I admitt we shopped woolies for a long time,it was convieniant,[but at what price ].
Tired of throwing out fruit & veg thats had the life squeezed out of it.The final straw,
the last meat supply we packed in freezer as usual, h/duty zip top bags [they dont stick together] We feel that it was pumped full of water to freshen it up as when we take it out each bag was 10/15% full with clear ice& a lot of fluid when defrosted.
Our last restock[similar selection] came from a small butcher in Bundy QLD [in a big complex]  was packed the same way,guess what no ice ,no fluid when thawed,still looks  as fresh as the day we put it there.A bonous as well,best meat in a LLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGG time.We will be  paying him a visit again on the way back shortly.


                 cyainthegreatoutdoors...................there'snoplacebetter............................

I hear you mate. 

Their meat and many other things leave a lot to be desired.

I now buy my meat from a local butcher and fruit and veg from a fruito in our home town.

The taste and texture is full of flavour.

Firefly,Justcruisin01, Could not agree more about SuperMarket meat or vegetables. Will not buy meat from any SuperMarket where ever we travel and same goes for Vegetables. We buy our meat from local butcher,vegetables from green grocer quality and better price. Roamin.

The "unwatered" meat cooks better with more flavour as well. Chicken from a real chicken shop, meat from a real butcher shop, but it's not so easy to find a real fruit and veg shop which hasn't sourced it's stock from the same places as the big boys, even if the wholesaler is different. Here in Cairns they have "Rusty's Markets" late in the week. I was disappointed with the prices and quality. Some is locally sourced, but a lot had those little labels, they all carried the same varieties and they all charged the same price. No real bartering like the Freo Markets at close of business on a Saturday. Others do the same, but Freo sticks in my mind. Makes me want to set up house and have a real vege garden with a couple of chooks. But on second thought, nah.

Woolies only ever employ meat slicers not regular butchers who know a good cut from a bad one . There adds show their buyers out at the farm gate supposedly buying top grade which it may have been when they last saw 12 months ago . Since then it has undergone a lot of mishandling and after undergoing cyrovac and sitting in a freezer for 6 months no wonder you are worried about quality . Small independent butchers give good value and quality that the big boys can't hope to give given the size of their operation. You will be hard pressed to find a full beast hanging in any supermarket cool room mostly comes in cryovac packets and sliced to suit the window display even the snags are made off site and shipped all over the country

Was so happy to read these posts and realise we arent the only ones who feel like that about the big supermarkets. One of our most enjoyable things to do when arriving in a new town is to go to the local butcher. Not only do you usually get good meat, but with plenty of cheerful info about the town and surrounding area. And whenever we see a roadside fruit/veg stall, we always stop..... theres no fresher! And you know the producer is getting a fair price for their stuff. The big 2 are only for dire emergencies, both at home and away.

During our 3 months in Qld, earlier this year, I noticed that Fruit and veg bought from Woolworths in places such as Emerald, Townsville, Ingham, went bad really quickly, compared to the same stuff I buy at home in Melb. Far Nth Qld people are hard done by. We are lucky to have good farmers' markets in our area. Channel 7 is currently featuring the farmers' direct supply outlets - and I am very tempted for fresher produce. Also buying direct from meat farmers online. If anyone is interested you can access a list of such suppliers via Yahoo7.