Why does Walmart produce taste so bad?

Question

I started doing my grocery shopping at Walmart, since it was cheaper, but now I'm having second thoughts. I'm curious, what do they do to their vegetables and fruits that make them taste, well...so gross? Is it my imagination that the produce from the other local grocery stores (Food Lion and Farm Fresh) actually tastes better and makes me feel better?

I've vaguely heard before that they add dyes and water. And when I pick up Walmart's cucumbers, they feel *waxy*. Yuck! Is this just a Walmart thing, or do other stores do it?

Answer 1

Well there is a reason why Wall mart is so cheap. But you can find out in their website. They should have info about where their produce come from and how is produced.

Answer 2

I've been taking Wallmart fruit back for refunds now for about two years. I always explain and show the assistant manager/manager etc and ask that they complain to Wallmart Corporate. They usually say at some point that there is nothing they can do. It seams that Corporate buyers buy fruit that has not really started to ripen when picked. That way it will store for a longer period of time. The down side is that it will never fully ripen and many times it will rot before it gets soft and sweet. Usually it will remain hard for several days or sometimes over a week then when you bite into it you find it has turned brown around the seed. Take it back for a refund. Otherwise they will never change and we will end up having to eat fruit like winter time tomatoes and eventually forget what real fruit tastes like. Pineapples are a good example. Here in the East they buy green pineapples from Honduras or Coast arica so that they can ship them by boat. Because they have to be picked green for longer shipping, they will never get ripe and are only good if cooked. Because Hawaiian pineapples are further away and have to be flown in they can be picked when starting to ripen and are delicious but cost a few cents more because they are flown in. If we all return the bad fruit, only then will they start to listen to us.

Answer 3

I know that I will get flamed for saying this,but this is the exact reason why I don't buy my produce from Wal-Mart! They will say that their produce is cheaper than anywhere else,but I haven't been impressed with their produce whatsoever! The supposed,"fresh,"bananas and grapes that they have out on display are always rotten,and with the grapes,the bags are always torn open and it looks like somebody has been helping themselves to eat half of the bag of grapes.



I shop at our local Kroger grocery store because they ALWAYS carry FRESH and CLEAN produce at very affordable prices and they get alot of their produce from our local farmers. How do I know? I have asked some of our local farmers and they do have contracts with our local Kroger store. Plus,Kroger is ALWAYS watering and maintaining their produce so it is nice and clean and healthy,not rotten like what our local Wal-Mart tries to sell to its consumers!

Answer 4

Walmart produce is cheap. It's bought in huge bulk and shipped all over kingdom come. I buy a few items at Walmart but do my grocery shopping mostly at Meijer and the local markets. Meijer in my town has the best produce and meat. Walmart is good for canned food and boxed food but their meat is never really cheap here and the produce truly does look sickly compared with Meijer's.

Answer 5

Please join the rest of us conscience consumers and do not buy anything at Walmart! There is a movie titled "Walmart: the High Cost of Low Prices"(2005), it is on DVD or you might still be able to catch it on cable. The movie will give you a perspective of the negative impact that corp. has on your community, it's employees, and the vendors they buy from.



P.S. Just for the sake of your own health, and our enviroment, buy organic. It is worth the extra money to buy produce, or anything for that matter, with an Organic label.

Answer 6

I know a lot of grocery stores put wax on their cucmbers, not sure why though. Maybe it keeps them fresh longer. I've never heard anything about dyes or water in the produce at walmart but anything is possible. My best guess is that it comes from somewhere very far away, has spent days or even weeks on a truck, and isn't fresh at all. Plus, for it not to be rotten by the time it gets to the store, they have to pick it way before it's ripe.



The bigger chain grocery stores are making an effort to sell more locally grown produce, which will always taste better and is better for you since it's picked when it's ripe and still fresh when it gets to you. It's not possible with all kinds of produce, obviously, because not all things grow everywehere, but they are trying. I've found that farmers markets are the best place to get produce. If you have one nearby, you should definitely check it out. The produce there tastes better and is cheaper since it's not trucked across the country.

Answer 7

When I lived down South, I always liked Walmarts products. hmmm......Not sure why they're different. Stick with what you like at the other stores, I guess! Trust your instinct ;)

Answer 8

i used to sit right on the other side of the wall from the produce buyers for supercenter when i worked at the walmart home office and from what i gather, they try REALLY hard to buy local for their stores. the majority of what they sell will come from where they can get it for cheap and it is usually produce that was picked way too early. produce picked early will not develop it's full flavor. they calculate in the time of shipping and when it is going to be put out on the shelf as to when it is picked and there are several ways they try to halt or promote ripening on it's way to the store. all of this leads to fruit at good prices that looks great but then when you eat it, you discover it's not ripe enough and when you ripen it yourself, it doesn't taste as good as it should. i shop at wal-mart but i never buy produce or meat there. i save that for the local stores. their produce and meat is better quality and taste but you will pay a little more than wal-mart. local stores are able to get better produce cause they aren't receiving shipments from timbuktu on something they can get right next door although the price is a bit higher. when i get produce, it's cause i wanna take it home and eat it, not wait days for it to ripen. hope this helped! also...think about this, there are about 4 or 5 guys buying produce for 500+ supercenters. they aren't going to be able to concentrate on individual local shipments for each store wherein the smaller local chains are able to do this. the best they can do is buy mass quantities for zones and ship it unripened.

Answer 9

they probably don't water, or take care of their produce products like real stores do.

Answer 10

Funny enough......The Walmart's that are grocery stores as well are a phenomenon to me because here on Long Island (NY), none of the walmarts have the grocery store aspect......



In any case, I would imagine that you mean that the produce has like a "stale" or lack of taste. This could be that they use spray preservatives like waxing and such so that they last longer so instead of rotting they just lose their taste or are buying from growers that pick before they should or grow them or are "force" raising the crops. Definitely go with the local supermarkets........my favorite is Stop & Shop because they have so many varieties of organic produce which really is different in quality.



Another reason I love summer.........LOVE going to the local farmstands for fresh produce.

Answer 11

Wal Mart's produce isn't the greatest, but it beat's Kroger's produce hands down! You can NOT find decent produce at Kroger--the stuff is either half rotten, or so under-ripe that it takes at least a week for it to ripen at home. I've gotten fed up with the local grocery stores, and started going to the farmer's market near my house. It's an extra trip, but the produce is much better and it's cheaper!



Beware of Wal Mart's meat, too. They truck it in from Florida (at least they do where I live [Atlanta]) and it's vacuum sealed with carbon dioxide (to keep it pink/fresh looking). It also has quite a few bone fragments in it (in most packages).

Answer 12

I live in Maine and our wal mart is in Skowhigan and when there first load of peaches comes in at spring time there great but after that they are black under the skin and taste like crap some of them will mold in two days we don't buy much fruit from them anymore.

Answer 13

Walmart Produce Quality

Answer 14

you are not alone. I have always noticed the that their produce just isn't as good. My friends agree as well. I go to Krogers for produce. I do not know what it is they do with it, or buy it.

Answer 15

could be genetically modified via Monsanto

Answer 16

You people do not really care what you eat that's obvious from being on this site for a while. As long as it's cheap and a commercial tells you to eat it... you'll eat it right up!

IT'S WALMART LADY!! When Walmart begins doing dental proceedures are you going to get your teeth serviced there as well because it's cheap!

Oh let me guess..." I don't care"