Whether you’re a regular banana buyer or a raspberry punnet purchaser, it can be incredibly frustrating to discover your fruit has gone off just a few days after buying it. Despite my best efforts to select the freshest produce in the shop, I found that certain fruits would spoil within a day or two, regardless of their condition at purchase.
With the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, I grew tired of contributing to food waste and losing money, so I decided to investigate which supermarket offers the longest-lasting fruit. Over several weeks of grocery shopping, I gathered a range of foods, including grapes, blueberries, bananas, and tomatoes, from my local Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Lidl, and M&S. The rules were straightforward: I chose the freshest-looking fruit and stored them under identical conditions, and the results were quite surprising.
Sainsbury’s
I usually do my weekly grocery shopping at Sainsbury’s because I appreciate their overall selection, but I’ve noticed their prices are gradually increasing, which is why I’ve recently started shopping at Lidl.
It didn’t take long to spot some mouldy strawberries on the shelf, but the other fruits appeared to be in good shape.
Regrettably, upon opening, the grapes were mushy, and I prefer a crunchy grape for as long as possible, which was a letdown. However, the bananas, blueberries, and tomatoes fared well.
Marks and Spencer
If time permits, I’ll do my weekly grocery shopping at Sainsbury’s or Tesco and then collect my fruit from M&S because I’ve consistently had a positive experience.
The selection is also vast, with doughnut peaches, golden kiwis, candy floss grapes, lychees, and more on offer. I also find some fruits with yellow sticker labels.
M&S grapes were crunchy, tomatoes super juicy and sweet, blueberries large and bananas delicious.
It reminded me why I shop at M&S for fruit: there is no food waste, and although the cost was slightly higher initially, I don’t mind this if the food is going to get eaten and last longer.
Lidl
I recently started to shop at Lidl and found I was spending more because of the Middle of Lidl, but I was impressed with their fresh produce section.
I’ve found in the past that the produce doesn’t last as long as at other supermarkets, but I’ve been impressed with it over the past few months.
Their grapes were juicy and crunchy, and their blueberries were sweet and delicious.
I didn’t enjoy their tomatoes as much just because the range was slightly smaller, so I picked up ones I wouldn’t usually have, but this wasn’t a huge issue.
The bananas lasted a few days less than at Marks and Spencer, which meant I had a great supply for banana bread, but overall, I was super impressed, and the prices were much cheaper.
Tesco
I find my local Tesco hit and miss when it comes to fresh produce, with strawberries often turning mouldy as I get them home.
So, I’ve given up buying strawberries unless I pick them myself and have turned to other fruits. Recently, I’ve started purchasing Tesco Finest grapes due to my disappointment with the regular ones, which were not crisp on the day I bought them.
However, the blueberries were delightfully sweet, the tomatoes were juicy and red, and there was a vast array of ripe and unripe bananas to select from.
My verdict
Overall, I was quite taken with the fresh produce but, for me, Marks and Spencer came out on top.
It’s worth mentioning that fresh produce tends to move quickly in supermarkets, so this could vary between days and weeks, and this is merely my experience at my local shops.
To extend the life of fruit, I aim to buy the most appealing fruit in the shop. Once I get home, I transfer grapes into a glass bowl, blueberries into a fruit container, and keep bananas separate from other fruits.