Spudshed 24 7

[Varinia Swicegood]

Noreal excuse anymore to avoid eating your five of veg and two of fruit as recommended by the heart foundation. At least not in Brisbane. My favourite is Bellas in Mt Gravatt, but there is also Cocos in Annerley. But it's a rising trend, a quick search just then and I found another one in Pinelands.

When I first found out about it, I was thinking, c'mon there is no way this can be real. So I set off at 2:30am, as you can imagine zero traffic and the lights were always green, in less then ten minutes I was there. Kind of like a dystopia there was the surreal feeling of walking into a fruit and veg shop at two in the morning, I as the only shopper. The variety was superb, a lot of Asian fruit and vegetables you don't get in the supermarket. I browsed around, intrigued and on impulse bought a lot of things I'd never tried before.

I'm curious if anybody else has other experiences like this. Also wanted to share, I could have never found out about it, and I know it's odd but I often head out after midnight now, not to buy maccas or HJ's, but to buy a box of fruit and veg. If you told me a couple of years ago I'd be doing this I'd assume you were crazy.

All it does is expand the hours the sales are taken in. I remember when the supermarket was only open from 8:30am to 5:30pm Monday to Friday, 9pm on Thursday, and 8am to midday on Saturday. People survived.

Also as described there was only one person in the shop and he was busy in the stock room. He'd have to be there anyway so why not keep the shop open? Also the markets where fruit and veg are sold wholesale appear to be first in best dressed. Which has kind of meant the time to buy wholesale has become earlier and earlier. I'm no expert on this, it's just my general impression.

The economics seem to stack up nicely to me. If you go to Bellas at midday you most likely find yourself queuing to get in (which is why I go late at night). They are so busy nothing is stored. So what they are selling is most likely the freshest produce you can buy. And the proof is in the eating. God knows how many years an apple from Colesworth has been sitting in cold storage. Also a tomato loses it's flavour when chilled.

I think they are on quite a good earner here. Very high volume with little mark up in a business where freshness is prized seems rather savvy to me. Why do you think Woolworths have rammed this 'fresh food people' message down people's throats? It's a complete fiction.

These extended hours probably don't make a big difference for the average person, but they're amazing for shift workers. If you're working 8 to 5 on the weekends with some extended shifts on the days before the weekend it's very easy to be in a situation where you can be 4-5 days without being able to physically go to the supermarket.

Also the reason they were open later on Thursdays was because it was pension day. There's this weird kind of anthropological collective memory where people zombie like still flock to the shops on Thursday nights.

Very nice when heading back from Perth to the South-West, it's 10pm at night (or even midnight) and you think 'Hrmm, I need to do a small shop', drive into the Spud Shed at Australind, walk in, grab your fruit, veg, meat, dairy, bread, etc... pay, then head home.

I had no idea they must have reopened which is a bit odd because I also drove past but it was 18 months ago and the building wasn't even there! Long before that I remember seeing the place slowly being demolished.

Come a bit further north. Caloundra is horrible for this. Caloundra has long been marketed as a retiree destination, and there's nothing wrong with that, save for the fact you get the standard public holiday derp allied with old people panicking about it.

Yup, Bella's FTW. Flipping madness in daylight hours. Some weeks I'm FIFO, so drop in about midnight on the way home from airport to get the fresh food. They take care of a lot of restaurants as well.

Don't laugh this is almost certainly true. I saw this four corners documentary and this drug dealer was like, 'the riskiest part of the job is driving after midnight most cops assume you're a drug dealer which is outrageous', I thought his fake outrage was kind of cheap, but it was funny because he seemed to be dead serious. He was almost like saying 'Goddamn it let me sell my drugs in peace!'. Having some plausible deniability like a box of fruit and veg wouldn't be such a bad idea really.

Yep, the only problem is people feel entitled to have it whenever they want, wherever they want. Convenience much.

I don't see it necessary to have shops open every day this long. People lived, didn't just drop off dead without washing machines, fridges, cars, gas/electric stoves, etc.

If you're working 8 to 5 on the weekends with some extended shifts on the days before the weekend it's very easy to be in a situation where you can be 4-5 days without being able to physically go to the supermarket.

So for a few, you want it open 24/7. Ever heard of planning? You know, if you can't plan a little I wonder how you are still alive. For so many years firefighters, medical staff, police, etc., lived and survived.

You all just want convenience as much as possible without regards for anything else. You know, here's one example. By not being open 24/7 shops don't have to have air conditioner 24/7 on high. You heard of climate change? Consider convenience vs cost to all of us.

As explained fresh produce from the markets is before dawn business activity. You do need someone working at the shop in the stock room waiting on the inevitable rush. Much like a bakery needs to start baking before people wake up so they can sell the freshly baked bread we all appreciate.

I do understand what you're trying to say. We do need people to do shift work, whether they are working to provide fresh produce, policing the community or perhaps as a nurse or doctor caring for the sick and ill. They do choose to do it, and I think they deserve a little bit of respect for that. If 24/7 fruit and veg is a boon for them that's great. It certainly has made a big difference to my lifestyle.

Basically what happened in the UK with 24 hour supermarket opening when i lived there years ago, might have one cashier on duty and then whoever was supervising the nigjtfill would help out as needed.

Nothing extreme. It's logic. If it was so bad and so many shift workers they wouldn't be able to buy anything and starve.

People have lived without all this convenience and survived. I don't see a problem where a little bit of planning goes a long way. But it is just to please a few.

I do understand what you are saying. If you are doing shift work for instance you can plan ahead come up with meal plans and shop every fortnight, or even every week. There is also grocery delivery services for instance.

How many cars do you see that have only one person in it? I see a lot. And that is convenience, albeit a very costly one. It costs humans and environment, but hey, let's just keep sailing till all the sails are gone and then will be, oh, OH SHIT. Except by then, that's all you will be able to do, to say oh shit.

Seems like these eastern staters are behind the times as there's been 24/7 food markets in perth for a while. In the 90s when I lived in Yokine I remember going to fresh provisions in Mt Lawley a few times (I think that's what it was called, and not sure if they're around any more)

About 10 years ago when I lived in nedlands the IGA went all gourmet and improved all their products and went 24/7.

Then the spud shed in Innaloo went 24/7 maybe 6 years ago? I moved further north recently and before spud shed Joondalup opened I used to go to Mullaloo IGA for veg during the day (often had sales making them cheaper than Woolworths, but at worst they were the same price but fresher anyway) and a little while back that IGA went 24/7.

I know why some IGAs are going 24/7 because they sell everything, but a predominately fruit and veg or raw/uncooked meat shop like spudshed doing it was fairly strange. I think Tony is doing it just because he can in order to annoy some people and businesses :)

E: Looks like there's a lot of 24hr IGA in perth now. It all started with the nedlands one but they've been spreading.

Some are high quality, range and decent price so they are good for fruit and veg too.

Yeah IGA have really upped their game, and often they are the only supermarket in regional towns. My local one in Brisbane has gone very upmarket. I bought this jar of spicy Indian chutney from a Eumundi farmer's market once where they grew almost all the ingredients on their farm. It was a very sad day when I ate that last little bit from the jar. I'd never been able to find them again. Imagine my surprise seeing jars of it at my local IGA! Whoever is doing the buying in for IGA is some sort of gourmand. They also sell this vindaloo curry sauce that is bloody amazing. All you do is fry up some beef, then pour it on top. Much better than a lot of curry houses.

Sorry a bit off topic there. But I have noticed their fruit and veg are Colesworth prices but a lot fresher. Likewise with the meat section, a more premium selection but basically the same price. I'm glad they're doing well for themselves and carving out their own niche.

Exactly. And thanks to the wonderful food forum on here I'm going to get some of those Ball mason jars from Big W and give home canning a go. Those buckets of fruit and veg for next to nothing at Cocos look like great candidates. Although I've read you can bottle your own tomatoes just using beer bottles and buying lids and stamping them on yourself.

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