How far does $50 go at the Sunraysia Farmers and Makers Market? I went along with a budget, filled my bags and filmed the shop for an Out and About Sunraysia YouTube video.
Afterwards, I compared my haul with the closest products I could find at a major supermarket.
The supermarket came out about $5 cheaper — roughly $45 compared with my $50 market spend. But those two totals don’t tell the whole story.
Here’s what I brought home:
- Broccoli
- Asparagus
- Avocado
- Two zucchinis
- A bag of tomatoes
- A bag of onions
- A whole butternut pumpkin
- Dried peaches
- Snow peas
- Spinach and fetta Turkish bread
- A muffin
Straight off the bat, this wasn’t a perfect like-for-like comparison.
The supermarket I checked didn’t have spinach and fetta Turkish bread. The closest thing was a mass-produced Turkish loaf, and in my opinion, it wasn’t in the same league as the bread I brought home from the market.
A cheaper substitute might bring the total down, but it doesn’t necessarily give you the same thing. That alone could be the price difference.
Then there were the dried peaches. The supermarket version was imported; the market peaches were Australian grown. Both might tick the same box on a shopping list, but where they came from matters to me.
The supermarket muffin wasn’t anywhere near as large or as fresh as the locally baked one from the market. That market muffin was fresh, and you could tell.
And the big bag of tomatoes? They actually tasted like tomatoes. To my taste, they were far better than the ones I usually buy at the supermarket.
There’s more to the market than the shopping list
My $50 challenge concentrated on produce, but there’s plenty of other local stuff to tempt you: olive oils, balsamic vinegar, chutneys, preserves and fresh orange juice.
Those weren’t part of this price comparison, but they’re another good reason to visit.
If you reckon generic supermarket olive oil, balsamic vinegar or chutneys are as good as our locally produced versions, perhaps it’s time to pay a visit to the next farmers market. Try a few, have a chat with the people making them and make up your own mind.
You might come home with a new favourite.
What does the extra five bucks get you?
I’m not claiming every item was cheaper at the market, because the supermarket total came out lower. This was one shop, compared with the closest supermarket alternatives I could find.
But for this haul, about five dollars extra bought me bread I much preferred, Australian-grown dried peaches, a larger, fresher muffin and tomatoes with proper flavour.
It also meant spending my money with local growers, bakers and stallholders.
For anyone watching every dollar, that $5 difference counts. But if we’re talking about value, taste, freshness, size and where the money goes deserve a place alongside the price.
You can follow the market shop in my Out and About Sunraysia YouTube video and see what went into the bags.
For me, the market was worth the extra five bucks.
I know where I’d rather my money go.
