$15 v $70: Aussie shopper's incredible fresh food hack

A delighted shopper has revealed how they got a large amount of fresh produce for the incredible price of $15, in comparison to roughly $60 - $70 for the same items at Coles or Woolworths.

Shopping at the markets at Toowoomba in Queensland hosted by non-profit organisation Police Citizens Youth Clubs (PCYC), the local was astounded by the affordable prices of fresh fruit and vegetables.

"$15 bucks at the PCYC markets. Big bag of ginger for 3 bucks (supermarket is around $29/k), 1 KILO of garlic for 5 bucks (supermarket $35/k), 4 Capsicums, 3 broccoli, bag of onions, 5 bananas," they said on Reddit.

Many in the comments praised the PCYC market for how affordable and fresh the products looked.

"Far out that garlic looks amazing," one person commented. "Insane. Yeah I'll have to check out the PCYC! Wow," another said.

"I don't understand why ginger is ever expensive. We grow a sh*t ton of it in QLD. This is the correct price," one person agreed in the comments.

Why are supermarkets more expensive than farmers markets?

There are a number of reasons why products would be more expensive at supermarkets, especially during "food-price inflation", according to consumer expert Gary Mortimer.

"The reason prices are often lower at a farmers market is that you're dealing with stallholders that might be open for four or five hours, aren't running air conditioning like fully functioning supermarkets with refrigeration, aren't paying leasing costs, don't have lots of staff, don't have receiving dock areas. It's more of a simplified operation," he told Yahoo News Australia.

"When you're buying direct at the fresh produce markets, what you're doing is buying it earlier in the value chain.

"By the time it gets from there on a palette to a supermarket, it means staff would have moved the palette onto boxes, boxed onto a truck, driven to a supermarket, unpacked, and placed on show. So there's a lot more extra costs when you get to the pointy end of the value chain."

• Woolworths shopper's secret to slashing $200 off salmon and trout haul

• Shopper wows with half-price produce haul amid soaring prices: 'Amazing'

• Man stuns with 'impressive' grocery bag hack: 'This is incredible'

Tips for saving on groceries

One of Mr Mortimer's saving tips was going "direct to the source" like "famers markets, road-side stalls with fruit and veggies, and hobby farms".

He also recommended using grocery apps like Frugl, which identifies products that are on special at supermarkets, as well as "shopping across multiple supermarkets for one shopping trip" and looking at the unit price.

He also said to"consider discounters" like The Reject Shop and Big W, who "have a whole range of toiletries in confectionary, soaps and those types of products."

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter and download the Yahoo News app from the App Store or Google Play.