Do the supermarkets there have the styrofoam pack of vegetables and fruits? If you will check, the chopped fruits in the styro pack is way much cheaper than buying, say a whole pineapple. With vegetables, it is also cheaper particularly with the variety of chopped vegetables in the styro pack mostly consisting of broccoli, cauliflower and carrots. I sometimes buy that not for the cheap price but for the quality since the styro pack is covered with cellophane so you can see the quality. I sometimes buy whole watermelon or pineapple and when I reach home, the quality is not that good, either unripe or overripe. With the styro pack, it is cheaper and quality is guranteed.
We do have some fruit and veggies that are packed in plastic-wrap and a styrofoam tray; but sometimes, they are just in a sealed plastic bag, or even a clear plastic cup with a lid. Usually , those cost more than just buying the fresh fruit or veggies does. Watermelon is an excellent example. a few slices of watermelon on a styrofoam tray will cost you almost as much as buying the whole watermelon does. Pineapple in the container that has been peeled and cored is usually a lot more expensive that a whole pineapple, and you really can't tell how rip it is once it is in the container, either. I do not like having to chop and peel the pineapple, but if I am going to get it a lot cheaper, then that is what i will do. When they sell them both for the same price, then I get the ones in a container and don'thave to do all of the prep work before eating it. Another thing that i like about the fresh ones is that you can choose how much you want to buy. When they are packed, if you want more than is in one pack, then you have to buy two whole packs, whether you wanted that much or not. Otherwise, you just take as much as you want to buy and put it in the little plastic bag.
I know what you mean about fruits and veggies costing cheaper buying them all cut and ready to eat. I sometimes buy fruits that way that comes in the see through plastic containers. Once though they were old and it turned the day after, but this was only once that it happened. Usually they're all fresh and good plus all ready to eat too! I like buying fruits and veggies in packages or plastic containers is how they come here at our local supermarkets for it saves money instead of buying the whole veggie or fruit to cut up yourself. It really helps my small family to have the cut up fruits & veggies in the markets.
There is a store here that sells frozen durian fruit in styrofoam. My husband loves durian and he used to buy the fruit that is quite expensive because the rind is so thick and naturally heavy that the edible part is less than half of the total weight. When we discovered that frozen durian, he never bought fresh durian anymore. He said that the durian is one fruit that it difficult to prepare because the rind has long and hard thorns. So it is difficult to crack open the shell. And worse, sometimes he would open the durian only to see that the inside is rotten already or unripe (when an unripe durian is opened, it will never mature anymore). The frozen durian in styrofoam is half a kilo costing around $5. I sometimes get 3 packs when the durian fruits has that orangey look., that is the sweetest variety.
I don't know…Durian...anything with thick skin, long horns, and smells, has got to be a sign. A sign of what I don't know, but it's definitely a sign