# Veggies and fruit in UAE



## Mariposa03 (Sep 20, 2017)

Do you know what fruit and veggies are locally grown in UAE? I know that majority is imported and you can buy almost everthing, but I'm particularly interested what is grown here and where to buy it.
Are there any local markets to buy local fruit? I've read about Ripe Market, is there anything else?


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## QOFE (Apr 28, 2013)

https://www.greenheartuae.com/

I have tried their home deliveries and their produce is great.

Another one is https://www.kibsons.com/

I haven't tried them yet but have heard great reviews.


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## Mariposa03 (Sep 20, 2017)

Thank you very much for this info, I will definitely order from them


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## UKMS (Jan 9, 2017)

Mariposa03 said:


> Thank you very much for this info, I will definitely order from them


Mariposa - have you finally moved over here ?


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## Mariposa03 (Sep 20, 2017)

UKMS said:


> Mariposa - have you finally moved over here ?


Not yet  
But I'm flying next week, my husband has been there since December, there were some delays with his visa, now he's waiting for the Emirates ID, so I can finally go.


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## Reddiva (Feb 24, 2016)

QOFE said:


> https://www.greenheartuae.com/
> 
> I have tried their home deliveries and their produce is great.
> 
> ...


The Kibson vans deliver to my street everyday at 6pm so someone must like them
A friend uses them and said they are great. I dont think all their veggies and fruit are local though


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## TallyHo (Aug 21, 2011)

Be careful before making any assumptions about buying local produce. It's definitely not more environmentally friendly because all the farms rely on huge quantities of desalinated water (we're a desert country). 

There's a wide variation among the local produce. Some are decent, others are not, and the range is much smaller. Much of it often looks wilted and is tasteless or has that slightly bitter aftertaste. It's absolutely not comparable to proper fruit and vegs you buy at local farms and markets in Europe. I've explored the local produce as I enjoy cooking, and it's a hit or miss. So I've ended up just buying almost everything imported as usual. The ones from Lebanon can be quite decent. I buy most of my food at Carrefour and it's perfectly fine (and also has a large range of imported organic produce). Spinneys "looks" nicer but really isn't and is twice as expensive.


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## Mariposa03 (Sep 20, 2017)

Reddiva said:


> The Kibson vans deliver to my street everyday at 6pm so someone must like them
> A friend uses them and said they are great. I dont think all their veggies and fruit are local though


Not all are local, true, but I see that everything is well described on their webpage, so that's nice, and one knows what is local, what isn't.



TallyHo said:


> Be careful before making any assumptions about buying local produce. It's definitely not more environmentally friendly because all the farms rely on huge quantities of desalinated water (we're a desert country).
> 
> There's a wide variation among the local produce. Some are decent, others are not, and the range is much smaller. Much of it often looks wilted and is tasteless or has that slightly bitter aftertaste. It's absolutely not comparable to proper fruit and vegs you buy at local farms and markets in Europe. I've explored the local produce as I enjoy cooking, and it's a hit or miss. So I've ended up just buying almost everything imported as usual. The ones from Lebanon can be quite decent. I buy most of my food at Carrefour and it's perfectly fine (and also has a large range of imported organic produce). Spinneys "looks" nicer but really isn't and is twice as expensive.


Thanks for info!
Yes, I assumed that locally grown should be better. But if it isn't the case there, it may not be worth a hassle. But these fruit/veg boxes from one of these shops mentioned earlier look really nice.


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## Reddiva (Feb 24, 2016)

TallyHo said:


> Be careful before making any assumptions about buying local produce. It's definitely not more environmentally friendly because all the farms rely on huge quantities of desalinated water (we're a desert country).
> 
> There's a wide variation among the local produce. Some are decent, others are not, and the range is much smaller. Much of it often looks wilted and is tasteless or has that slightly bitter aftertaste. It's absolutely not comparable to proper fruit and vegs you buy at local farms and markets in Europe. I've explored the local produce as I enjoy cooking, and it's a hit or miss. So I've ended up just buying almost everything imported as usual. The ones from Lebanon can be quite decent. I buy most of my food at Carrefour and it's perfectly fine (and also has a large range of imported organic produce). Spinneys "looks" nicer but really isn't and is twice as expensive.


Westzone is pretty good for veg too and is affordable. Their red onions look like the ones spinneys sell ( C4 look as if they have been thrown at a wall) and are cheap


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## Mariposa03 (Sep 20, 2017)

Reddiva said:


> Westzone is pretty good for veg too and is affordable. Their red onions look like the ones spinneys sell ( C4 look as if they have been thrown at a wall) and are cheap


Thanks for info!


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## Malbec (Jan 2, 2014)

Local fruits and veggies I have come across here are: cucumbers, figs, watermelon, beetroot, eggplants, zucchinis, tomatoes and many more. Also lots of local herbs like basil, mint etc. Frankly speaking, the quality of local UAE items I have bought at Spinneys is very good but you have to judge yourself.


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## ThunderCat (Oct 28, 2015)

Just took a quick look at the prices of fruits on greenheart.

Banana for 24.5 aed
Apples for 27.5 aed
Clementines 44 aed

Wow ! If anyone thinks these are ok prices they must be really rich !

Kibsons are much more reasonable though.


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## Mariposa03 (Sep 20, 2017)

ThunderCat said:


> Just took a quick look at the prices of fruits on greenheart.
> 
> Banana for 24.5 aed
> Apples for 27.5 aed
> ...


I haven't checked the prices, so thanks!

I think I will have to do lots of price-calculating when I arrive, as it seems differences in prices can be really big there.


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## QOFE (Apr 28, 2013)

ThunderCat said:


> Just took a quick look at the prices of fruits on greenheart.
> 
> Banana for 24.5 aed
> Apples for 27.5 aed
> ...


That's expensive and they wouldn't be local produce. I have only ordered the local veggie box with locally grown produce like lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber etc. The whole point with ordering from Greenheart is to get the freshly picked local produce.
I get the fruit from the local super market.


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## ThunderCat (Oct 28, 2015)

QOFE said:


> That's expensive and they wouldn't be local produce. I have only ordered the local veggie box with locally grown produce like lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber etc. The whole point with ordering from Greenheart is to get the freshly picked local produce.
> I get the fruit from the local super market.


It's not about being local or not. There are no local banana, apples or clementines anyway.

You buy imported banana everywhere (Dole, chiquita...etc) for less than 10 dhs. So 24.5 dhs is a whooping 150+ % increase in price.


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## Hya (Apr 25, 2018)

Not that UAE doesn't grow fruits and veggies locally. Though it was not the trend, now it is on the rise. Check out this news on Khaleej times: Last evening when we went to get provisions from City Centre Carrefour, I too checked for locally grown veggies and fruits, I could learn from my neighbour that now many local farmers are coming into this business. Here now, mangoes, bananas, pears, etc are grown locally and it is available at supermarkets.


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## QOFE (Apr 28, 2013)

ThunderCat said:


> It's not about being local or not. There are no local banana, apples or clementines anyway.
> 
> You buy imported banana everywhere (Dole, chiquita...etc) for less than 10 dhs. So 24.5 dhs is a whooping 150+ % increase in price.


Greenheart is organic. One pays a premium for organic, rightly or wrongly. I prefer certain products organic. Back in Europe I would rather buy Marks & Spencers than local supermarket fruit and veg, not just for quality but also as M&S were really good with keeping the shelves neat and fresh. There were never rotting merchandise contaminating the fresher produce. 
I will start ordering locally grown veggies again from Greenheart as I'm fed up with the local supermarket quality. Unfortunately I will still have to buy supermarket bananas and apples but at least the turnaround for them seems to be good compared to local tomatoes for example.

When one does not have a large family to feed it;s all about taste and quality rather than quantity.


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## sghkdub (Aug 5, 2016)

Al Aweer Fruit and Veg market at Ras Al Khor. 10 mins drive from downtown. Wholesale prices. You can have a guy pull a trolley around and load up as you go or AED10. It's very cheap and very fresh. Went on Friday; typical example, watermelons AED2.50/kg (vs AED19/kg in Carrefour). AED15 for a case of pomegranates and AED30 for a case of 9 mangoes that are about 20 each in CF.


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## Mariposa03 (Sep 20, 2017)

sghkdub said:


> Al Aweer Fruit and Veg market at Ras Al Khor. 10 mins drive from downtown. Wholesale prices. You can have a guy pull a trolley around and load up as you go or AED10. It's very cheap and very fresh. Went on Friday; typical example, watermelons AED2.50/kg (vs AED19/kg in Carrefour). AED15 for a case of pomegranates and AED30 for a case of 9 mangoes that are about 20 each in CF.


Thanks for info!

I think I've read somewhere about this market, and I'll definitely go there once we finally have a car  

AED30 for a case of 9 mangoes sounds really, really nice


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## macs30 (May 6, 2018)

In one year I have tried all supermarkets to find something with a minimum of quality. Finally I ended up to go every week end to the Organic Food and Café to spend hundreds of dirham for fruit and veggie. Among supermarkets my favorite are the organic section of Carrefour MOE or the Union Coop Um Suqeim, in both case the best are fruit and veggie from Lebanon or Tunisia.
This month, every Saturday afternoon, there is the Organic Souk in Festival City area which sounds interesting.


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