A LEADING consumer organisation in Spain has revealed the top outlets for buying fruit and vegetables nationwide, based upon a study of 35 supermarkets, 10 fruit shops, 10 local markets and 12 hypermarkets in the provinces of Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona and Sevilla.
Each of the 67 retailers reviewed was given a mark out of 100, with points awarded for appearance and flavour, information provided about the item on sale, variety, level of customer service, and price.
The OCU focused mostly upon the most-purchased year-round greengrocery items in Spain – salad tomatoes, nationally-grown bananas (from the Canary Islands), Conference pears, Golden Delicious apples, and large strawberries.
Weekly markets and municipal indoor markets scored highest for flavour and appearance, but their wares were found to be the most expensive and, despite legal requirements, not all of them displayed full information about the produce offered.
Except in Barcelona, fruit shops or straight-from-the-farm fruit and vegetables were the cheapest, although there was 'nothing exceptional' about them in terms of flavour and appearance, the OCU said.
The cheapest fruit and vegetables in supermarkets were found in Lidl, Eroski, Alcampo, Día and Vidal, in that order, coming in at less than €10 for a typical weekly shopping basket, whilst Hípercor, Bonpreu and Condis were the most expensive, at €12 and €11.50 respectively.
Alcampo, Hípercor and Carrefour were the supermarkets with the widest variety on offer.
According to the OCU's supermarket ranking, the highest-scoring store was Ahorramás, gaining 84% of available marks, followed by Aldi and MÁS in joint second with 82%.
Municipal indoor markets and El Corte Inglés department store were joint fourth with 76%, and Condis and Mercadona joint sixth with 70%.
Joint eighth were Alcampo, Vidal and Bonpreu with 69%, and Lidl and Carrefour were joint 11th with 67%.
Consum was 13th with 66%, Caprabo 14th at 62%, and Día and Hípercor joint 15th with 58%, just slightly ahead of 17th-placed Eroski with 57%.
The remainder, in descending order, were high-street fruit shops (56%), Covirán (55%), Supersol (50%) and El Jamón (47%).
For cheaper deals in supermarkets, some shoppers recommend making their purchases shortly before closing time on a Saturday since, with the majority of stores being shut on Sundays, prices are often slashed to shift perishable produce that may be past its best by Monday.
The vast majority of fruit and vegetables on sale in Spain are nationally-grown and in season, with produce currently being harvested varying from region to region.
