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What if There was Black Friday for Fresh Produce?

14 Replies

Photo: Christian Science Monitor

Friday’s shopping madness included consumer electronics, household items, clothes, toys and just about anything.

Except for food. Well, maybe specialty and gourmet online retailers, but not your regular supermarket fare.

What if supermarkets also had black friday sales? More specifically, what if fresh produce had price reductions of 50%, 60%, even 75%?

Would people stand in line for 99 cent strawberries? Woud they trample others to get to the cherries for 1.39 per pound? Would Kroger put up signs limiting kale to 1 per customer?

Or is this just a futile thought experiment? Can we make eating fresh, whole foods more desirable? Something that people dream of and wait for all year? Or at the very least, on par with the desirability of Doritos and M&Ms.

Maybe we can get the ball rolling here for a food related event to follow Black Friday and Cyber Monday – Whole Food Wednesday…

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  • Dirk

    This is silly, many foodstores do have sales similar to what is described.  Knowing that I can get the products for that price several times through the year means I am not inclined to get into fistfights over apples.

  • Djmasterblaster1

    Hmm an interesting idea but would not go well with production companies. Think about the effort it takes to get those whole, fresh foods. Farmers want there share too…..

  • http://www.rainbowplate.com Janet Nezon

    What a fabulous idea! The reasons why people don’t eat enough fresh, whole foods are indeed complex. However, what we do know for sure is that vegetables and and fruit do suffer from a bit of an image problem, and they are often perceived as too expensive by many people.  Produce has a tough time competing in the marketplace with the flashy  billion-dollar advertising campaigns enjoyed by other, less nutritious foods.  What if we had “Rainbow Friday” once in a while!! Stores could offer deep discounts on a wide variety of colorful, fresh and healthy foods. The flyers and online ads could be loaded with information about how to prepare these foods simply, so that everyone knew what to do with them. People might end up spending more time in the kitchen; cooking and eating healthy food together.  Just imagine . . .!!

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1079264588 Tania Lopez

    love the whole food wednesday idea 

  • http://www.amber-hinds.com Amber @ Au Coeur

    I would love that…and I would go crazy!  There’s a farm here that, at the end of the season, lets you pick your own tomatoes for $1 per pound.  I always get out and pick a wagon-full and bring them home to can for the winter.  This year, I picked 88lbs, which will get us through spring without having to buy any BPA-lined cans of tomatoes, and for much less than I would spend at the grocery store.  It’s fabulous and I wish there were more food opportunities like that.  I’m always surprised, though, how few people it seems are out in the fields picking.

  • Guest

    For what it’s worth, I shop at “No Frills” grocery stores and local produce shops with excellent sales. When something like cauliflower (large and good quality at that) is sold for $1 a head or white mushrooms (again, excellent quality) for $2 a pound, consumers actually do compete for them. It’s not unusual for limits to placed on how many can be bought at the sale price.

    It’s annoying when quantities run out so quickly, but it’s a good sign overall.

  • http://www.lindasdietdelites.com Diet Food

    I would stand in line for 99 cent strawberries. Even longer for raspberries.

  • Lrlore

    we DO have something akin to black friday for frts/veg here in dearborn, michigan.
    one of our middle-eastern produce stores, greenland, hosts ‘wacky wednesday’
    every week year round with great bargains like 12 red/yellow/orange bell peppers/$1;
    10 lemons/$1; 10# sack of locally grown onions/$3; organic apples 6 #/$5.

  • http://herbalwater.typepad.com Dr. Ayala

    It’s a great idea, and Whole Foods Markets does it — every Friday.  Stores have a 1 day sale on Friday on one item, it’s usually something fabulous and fresh, at an exceptionally low price, and many times you can sample the produce, too.  The parking lot is always full on Friday at my local WF.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=515004920 Chanale Fellig-Harrel

    awesome concept! I would be first at the door for sure.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=515004920 Chanale Fellig-Harrel

    awesome concept! I would be first at the door for sure.

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  • Elizabeth

    My husband would stand in line for fruit/veggies on sale….I know this, because he does. He always knows the sales at Sprouts/Windmill Farms (our local stores) — and if strawberries are on sale — he buys them..and he will go back the next day for more. I love him for it.