"alan_m" wrote in message
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I've just thrown away a packet of pears that seem to have turned to some form of
concrete rather than ripening!

The only fruit I ever buy from supermarkets is/are bananas.
Then its necessary to shop around to find branches which stock
large bananas, as most seem to prioritise small or medium
"lunchbox size" fruit.

Pears are always difficult as they have to be picked and transported
unripe/hard as they bruise so easily once they start to ripen.

One of the advantages of living where I do, is that there are plenty
of ethnic greengrocers, many of whom have displays/piles of pears
outside the shop; 90% of which are similarly hard. Its sometimes necessary
to visit 5 or 6 of these shops to find the one or two pears in each
pile which will ripen fully within the next week. They go straight
in the fridge door and are taken out one or two at a time to
warm up over the next 24 hours.
Which with experience doesn't take that much longer than visiting the
supermarket when you know where to go. Same with oranges.
But then not everybody lives in a city with the pavements
cluttered with ethnic shops I suppose.

Despite experts claiming they need to be at room temperature to ripen,
at room temperature they'll ripen too quick and the final three of four will
go mushy. Unlike other fruit, pears will also go mushy from the inside
out. Outside fine, inside brown. Storing them in the fridge door doesn't seem
to hinder ripening just slows it down. 69 to 79p per pound ATM
round here

To expect any fruit or veg to be properly ripe from a supermarket is probably
expecting a bit much. Years ago when regular customers bought daily from proper
fruit and veg shops - as with the ethnics to certain extent today the shopkeepers
could buy just what they needed from wholesalers they could trust to sell within
one or two days. Like opening restaurants overstocking on fresh produce
without the benefit of frozen storage is a quick road to bankruptcy.

The supermarkerts threw all that out of the window. Because of the long
supply chains to compete on price while keeping waste to acceptable
levels they have to prioritise shelf life. While customers will carry on
buying rock hard unripe and tasteless fruit and vet, as soon as they
find anything rotten they will be demanding their money back and
pictures of their mouldy fruit and veg will be splashed all over the
red-tops. Ideally just pulled from the mouth of their two year old tot.

michael adams

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