In supermarkets here, they have learned how to sell ripe fruits that are nearing to be over-ripe. The fruit is peeled and sliced before packing in styrofoam that is wrapped in cellophane (so the customers can clearly see the sliced fruits). Foremost are pineapple and watermelon. They also do that to cantaloupe and even mangoes. From my evaluation, those sliced fruits in styro packs are way much cheaper if you compute the per kilo cost because they have no more rind nor seeds (in case of the mango). Besides, it is ready to eat unlike the usual fruit that you have to peel and slice. One of our favorite is the durian which costs 200 pesos for half a kilo while the unpacked durian costs 350 per kilo that includes the rind and the stem. So the ready-to-eat durian is just 50 pesos more per kilo. The sales attendant said that a kilo of durian when peeled would amount to less than half a kilo.
I but most of my fruit tinned, it's cheaper and lasts a long time but I also have allergies to certain freash fruits, it's something to do with the pollenation but when the fruit is cooked or preserved I can eat it so I always go with tinned.
I buy those also in the styro packs since I can fit them into my budget. I like buying the mixed fruits. I sometimes make smoothies out of them or graham cake depending on the fruits available. We always have ripe mangoes, apples, grapes, oranges, papaya slices, ripe bananas, and even pineapple bits. Sometimes they would even have strawberries that I'd buy as a treat because we don't normally get them.
I know at the supermarkets I go they sell fruits that are overripe at 50% off. Great savings here if you are going to use them up immediately. I have to ask what durian tastes like. I had my students do research on different fruits and durian was one of them. I tried to buy one in Canada and was told it was too expensive and too stinky. The man at the fruit store told me it was not an appropriate fruit to bring to school since it would smell up the whole place.
I have heard somewhere in passing that the sliced and peeled fruits and vegetables as well as the packed salads are mostly just fruits that can't be sold in their original state due to visual defects. I've never confirmed or researched this so take it with a grain of salt, but nonetheless I think it would only matter if you are buying it for a higher price than you would compared to just buying the raw product version such as with the bagged mixed lettuces for use in salads which is almost always priced more than twice the original cost. If you are getting to save by buying the peeled and cut version then I think that would be a good decision since visual defects aren't that important anyway.
I buy the sliced mixed fruits often because they are easy to put in your cereal or natural yogurts. If I would have a mixer I would make shakes with them. It is totally a good deal to buy them that way than to buy a whole net of oranges and then come home and find out that 80% of them are already bad and have meldew.
Where I live, if fruit is overripe they will sell it at a discount. However, they may wrap it in cellophane and styrofoam, but they do not slice it for you. Anytime fruit is sliced and prepackaged by a grocery here, they mark it way up for the convenience of not having to slice and prep it yourself. They especially do this with melons. Pre-sliced watermelon here is outrageous. Sometimes, it cost almost twice as much as the entire melon and you get half as much or less. Plus, a lot of the time they will even leave the rind on the slices so you're really not saving because you're also still paying for the rind.
