Why Fruits and Veggies Are So Cheap in Chinatown • Hacker News Board

Re: Why Fruits and Veggies Are So Cheap in Chinatown

#111

Post by DanBC » Sun, Jun 26, 2016, 9:56 PM UTC

mc32 wrote: post #101

throwaway_bob wrote: post #63

I lived on henry street for a while, and I can't say that I know anything about the back end of the distribution network, but I can say this article is missing a lot of things about the front end. The produce is cheaper than a standard western store, but the quality is much more varied. Moreover, the market (in the economic sense) seems really efficient. If you see something cheap in Manhattan chinatown in every stor…

They definitely missed the point about ugly fruit and vegetables. From speaking to some of the vendors of cheaper fruits and veggies at farmer's markets, some of them (but not all) buy the second dibs (what the supermarkets and their other obligations don't buy) as well as more irregular fruit and produce. Now, of course there is a growing ugly fruit and vegetable movement[1]. It's becoming more mainstream and even W…

Here are two such schemes, and a BBC radio programme (available as MP3 download):

http://www.frutafeia.pt/en

http://www.uglyfruits.eu/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05mpx0k

Re: Why Fruits and Veggies Are So Cheap in Chinatown

#112

Post by jghn » Sun, Jun 26, 2016, 10:11 PM UTC

jimmywanger wrote: post #78

sidek wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? Lived in HK for a long time, had lots of friends who grew up there/were very local.. never saw this happen. Is it regional?

You know, I never thought about it. Maybe. Asian restaurants in Asia tend to specialize. You want curry, go to the curry place, if you want noodles, go to the noodle place. Asian restaurants in the states (Thai and Chinese especially) have huge menus with no clear recommendations in the name. For instance, what are you getting when you go to Morton's steak house? The name gives you the cue. Just like if you're headin…

"Just like if you're heading into a restaurant called "Shanghai Dumpling House" you're probably getting dumplings."

Be careful with this. At least in the US, the English name often has very little to do with the Chinese name, and it's the latter which is meaningful. As an example there's a place in Boston's Chinatown called the "Dumpling House" (or something along those lines) but the Chinese name is something like "tastes of north and south". Go figure, you see a lot of Westerners complaining about the dumplings here.

Re: Why Fruits and Veggies Are So Cheap in Chinatown

#113

Post by pbreit » Sun, Jun 26, 2016, 10:23 PM UTC

aj7 wrote: post #103

sukilot wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trade Joe's entire reason for existence is that most of their stuff, both packages and produce. is cheaper than other area stores. There are a private label store.

This is a common myth. I've concluded Trader Joe's exists to give a veneer of guilt-free-ness to buying junk food. Avoid the cheese and meat at all costs.

Care to enlighten us TJs cheese and meat eaters?

Re: Why Fruits and Veggies Are So Cheap in Chinatown

#114

Post by [deleted] » Sun, Jun 26, 2016, 10:23 PM UTC

aj7 wrote: post #103

sukilot wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trade Joe's entire reason for existence is that most of their stuff, both packages and produce. is cheaper than other area stores. There are a private label store.

This is a common myth. I've concluded Trader Joe's exists to give a veneer of guilt-free-ness to buying junk food. Avoid the cheese and meat at all costs.

[deleted]

Re: Why Fruits and Veggies Are So Cheap in Chinatown

#115

Post by smegel » Sun, Jun 26, 2016, 10:34 PM UTC

Does everyone here subscribe to the WSJ or something?

Re: Why Fruits and Veggies Are So Cheap in Chinatown

#116

Post by greeneggs » Sun, Jun 26, 2016, 10:43 PM UTC

akiselev wrote: post #71

driverdan wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> At a Whole Foods... I'm curious why did you compare to Whole Foods? They are far more expensive than a regular grocery store and their food is not better.

Have you shopped at Whole Foods or Bristol Farms for seasonal products? Compared to the major grocery store chains their produce is leaps and bounds better. I don't believe in the organic marketing crap but their food, especially when it comes to fruit, is amazing, unlike anything you can find at Kroger, Publix, or Safeway. Cherries, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, peaches, pears, apples, tomatoes, and countl…

Whole Foods produce is only better in areas that have a Whole Foods. In areas without a Whole Foods, all the produce goes to the lower-end stores and sold for the lower prices, regardless of quality. Once Whole Foods moves in, they split off the higher-quality produce, selling it for a higher price, and the quality everywhere else drops.

Re: Why Fruits and Veggies Are So Cheap in Chinatown

#117

Post by majewsky » Sun, Jun 26, 2016, 10:44 PM UTC

honkhonkpants wrote: post #69

jimmywanger wrote: post #17

I think that one factor is that in the Chinese culture, you don't expect everything to be good and available during all seasons. At a Whole Foods, you can reasonably be assured of asparagus in the winter time. In Chinatown, things are only available when they're in season, like a farmers' market. Also, if you've ever ordered at a Chinese restaurant with a Chinese family, you'll see this phenomenon. Instead of orderin…

Asparagus is harvested in the winter!

In Germany, asparagus season is just over, lasting from April to June. Interestingly, asparagus is one of the few vegetables which Germans fully accept as being available only seasonally. And conversely, they go totally crazy during asparagus season for no apparent reason.

About the only other seasonal vegetable is kale, which Northern Germans will once a year cook to death and serve with disgustingly fat sausages whose name derives from an old word for "penis". You can't make this up. :)

Re: Why Fruits and Veggies Are So Cheap in Chinatown

#118

Post by majewsky » Sun, Jun 26, 2016, 10:50 PM UTC

xorcist wrote: post #74

venomsnake wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lets start with the obvious - a modern food is disgustingly safe compared to what a human immune system is capable of handling. No matter what Madison Avenue has tried to convince the US public - a single or couple of bacteria won't kill you. And if you mean prepared Chinese food - have you seen the burners under the woks - they look, sound and consume fuel at comparable rate to a jet engine. It is very intense style…

> couple of bacteria won't kill you That's naive. Enjoy your chicken sashimi.

In fact, a couple of bacteria are usually good for you. It keeps your immune system occupied. Over-cleanliness fuels development of allergies, as I can attest for myself, having to cope with all sorts of food, pollen, dust and animal allergies.

Re: Why Fruits and Veggies Are So Cheap in Chinatown

#119

Post by greeneggs » Sun, Jun 26, 2016, 10:51 PM UTC

tacostakohashi wrote: post #72

I can't help but think that this article, and other comments, gloss over some major, obvious factors: 1) More than anything else - high volumes, low margins, and intense competition. People travel to Chinatown from all over NYC to buy at those prices. When they do, they're often making a long trip (in many cases, over an hour), and so they buy in much higher quantities than they would at a local grocer or supermarket…

But what you are missing is that it is not primarily about the costs. The prices elsewhere are higher because those grocers want the prices to be high. They make more money from it, and there is insufficient competition to force them to lower prices.

Where I am, for example, the base price at Safeway/Vons/Pavilions for any of the cheaper produce items is $1.99/pound. It goes up from $1.99: $2.99, $3.99, etc. Nothing has a base price of $x.49/pound. This pricing scheme has little to do with costs!

(Bananas are the only exception for $x.99---depending on the location, they can be $0.69 or $0.79/pound---and there are a few items below the general $1.99 base price: like carrots or jicama, available for $0.99/pound.)

Furthermore, they do mark items down at a times. So a fruit that is normally $1.99/pound will drop to $0.99/pound for 3-7 days. This is partly because of seasonality, but mostly for marketing. It is only one item at a time, for example. Under no circumstances will they mark multiple items down to $0.99/pound simultaneously, even if the items are both in season (which is easy to judge by looking at produce markets, farmers' markets, and more sensible grocery stores). It can be frustrating to know that it is high season for peaches, but the powers-that-be have determined that this week they're marking grapes down from $3.99 to $1.99/pound, so peaches can't be discounted.

Re: Why Fruits and Veggies Are So Cheap in Chinatown

#120

Post by tn13 » Sun, Jun 26, 2016, 10:55 PM UTC

throwaway_bob wrote: post #63

I lived on henry street for a while, and I can't say that I know anything about the back end of the distribution network, but I can say this article is missing a lot of things about the front end. The produce is cheaper than a standard western store, but the quality is much more varied. Moreover, the market (in the economic sense) seems really efficient. If you see something cheap in Manhattan chinatown in every stor…

I second that. It is very much like saying there is free healthcare in Venezuela.

Fruits and Vegetables are cheaper in Mexican stories, Indian (dots) stores and Chinese Stores than say Walmart or Target. But they are in substantially lower quality. Of course if you are regular and you personally cook then you will have a very good understanding what which store has the cheaper and best stuff. In my experience Onions,Mangos from Mexican/Indian stores at par with expensive Onions in Walmart. Only Indian stores understand the subtle differences with Mango breeds. We go to Chinese stores mostly for fish and vegetables like Brocolli, Kale and Carrots.