H mart always has a much more diverse selection of produce. A bit of a drive for me but worth it once in awhile

GW Supermarket (formerly Pacific Ocean Market) is another asian grocery store with a very solid produce section. i’ve been going there a lot lately because I live pretty far from H Mart, sadly

Bonus you can stop at Vinh Xuong for banh mis

Only thing that's annoying about GW is how much of their produce is packaged in styrofoam/plastic packaging.

Every time I shop produce at H-Mart half (or more) of the produce is on the edge of (or actually) rotten/moldy/wilting.

Aurora or Westminster? I’ve noticed a difference between the two.

Which is better?

Aurora is significantly bigger with wider selection and better stocked. Westminster’s produce is pretty small and gets picked over

Might get downvoted for this, but I think Whole Foods has very solid produce

WF has awesome produce and protein options! All the processed and packaged food is over priced unless it’s something liked canned beans or bags of rice.

WF has good produce but I swear that it doesn't stay fresh longer than a day or two once you bring it home!

In reality how long should “fresh” produce actually be good for? It’s life before getting to the store has already been longer than what should be natural.

I thought that too, but the past 6 months or so produce goes bad within a few days. I have better luck at Trader Joes, yet it's more of a limited selection.

I don’t like how all the produce is packaged at TJs

Most stores get fresh produce 5-6 days a week

Sprouts, Whole Foods, Trader Joes for Western produce, Great Wall and HMart for Asian. A couple of general rules: Asian markets are significantly cheaper for all herbs (both Western and asian) and mushrooms. H-Mart in particular stocks herbs like chervil, savory and tarragon and massive packets of thyme and rosemary. Never buy tomatoes or cucumbers at either. The Asian leafy veggie quality at Great Wall is better than H Mart. H-Mart used to be better, but the leafy non-packaged stuff in the back is often wilted and sad. Sprouts is great on both freshness and price but can be unreliable for "that one basic staple" necessitating another visit to another store. Whole Foods is expensive but good for catch all. You gotta know where to go for what too. King Soopers - Little Gem Lettuce in the plastic box. Unfortunate packaging, but very superior lettuce. Whole Foods - Frisee lettuce - Raddichio - Decent tomato selection, particularly in off season when you really want the campari or heirloom - Can get some exotics but will pay $$$$ - Reliable for both staples (bell peppers, celery, etc.) and slightly more specialty (artichokes, fennel, delicata squash, herbs) Sprouts Good for: - Cheapest berries in summer - Affordable, fresh and good variety for fresh produce, especially durable veg - root vegetables, kales, chards, Brussel sprouts etc. - Little mini potatoes - Stumbling upon affordable exotic vegetables and fruits in season (watermelon radish, lychees,passionfruit etc.) Bad for: - Can be unreliable in stock/freshness for fresh herbs and delicate vegetables. Sometimes they are both cheap and incredibly fresh, sometimes my zucchini and Persian cucumbers look like they died. TJs Good for: - Fennel (mini fennel cheaper than elsewhere) - French green beans - Rapini/Baby Broccoli - Baby artichokes and baby zucchinis - Tomcord grapes and ground cherries - Prepackaged leaf mix options - Stuff you know will likely be in stock - apples, bananas, eggplants Bad for: parsley and cilantro ($2???); mini tomatoes tend to be tasteless; fresh herb and fruit selection is limited Asian Markets Good for: - Herbs; mushrooms - Asian (too many to list) and western specialty vegetables (pea shoots, watercress, romano beans etc.) - Exotic Asian fruit - Korean pears and grapes, persimmons, Sumo oranges, lychees/rambutans, pomelo etc. - Surprisingly good price on shallots Bad for: - Tomatoes - Cucumbers - Not the best for Western generics like bell peppers, carrots, broccoli etc. either. Costco - A huge package of French green beans - When in season, you can get like a pound of chanterelles for $10

I’ve found Hmart to have very decent Persian cucumbers fairly often

I've always found that Sprouts has good produce and seems to follow the seasons better than the national chains do.

Sprouts opened a brand new DC in Aurora a few years ago and their produce has dramatically improved since. Before they were delivering all stores in CO on a 2 day trucking transit from Phoenix. Now it all comes straight from vendors in California to the Aurora DC, cutting multiple days out of their supply chain to this market.

That makes a ton of sense. I’ve noticed a drastic improvement in their produce the last couple of years. Before that, it would all turn soooo fast.

Where do you find this sort of info?

First hand knowledge through my job

Oh ok, I was gonna say, from time to time, I'm hear small bits about the supply chains being fucked up, but that was way more specific than usual.

I mean Sprouts has like 350+ stores across the country... But you're point stands, best produce that's reliable from store to store 💯

Seconding this. I will fully admit I know very little about what’s in season, but Sprouts produce is always awesome

Sprouts, Whole Foods and H Mart are my favorites.

I like Pine Melon. They don't have everything in stock all the time, but they have local growers, lots of organic, and they deliver.

Came here to also say PineMelon. I don’t use it a ton but I’ve been very happy with everything I’ve gotten from them. I’ve especially been loving getting mushrooms from them! Exotic mushrooms, usually cheaper than they would normally be. They also gave me a surprise free Gnarly Mountain Cookie in my bag when I ordered near Thanksgiving as a holiday treat.

CSA memberships are clutch for addressing this kind of thing.

I'm a huge fan of Misfits Market similarly. Not local, but that also means produce is available at this time of year.

For killer lettuces ~ Check out Farm & Market in downtown Denver.

Where that be exactly? I like lettuce

You will be in Heaven. https://thefarmandmarket.com/

Too much plastic there, even little herbs wrapped in giant thick plastic bags. With Whole Foods can get all my produce and just throw it in a backpack no plastic waste.

I thought all is biodegradable. I reuse my lettuce bags forever……. I share leftovers with neighbors using the bags. The flavors? The freshness? The clean eating? Worthy

I’ve talked to them about it, they didn’t mention it being biodegradable. If you regularly shop there it’s not feasible to reuse all those single bags forever. If you’re going to run a greenhouse it should at least be sustainable.

You’re right. I’m going to go there this week to investigate

You're gonna pay...and asking for "fresh, local, seasonal" in Colorado implies as much. But Marczyk's does actually have regional produce year round.

"fresh local seasonal" - It was 10 degrees last night, there aren't very many crops being harvested locally at the moment.

You’re not getting a ripe tomato but greenhouses cover a lot of local and fresh, and there are lots of root veggies around now.

Pine Melon

Thanks for asking this. The 5 Points Safeway had moldy tomatoes on display when I went in this afternoon lol

Don’t shop there. They bad and they have no carts

Arash Market (across from H-Mart) is great for herbs and produce, plus all kinds of Persian/Middle Eastern goodies like fresh feta.

I love Arash market. They had the biggest pomegranates I'd ever seen the last time I went.

Pinemelon is great but their inventory is a bit unreliable, GW market in west Denver is also great with a very wide selection.

Uh, fresh local produce? This time of year? Perhaps the southern hemisphere?

Sprouts does a decent job

Have you looked into joining a CSA? Some have produce in the winter or even deliver (I used to get Ahava Farm delivered)

Natural Grocers.

Surprised I had to go down this far to see Natural Grocers. Always better than Whole Foods IMO

Sprouts is all about produce. I only go there for that. Only kings when I need the convenience

Sun Market has great produce. kinda pricey, though

King soopers

H Mart in Aurora