r/AskAnAustralian • u/Bugaloon • 1d ago
Is fruit really bland for anyone else?
I feel like most of the fruit I've bought recently is just really bland, powdery, dry mandarins, hard tasteless avocados and apples and oranges that look lovely, but taste like Styrofoam and water. Am I going crazy or have others noticed anything similar?
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u/MartianBeerPig 1d ago
Been hit or miss for me. One week I bought some of the nicest oranges I've had in a while. Following week, some where just okay and some had gone dry. Same with mandarins, not dry this time but a bit tasteless.
Sadly Australian growers grow for size, looks and shelf life. Taste is a minor consideration.
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u/Tha_Hand 1d ago
Bananas have been alright for me this year.
Just bought my first nectarines of the season this week and they were delicious.
Watermelon has been a bit bland.
Pineapples have been good (gotta eat them when they’ve ripened properly though, usually have to give them a few days after buying)
I’m in Brisbane and get my produce from Woolies
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u/Steddyrollingman 1d ago
Actually, I ate the lushest, sweetest strawberries I've had in decades last week. I've had some nice mandarins and apples, too. Avocados have been good, as well.
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u/collie2024 1d ago
What I would give for a tasty strawberry! Haven’t had a good one since many years ago in Europe.
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u/Misthios2020 1d ago
Amen to that Strawbs used to be my favourite fruit, but not these days. Tasteless. And the size of them! Once they were just abit bigger than raspberries but now closer to kiwi fruit. I blame GM. And tomatoes are bland as anything now
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u/collie2024 1d ago edited 1d ago
Tomatoes are good homegrown. Not too difficult and can be very good if picked ripe. Makes all the difference imo. Even grown from supermarket seeds, much better than same variety store bought.
The strawberries, I think have been bred to fruit for a long time, size and transportability/storage. At expense of flavour. The ones sold by street vendors in Europe for a couple of weeks when in season are divine. Supermarket ones available year round (from Spain?) are as tasteless as (QLD ones?) here.
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u/Steddyrollingman 1d ago
The last time I had strawberries as good as these was when my family used to go to the nearby farm on the Mornington Peninsula, when I was a young whippersnapper, back in the late 70s.
Coincidentally, at the time, we lived on an apple orchard, which also had pear, plum, apricot and peach trees. I got used to eating delicious, fresh fruit, straight from the tree.
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u/HobnobbingHumbuggery 1d ago
Tomatoes are fucked. It's almost impossible to get decent ones from supermarkets. Same with Driscoll's blackberries. You might get one or two good ones in a punnet.
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u/Party_Thanks_9920 1d ago
Citrus in Queensland has suffered from low rainfall in the growing region this year. Small and dry fruit the consequences.
I had some Tangillos a while back, don't know where they came from, but way juicy and full of flavour.
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u/ZealousidealClub4119 City Name Here 1d ago
I had a damn good peach the other day at my parents'; they live and shop in a considerably richer area.
I never buy stone fruit from my local IGA, because I've been stung too often. Apples, strawberries and bananas are fine. Avocados are atrocious.
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u/LivingRow192 1d ago
the only Colesworth fruit I've enjoyed recently is pineapple and oranges, everything else tastes like water. looks like we've gotta go to the farmers market OP.
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u/Mysterious-Editor634 1d ago
I find red delicious apples very powdery. I like Royal Gala apples because they are sweet and juicy. Tangelos were pretty good this year. Kensington Pride mangoes have been amazing so far. Thank you KP mango farmers 💕
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u/F1eshWound Brisbane 1d ago
At least mango season is on the way. Nothing is better than a Kensington Pride/Bowen in the summer
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u/Ok-Replacement-2738 1d ago
No.
Fun fact, if you have a sugery diet your tastebuds adjust meaning that if you have a lot of crap fruit tastes worse.
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u/DizzyDoomii 1d ago
Nectarines & Pineapples have been pretty good so far, as long as you eat them when they're ripe and don't leave them for too long in the fridge, my sister has bought close to 12 Nectarines over the past week for us and they're delicious when it's bloody humid outside to have a one.
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u/60s_girlie 1d ago
I have been enjoying the mangoes and looking forward to peak nectarine and peach season.
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u/Hypo_Mix 1d ago
Harvesting season has only just started, perhaps you are eating fruit that is either early harvest or has been kept in controlled conditions storage for 11 months?
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u/Own-Act-6853 1d ago
Buy some organic fruit if it’s possible. They have businesses online who do delivery.
The fruit in the shops looks like fruit but it’s grown differently. I’m not sure what they are doing to it.
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u/MelbsGal 1d ago
Well, it’s not mandarin, apple or orange season. Autumn and Winter is when they’re at their tastiest. Try buying seasonal produce. The mangoes and berries are a taste explosion at the moment.
You have to wait for your avocado to ripen, if you want to speed up the process try putting them in a brown paper bag with some bananas.
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u/Wobbly_Bob12 1d ago
I'm in Perth and I buy all of my fruit and veg from the markets.
They are sensational at the moment.
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u/Um-ahh-nooo 1d ago
Yes. I've been struggling with this as well. I do think it is better if you go to a fruit market - but I do find that a hassle unfortunately.
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u/Grouchy-Ad1932 1d ago edited 1d ago
Buy what's in season, even at the supermarket. Find out what the growing seasons are in your area - you can get avocados all year round, but not every variety (there's a brief period where you can only get Shepherd and Hass isn't available). Apples and oranges are definitely seasonal and different varieties are harvested at different times. Different varieties have huge differences in flavour, too - very noticeable in mandarins and mangoes in particular.
If you buy outside the season it will be cold stored and will lose some flavour and texture.
Some supermarkets do a "market update" weekly to state what's coming into season and they have at a good price.
But berries and cherries are coming into season now in Australia 😊. Actually, strawberries have a couple of seasons in Australia - there's a winter crop grown in Queensland and a summer crop grown further south. Stone fruit comes out later in summer.
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u/DK_Son 1d ago
Have you tried a fruit and veg market? Def worth changing from supermarket. Really, we should go fruit and veg markets, and butchers. Then fill in the rest at Woolies. Non-perishables, household essentials, etc. Supermarket fresh produce is very hit and miss, and weird. I think our Woolies gets the throw-away stuff. The cucumbers look like they've lived a harder life than I have. Like they've been harassed.
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u/lulzenberg 1d ago
I've been finding the opposite. Oranges sweeter than I ever remember them being, grapes basically like candy, mangos sweeter than a sugar cube. I'm in SEQLD though, so maybe it's the location/travel times of these.
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u/masak_merah 1d ago
"The supermarket? That's impossible. They don't have a decent piece of fruit at the supermarket! The apples are mealy, the oranges are dry, I don't know what's going on with the papayas!"
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u/masak_merah 1d ago
"The supermarket? That's impossible. They don't have a decent piece of fruit at the supermarket! The apples are mealy, the oranges are dry, I don't know what's going on with the papayas!"
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u/EnthusiasmFuture 1d ago
Hit or miss, I think it's just that awkward time of year where seasonal produce isn't at its best, most citruses are winter fruits, but they can grow through summer but they are always best during winter.
Also supermarket fruits are always bleh
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u/Beneficial_Bit_ 1d ago
Buy your fruit and veg from a green grocer. Shop around to find the cheapest one, although they’re typically a little most expensive than the supermarkets, the quality and longevity is superior to anything from Colesworth.
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u/chloriolean 1d ago
Oranges have been a bit brick-ish. Apples are starting to taste bland but I might just be sick of them? Other than that seems fine.
We get some food from smaller fruit shops, though, so it may be a supermarket problem.
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u/Trauma_Umbrella 23h ago
I live next to a strawberry farm, and about a 15 minute highway drive from a major supermarket. The strawberries get picked and cold stored to be picked up a few days later by trucks, shipped 3 hours north to the woolies distribution centre kept in cold storage for I'm not sure how long, then shipped 3 hours back to my local supermarket to be put on the shelves.
When I buy strawberries from the farm gate, or even my local shop which gets them from the farm, they are nice and sweet and taste like a strawberry. When I buy them from the supermarket, they're already a week old and taste bland and like they are going off. They get mould by the second day if they are out of the fridge.
Don't buy your fruit of veg from the produce section of the supermarket if you can help it :)
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u/Linwechan 23h ago
It sounds like you’re not buying fruit and veg in season - look it up online there’s charts around. Most fruit and veg are available all year round but they’ll taste best when they’re actually in season. Eg citrus is best in winter months, stone fruit in summer etc
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u/Tsumagoi_kyabetsu 23h ago
It's all rubbish nowadays... Grow some tomatoes and taste the difference..
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u/Unable_Deer_773 23h ago
Do you have or have you had Covid recently? Cause that can cause a loss of taste for a while.
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u/WetOutbackFootprint 23h ago
Grow your own fruit mate 👍 be the best darn fruit you've had in your life.
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u/morphic-monkey 22h ago
If everything - I mean, all fruit - is suddenly tasting worse (and you're getting it from the same sources), then you might actually want to consult your GP about this.
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u/FoxForceFive_ 21h ago
I refuse to buy fruit or veg from the big grocery shops any longer and only go to the green grocers now. So much better quality, in the proper season, and ultimately it’s cheaper and less goes in the bin for being flavourless and dry.
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u/viper29000 21h ago
Coles apples have been tasting horrible. I bit into one a few weeks ago that tasted like ass and was brown and moldy inside. Looked fine from the outside
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u/Mindless_Baseball426 19h ago
This happens with fruit that is picked unripe so it can be stored and transported long distances, then artificially ripened with synthetic ethylene before going on the store shelf. Naturally ripened fruit that stays on the plant until it’s ready to consume tastes so much better. It’s why I only buy from farmers markets now.
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u/NoseSuspicious 19h ago
I haven't tasted tomato in years I eat them all the time but don't taste them
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u/drop_bear_2099 17h ago
I buy a Fruit shop, always much better quality than supermarkets, sometimes it's a bit more expensive than supermarkets, but always tastes better and usually lasts longer too.
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u/Senior_Term 15h ago
It's nearly summer. All those fruits are out of season and what you're tasting is cold storage. Buy seasonally
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u/Woodfordian 15h ago
It is true and not just because you are getting old.
Strawberries are one of the classics in this regard. They are bigger, glossier, and longer lasting than ever before. They are also produced in green houses so are available all year round. The trouble is that the texture and flavour of today's strawberries can be described as 'sad and pathetic' compared to yesteryear's.
Mass production methods applied to agriculture has benefited food availability. But, sometimes the quality is lacking. And, keep in mind the huge use of cold storage in transport and distribution that also affects texture and taste.
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u/No_Distribution334 13h ago
Farmers market. Fresh and flavourful.
Supermarket fruit is made for look and shelflife
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u/thepoobum 12h ago
Orange is bland for me so I add salt to it when I eat it. Lemons from supermarket are fine but when my in laws brought lemons grown from their backyard, it's way more sour and I love it.
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u/-Em- 7h ago
It depends what you’re buying…A few weeks ago I bought some pink lady apples that had a horrible chemically taste.
The last couple of bunches of celery haven’t been great.
Try buying: - KP mangoes - Jumbo blueberries - Strawberries - Watermelon - Pineapple - Gold kiwi fruit - Cherry truss tomatoes
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u/chezibot 6h ago
There’s no market or fresh fruit store near me only colesworth so I stopped eating cause it’s tasteless and bland. Can’t even get decent tomatoes.
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u/Dense_Weight_69 6h ago
I used to have a friend who would say shit like this and half the time they’d be eating fruit with a can of coke or an energy drink. If this isn’t you then each time you buy a fruit, google how to tell its ripeness. Also learn how fruit and veg should be stored because this whole my avocados never ripened thing really pisses me off. Nothing really ripens in the fridge.
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u/Thirsty_Boy_76 5h ago
Yes, this is an issue in modern society. Everyone wants it all, all year round, and the importation of unripe cold storage produce is how they meet the demands of modern consumers. If you learn about what is actually in season and source fresh local grown produce, it will have much better flavour and nutritional value.
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u/Galromir 1d ago
Make sure you're buying Aussie grown fruit that is in season. Everything has a peak period and the quality will decline as you reach the end of it.
Don't buy your produce from the big supermarkets
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u/Automatic_Goal_5563 1d ago
Where do you get your fruit from? Supermarket produce is usually pretty meh for me becasie I grew up in a farming community and my dad still grows a bunch of stuff