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Garlic?


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You either love it or hate it. But it seems most of our garlic is imported; yet it can and is grown in the UK, and has been since Roman times. And from taste test done on TV, the public prefer the UK variety, which has more kick than the bland imports that our s/markets wish to foist on us. :angry:

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Garlic is extensively grown and eaten in Egypt. There are rollocking great bunches of it hanging up somewhere in most egyptian houses. I love the smell of it wafting through the house when I or one or other of my daughters-in-law is using it in cooking.

Garlic is an easy to grow bulb. Split one up into cloves and plant them in a small patch in your garden and you will be rewarded with a patch of beautiful, fresh looking white flowers.

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The prog also dealt with pears; 80% of our pears are imported; but the public taste tests they did, folk prefered the taste of the British produce. The problem seems to be centred on the s/market control of food retail, and seeking the cheapest rather than the best quality produce. :blink:

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The supermarkets don't "control" food retailling - the customers do. And the fact is that most customers prefer convenience and price over quality and taste.

 

The supermarkets competitors need to look at what they can do to address the convenience and price difference rather than keep bleating about how much "better" their products are - whilst wondering why they have no customers.

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I do use "the market", which I hope uses "local" produce; and look for the Union Flag on packaging on the s/market shelves - Inky's correct in this respect, if the Brits made a point of buying British, it would solve the problem; and improve our balance of trade at the same time. :unsure:

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Warrington Market is a case in point when it comes to improving price and convenience.

 

Price could be addressed, at least as a first step, by making the market multi-story free for stays of up to 3 hours. After all, when was the last time you saw a supermarket WITHOUT free parking?

 

Convenience could be addressed quite simply by having trolleys - so you don't have to lug a dozen bags around while shopping - and using a single checkout system across the whole market. Stalls could serve you your produce, barcode label the bags, then when you finish all your shopping and pay for it all in one go the barcode indicates to the computer what portion of your bill goes to each stallholder. Saves having to constantly mess about with cash, or use the insecure wireless chip and PIN machines most stalls use.

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"Price" could be addressed by the Council not milking the stallholders with high rents, but having said that, I don't think the market's paricularly dear anyway; frankly don't know how they do it; and the idea of having the occasional "farmer's market" is a great idea. As for "convenience"; personally I'm quite happy to pay cash at each stall, rather than stand in a queue while someone tries punching in a pin code. :wink:

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Warrington Market is a case in point when it comes to improving price and convenience.

 

Price could be addressed, at least as a first step, by making the market multi-story free for stays of up to 3 hours. After all, when was the last time you saw a supermarket WITHOUT free parking?

 

Convenience could be addressed quite simply by having trolleys - so you don't have to lug a dozen bags around while shopping - and using a single checkout system across the whole market. Stalls could serve you your produce, barcode label the bags, then when you finish all your shopping and pay for it all in one go the barcode indicates to the computer what portion of your bill goes to each stallholder. Saves having to constantly mess about with cash, or use the insecure wireless chip and PIN machines most stalls use.

 

Isn't all that sort of detracting from what a 'market' is all about though?

 

I agree with you about the parking and maybe it would help if Warrington Market wasn't half empty of stalls etc as it's awful these days and like a no mans land. Sorry to any existing traders who are sticking it out and may be reading by the way :oops:

 

Having trolleys, barcoded items and paying in one go at a central checkout point makes it sound just like a odd type of supermarket. It would surely put the costs up to have to have each stallholder capable of barcoding and then to pay additional staff to man the 'global' tills not to mention having a system which can then calculate the 'proportions' so as to distribute the money back to the store holders. How long would they have to wait and how could they put some of the cash sales in their pockets :wink:

 

I'd much rather see a bustling market full of lower priced food and goods and pay for them directly although your way may make me buy more and look to be politely shocked at the checkout when I realise how much it had all cost in one go :wink:

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The kind of market I'm envisaging would have the convenience of a supermarket, but with competing stallholders (several butchers, several greengrocers, etc.) which should help to keep prices down and quality up.

 

The cost of running such a system would be no higher than having a till on every stall, and like you say, would probably encourage people to spend more in the market than they'd planned to.

 

Take your point about the cash-in-pocket traders, though!

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