Delphine Quack and Veronique Morgan-Smith stand with hands on hips as they consider a deal for a box of bananas.
“Bananas have always been their own currency,” Morgan-Smith says. “It’s the only fruit you can’t negotiate over.”
It’s a gloomy Saturday morning at Paddy’s Markets in the western Sydney suburb of Flemington, where Quack and Morgan-Smith have been shopping since 7am for the Killarney Heights Fruit Co-op, one of scores of buying groups across the city offering an alternative to supermarkets.
“Welcome to paradise,” Morgan-Smith says with a grin as she glides through the maze of heaped boxes, filled to the brim with fruit and vegetables.
Josh Blythe, a financial adviser, established the co-op 15 years ago. Then, a box of seasonal fruit and vegetables set each of the 12 member families back $10. That rose to $15, and now each family pays $20.
This week, the box contains four Cavendish bananas, 10 large carrots, two large zucchini, a bunch of basil, three Corella pears, an iceberg lettuce, five yellow peaches, two mangoes, two Hass avocados, five red and green capsicums, five brown onions, one garlic bulb, four telegraph cucumbers, 900g of roma tomatoes and one punnet of strawberries.
The co-op gets outstanding value because it buys in bulk but individual consumers who aren’t part of a group can also save on purchases at the markets.
Using the highest prices offered at J&C Barone’s stall on the same morning, Guardian Australia calculated the same items as those in the Killarney Heights box – but purchased individually – would have cost $31.55, matching items for quantity, size and weight.
At Woolworths, the same items bought on the same day, again matched carefully for quantity, size and weight, cost $66.42 – more than three times the co-op price and double the individual shopper’s markets box.
Some of the bulk deals on offer are mind-boggling, from 10kg of onions for $5 to a combined 10kg of mangoes and 10kg of tomatoes for $35. Fifteen cucumbers and a box of avocados went for $28, while the group paid $50 for three boxes of strawberries (3.5kg), pears (5kg) and peaches (8kg).
“We do economy of scale, we don’t look for bags, we look for boxes and shop seasonally,” Morgan-Smith says. “We look at staples and try to get as many deals as possible.”
‘It’s so crazy how different the prices are’
The markets are buzzing with energy despite the rain, with vendors yelling prices to the heavens as shoppers from all backgrounds negotiate and count their cash.
Rhianna and Jordan Griffiths say they came to buy some flowers, but couldn’t resist some of the grocery prices.
“It’s so damn cheap. And it feels very genuine because it’s direct from growers and suppliers,” Rhianna says.
They are shocked by the prices and the quality of the produce.
“Its so crazy how different the prices are. It’s outrageous really, compared to the prices you see at supermarkets. We’re going to stock up and freeze some food, and next time we’re going to plan ahead.”
Nicole Mills and Fili Saafi come to the markets every couple of weeks, and say the amount they save is huge.
“We’ve got a big family,” Mills says. “So coming to the markets just makes a lot of sense, it’s a lot cheaper. And sometimes the produce can last up to three weeks.”
“We can save up to $150 every time we shop, which is just a huge difference.”
Margaret Polet and her daughter Christine say the price and quality of the produce mean they can avoid major supermarkets altogether.
“I don’t even think about them any more. I either go to a fruit shop or come here,” Polet says.
“What I buy here lasts me, and that is where I really save money. I still have cucumbers I bought a fortnight ago, and they’re still good. That is where the biggest difference is.”
Haveed Hussain Syed, a vendor selling mountainous crates of tomatoes and cucumbers, says the cost-of-living crisis is driving more interest in the markets.
“People are suffering a lot and they’re coming here to ease the burden,” he says.
“Interest rates, electricity and gas bills, everyone is paying more for everything. But not here, here they can have an easier life.”
Fruit vendor Noor Jams Shams-Zar, selling peaches, strawberries and pears, says business is good, although the markets are still recovering from the pandemic.
“Its good now, but we used to be huge,” he says.
“It’s crazy how expensive it is [in the supermarkets], some of my fruit here is half the price.
“People need to see this, they should know what they can get here, it’s a massive difference.”
Learning to cook with the seasons
In the Killarney Heights co-op, each family is tasked with shopping once a quarter, with each week allocated a specific list of fruit and vegetables. The food is taken back home and divided up, so each family gets a box of fresh seasonal produce fruit and vegetables
Other groups have devised different systems.
Francesca Florence, of the Honest to Goodness natural foods store in Sydney, says the option to buy in bulk is fast increasing in popularity, with hundreds of co-ops signing up to the brand’s wholesale group buying service.
Julian Lee, the president of Sydney’s Organic Buyers Group Hub, oversees about 100 boxes of produce distributed at five sites across the city’s east and inner west. Each week, volunteers divide up produce that is delivered by an organics wholesaler, cutting out trips to Flemington.
“We designed it early on to avoid the things none of us really wanted to do,” Lee says.
Members pay $45 for a week’s worth of organic fruits and vegetables, non-members $50. The group saw an upswing in interest during Covid and has sustained membership since.
The benefits are more than simply financial, Lee says.
“The people who stick with it … they report back that they become better cooks. They’re having to learn how to cook with the seasons. They report less food waste and packaging waste.”
Morgan-Smith, from the Killarney Heights co-op, echoes the view that shopping at the markets is not just a means to combat the cost-of-living crisis.
“We’re shortening the supply chain,” she says.
“We buy here directly from the growers, or from wholesalers who’ve bought from growers, and it means we know the money is going to the right person. It’s about living sustainably.”
