shows wide variations between bagged and loose groceries.

Courgettes cost 50 per cent more if bought in a bag at Sainsbury and Waitrose, while loose onions at Tesco are more than half the price of a 485g bag.

Loose sweet potatoes come out at 90 per cent cheaper than a 725g bag at Tesco.

At Asda there’s a 33 per cent premium on packed onions 25 per cent on vine tomatoes and significant increases on mushrooms and sweet potatoes.

But some products show dramatic variations the other way, with Sainsbury’s packed plums costing less than half the price per kilo of loose plums.

At Asda loose baking potatoes are 33 per cent more expensive and parsnips are 20 per cent cheaper packed.

Other products like carrots in Sainsbury and Tesco and Waitrose are exactly the same price whether packed or unpacked. They are 33 per cent cheaper packed at Asda.