Exclusive:
Stall holders in one of London’s best-known and centuries-old markets sell white grapes for 60 times cheaper than the “ridiculous” prices Harrods demands for its own
Video Unavailable
Stall holder shares their thoughts on Harrods selling 1/2kg grapes for £60
Posh London department store Harrods is selling a pack of grapes for £60.
If you’re lucky enough to have the cash to buy the green grapes, these would work out as a staggering £3 per fruit. But at Watney Market in East London, you could buy two kilos of green grapes for the same amount as a single Harrods grape at Wahidul Hussain’s fruit and veg stall.
Wahidul was offering a box of half a kilo of white grapes for £1 or two boxes for £1.50, making his offerings 60 times cheaper than Harrods. The 36-year-old, who has been a stall-holder in the market since 2014, was visibly shocked when told of the pricey Harrods punnet.
He said: “That price is a robbery, the most I’d ever sell grapes for is £2. All grapes are the same – they’re natural produce that comes from the ground. It’s not like clothes or shoes that last a long time, you can’t really keep grapes for more than a day. My grapes are good quality and a good price, I’d say they could even be sweeter than the Harrods ones.”
A 36-year-old shopper who gave his name as Rash said he would pay a premium for Harrods grapes. But he added: “I’d be willing to spend £4.99 for those as they do look tempting – but not £60.” Baker Rahana Begum, 36, who was browsing the market with her family, branded the Harrods pricing “ridiculous”.
She said: “With the cost-of-living crisis everything has gone up but £60 on grapes is such a waste of money. There are people that are struggling to even buy grapes from local shops or from the major supermarkets, so for Harrods to be charging this much is ridiculous.”
Office for National Statistics data shows in July, a kilo of grapes cost £4.18 on average – an increase of 1% on last year’s price of £4.13. Harrods bills its grapes as Shine Muscat Green Grapes, which originate from Japan. The luxury fruit is known for being more expensive than other grape varieties, partly due to the fact it is imported from Asia and there are few growers meaning demand outweighs supply.
But in 2022 figures from industry publication Japan Agricultural News showed the average price of Shine Muscat was 1,966 yen (£10.60) per kilogram, up from 60 percent from 2012 and much less than what Harrods charges. Marks & Spencer sells 400g of Muscat grapes – although not from Japan – for £3.
This isn’t the first time the Knightsbridge, West London department store has raised eyebrows over high fruit prices.
Earlier this year, The Mirror reported that Harrods was selling cherries for £165 a kilo, while it also had a single Japanese Crown melon for £150.
Harrods was contacted for comment.
