I paid $1.49 for a whole pineapple today...

[Contrary1]

Don't know where the little family meat market got it, don't really care. Half the price of the big grocery stores. He finds a bargain and passes the savings along.

I've been shopping at this place for several years. The owner works his ass off. No crappy stuff here. If whatever the product is doesn't meet his standards, it never hits the shelves. He refuses to sell whatever he wouldn't eat himself. There is no comparison as to quality when it comes to the meat he sells versus the big name grocery.

Most of his distributors have quit him, because he cannot buy in bulk. He sends his sons around to shop the sales at major grocery stores to fill his shelves. After costs, his markup is minimum.

Mike is closing in on 60. This market has been in his family for 100+ years. He tells me that he is so very tired, but he can't afford to sell it. He has worked this store since he was a teenager.

I guess my reasoning for this post is that if you can still afford to pay the prices at the Mom and Pop stores, please consider doing so.

So many of these owners have nothing else to fall back on. Too old to start something new. They can't afford to continue, and yet can't afford to quit.

[pipoman]

1. Did it have the top on it?

I buy 1 or 2 cases of crownless pineapples per week, they are 1/3 to 1/2 cheaper than crown on.

[Contrary1]

5. Crown on...

Haven't cut it open yet, but it smells wonderful.

[Mojorabbit]

17. I plant my crowns and get free pineapples. nt

[EFerrari]

2. One of my friends runs a store like that.

He's a neighborhood hero, especially for the folks who don't have easy access to a big store. He also has a drawer full of credit slips.

[peopleb4money]

3. That's a good deal.I've been thinking that way lately too. We need to support more local businesses.

If people just had more solidarity and didn't just buy whatever was the cheapest, we wouldn't have all our jobs outsourced out of the country.

[aquart]

4. Thank you. People forget about the small stores.

Nine-to=whenever cube rats can't imagine how hard the owners work and how dedicated they are to their customers.

[SlicerDicer-]

6. yep cheap pineapples

Thats what happens when you kill all agriculture in Maui and Lanai and ship it off overseas.

[pipoman]

10. Pineapple, like virtually every other produce is readily available year round.

This is accomplished by rotational harvesting. I get Hawaiian pineapple a couple of months per year. The rest of the year it comes from Mexico, Central and South America. The demand for year round availability to virtually all produce has changed the dynamic of farming in many places. For instance The farmers in Guatemala better not ripen at the same time as Hawaii or both get lower prices because of a glut. It really is pretty amazing the way the harvests time out on produce.

[SlicerDicer-]

25. Whatever excuses are BS it was done to kill the industry here.

Just ask the companies that did it ohh wait they made press releases. And our water table? It fried thanks again for your concern NOT!!

WE DO NOT GROW PINES EXCEPT FOR LOCAL PEOPLE!!! Thats it!! We do not export anymore, You will never see Maui Gold again in your lifetime on the mainland for general sale at grocery store.

[pipoman]

26. Yep, there is a conspiracy against Hawaiian pineapple farmers

it's all about you...the world waits for pineapples. And Brazilians raise beef to torture the farmers here, where the beef industry was born.

Oh, and excuses? You call a year round, world wide demand for pineapples an excuse? I call it reality.

[Chipper Chat]

7. A little off-topic, but

40 years ago when I went to U of H my roommate and I rented a car and drove out to the center of the island (Oahu). We saw workers in the field harvesting pineapples. I stopped and one of the workers came over and whacked a pineapple in two and gave it to us to eat. I will never forget how delicious that fresh pineapple tasted. It was so good I almost ate the core!

[pnwmom]

8. I shop mainly at a mom and pop.

They do a great job of stocking the stuff I need. I'd hate it if they went out of business.

[JDPriestly]

9. I go to a local produce store. Love it.

Good prices. Local produce. Nice people. They will order what you want. It's great. I wish it was closer to my house. But you can't have everything. It's near our library, so going there is not that much of a drag.

[bvar22]

11. Did you check it with a Geiger Counter?

:nuke:

[bluestate10]

19. Likely packed full of chinese growth booster. But there is only outrage if Monsanto sold

the booster.

[Codeine]

12. I manage a mom-and-pop grocery.

Actually, mom grocery these days -- pop died on the loading dock a few years ago. We fight to keep costs competitive but distributors hate dealing with little guys now. If you can't buy six pallets of everything they just do not fucking care to have your business unless you want to pay out the ass.

Grocery is a brutal way to make a buck.

[OneGrassRoot]

13. Maybe grocery co-ops -- made up of existing local mom & pop stores...

is the best way to go.

More buying power that way.

Good luck. I shop local -- Main Street, farmer's markets -- as much as possible.

[OneGrassRoot]

14. Cooperative Grocer

http://www.cooperativegrocer.coop/articles/2011-02-03/co-ops-are-doing-it-themselves

:hi:

I'll be working closely with the National Cooperative Business Association via Wishadoo!, as I'm a huge proponent of All Things Co-op.

If you'd like more information, I'll gather links specifically for grocery co-ops.

:)

[Codeine]

15. We're part of a large regional co-op, which helps for regular groceries.

That's probably why we're still around. Unified Western Grocers is good for pork-and-beans and toilet paper but for health-and-beauty items and stuff like produce it can get rough.

[OneGrassRoot]

16. Gotcha....

Hopefully someone will have an "aha" moment about a better approach to help small grocers. Good luck.

:hi:

[lpbk2713]

18. I've been using avocados as a guage.

I love guacamole and prepare it often. I've been watching the price steadily increase over the past copule of years. The non-sale price is around $2.49 now, some times they go for $1.49 on sale. Seems like it wasn't that long ago they were holding fairly steady (when in season) at around .69 cents.

[Liberal_in_LA]

20. Thanks for the reminder to shop the small grocers.

:D

[rpannier]

21. We had one in the town next to where my father lives

They went out of business because the delivery company that brought the stuff in said it was too expensive to bring stuff into a town that was as small and out-of-the-way as Port Byron, IL
It was rather sad.
Had been around since the late 1800's

[Mimosa]

22. Cool!

Guess the guy makes a modest living since he owns the store?

[defendandprotect]

23. And give them a break and don't use ATM or credit cards -- Cash or a check ...!!

If you can -- !!

[a2liberal]

24. I'll have to check out the one next door

thanks for the encouragement