Pumpkin Soup Ingredients: Delfi Compares Prices at Markets and Supermarkets
A Delfi journalist compared what the vegetables for pumpkin cream soup cost at two markets and two supermarkets in Riga. The comparison reflects prices on a single day, not a general study.
A journalist for the Latvian news portal Delfi ran an experiment to find out where it is cheaper to buy the ingredients for pumpkin cream soup in autumn: at a market or a supermarket. Pumpkin soup is among the most popular autumn dishes, and people without relatives in the countryside who could give them a home-grown pumpkin have to buy the produce at a shop or market.
How the comparison was done
The author visited four places: the Riga Central Market, the Āgenskalns Market, and the supermarkets Lidl and Maxima. He stresses that this is a price comparison for one particular day rather than a general price study, since prices can vary depending on the day, the range on offer and promotions.
The basis was a tried recipe. It calls for pumpkin, carrots, potatoes, onions, garlic and processed cheese. Spices, croutons and stock were not sought out, because the author already had them at home.
Processed cheese was left out of the price comparison. Unlike vegetables, it is sold in packages whose weight, producer and price can differ. It was also not available in every location visited, so comparing its prices objectively would not have been possible.
Why the question matters
There is a common belief that produce is cheaper at markets than in supermarkets. The experiment aimed to test whether that is actually true, and also to see where the choice of Latvian-grown products is wider.
After gathering the prices, the author calculated what the vegetables needed for the soup would cost at each of the four locations. The results of those calculations are not included in the available excerpt of the article.
