- Market Shopping for Fruits and Vegetables

Food Shopping

Grocery stores in Dumaguete in some ways are quite similar to stores in America. Of course the ones here cater to Pinoy tastes so you won’t find everything that you would find in the States. And no grocery stores that I have seen stay open 24 hours. The shopping carts here roll any direction, not just forwards and backwards. Some things in the grocery are more expensive here, and some things are cheaper than in the States. But since our grocery budget is much lower now that I am retired, we try to find cheaper alternatives.

There are other options. One is the Dumaguete Public Market. In some ways the Mercado is like a flea market in America, vendors selling their wares inside a huge warehouse, whether they be eatable or non-eatable. The food vendors sell fruit, vegetables, eggs, meat, and fish. The prices often are significantly lower than in the supermarket.

Dumaguete Public Market

Another option is roadside vendors. These vendors might be downtown or on the side of the highway. And they might sell the same thing as in the market, sometimes higher price than the market and sometimes lower.

Then we found another option. Near the market on one street, there is like a wholesale market where many of the vendors buy their fruits and vegetables. These vendors just spread their wares on mats on the ground and sell them from there. They are only open in the early morning like from 3am to 6am.

I call it the "Morning Market"
I don't know if it has an official name

Let me give some examples of the differences in prices. Keep in mind that they are usually sold by kilograms and in Philippine pesos (php -- the current exchange rate is approximately 51 php to 1 American dollar).

Mangoes

in the supermarket -- 170 – 220 php

market and roadside vendors -- 40 – 130 php

morning market -- 15 – 50 php

Pineapples (sold as whole pineapples)

supermarket -- 150 – 200 php

market or vendors -- 50 – 150 php

morning market -- 10 – 50 php

One of the things I thoroughly enjoy about the Philippines is being able to have fresh fruit at every meal, usually bananas, pineapples, and/or mangoes. Sometimes we get calamansi (small Filipino limes) or jackfruit.

We also enjoy fresh vegetables that we find there like potatoes, tomatoes, carrots, cabbage, green beans, onions, garlic, ginger, greens, egg plant, and sometimes ampalaya (bitter melon) or squash.