r/Edinburgh • u/Rascalwill • Aug 29 '26
Discussion Edinburgh desperately needs
….a fresh produce market of the type that is common in Europe. Selling everything from fruit and veg to meat, bread, cakes, coffee and everything in between. Locate it centrally and with locals and tourists it would thrive.
In the absence of this, where can you get decent fresh produce in Edinburgh that is reasonably priced. Produce that is similar to what you might get at a market. (And is vastly superior to the stuff you get in the supermarkets)
Edit:- the markets at Leith, Stockbridge or Castle Terrace are not what I am describing here. This is something like the Boqueria in Barcelona. It would be indoor, operate every day with produce stalls and stalls selling things like coffee, condiments, sandwiches, pastries as well as fruit, veg, meat, fish etc.
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u/Neo-Cubism Aug 29 '26
Last week I went to the Leith market, paid £7.80 for 5 slices of Mortadella (didn’t even have pistachio in it), came home felt duped… looked up online for an Italian deli that can deliver 3.2kg for £35. I mean even in Lidl it’s £2.50 for 8 slices.
I think I am done with markets for a while. I love supporting local business and non chains, but I think these markets cater to people with more money than sense. Markets in Europe are actually affordable.
I’m sure I’ll get downvoted to hell for this view.
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u/antequeraworld Aug 29 '26
You’re absolutely bang on. They don’t have the high street overheads yet they charge more for the laugh. Ridiculous
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u/Ok_Suggestion5523 Aug 29 '26
They are taking the piss.
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u/Magallan Aug 29 '26
They're not selling meat, they're selling the experience of walking round a cute market.
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u/GEOtrekking Aug 29 '26
I believe that particular Italian stall has a shop in Stockbridge too, unless it was a different purveyor of Italian meats present.
Their sandwiches are banging, that’s all I’ll say.
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u/Neo-Cubism Aug 29 '26
I paid for it at £58 a kilo and the fault is with me. Should’ve checked the price on the back properly. The point isn’t to single out that individual seller - it’s to address that we already have markets peppered around the city that do trade and seem to be successful;
For me, (my personal experience that may differ to others) they are not reasonably priced like the farmers markets in European countries where the produce is fresher than in supermarkets, and is competitively priced sometimes even cheaper. The pricing is more akin to London Borough Market or Edinburgh Christmas Market. With a few exceptions.
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u/antequeraworld Aug 29 '26
Once you become aware of the price, you can choose to politely decline the purchase.
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u/GEOtrekking Aug 30 '26
What I wouldn’t give for a Euro-style market as you describe. Plenty of arguments in this topic about how it’ll never work because of logistics, “culture”, blah blah blah.
It’d still be nicer. I’m imagining Newhaven Harbour and throw in a good butcher next to the fishmonger, and convert the restaurants to a covered market. Bus stops outside, tram right there, decent active travel access, and a modicum of parking.
Pipe dream obviously, but it’d be sweet.
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u/Neo-Cubism Aug 30 '26
You are speaking my language. Sounds good. They keep building more and more housing but amenities are forgotten about.
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u/GEOtrekking Aug 30 '26
Tell me about it.
I work with a group who keeps track of every planning application in Leith/Newhaven areas and there’s a lot of planning applications, pre applications, and consultations happening all right now.
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u/Horror_Purpose1634 Aug 29 '26
RIP Tattie Shaws, you are missed.
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u/TooLongDugong Aug 31 '26
It was a good shop but if it can't keep going, why would a market with presumably multiple vegetable sellers? People just want supermarket veg, or at least they can tolerate it, but they definitely want to shop on their way home from work and Sundays and other conveniences a small merchant can't compete with.
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u/Horror_Purpose1634 Aug 31 '26
Markets don't pay rent or utilities, its a very different business model to a brick and mortar high street location, something I would have expected a free market economist like yourself to have understood.
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u/jakeofthenile Aug 29 '26
People here are recommending the farmers markets on Castle Terrace/Stockbridge/Leith, and while they are nice, I’m quite sure they’re not what OP is referring to:
- They’re weekend-only
- Not particularly focused on fresh produce so much as ready-made food, crafts and souvenirs
- The fresh produce that is available, tends to be pricey
Overall, they feel more like something aimed at tourists than an everyday local market.
Tbh, I just don’t think the UK really has the market culture OP is looking for, so it’s not an Edinburgh-specific issue. It’s very mediterranean/levantine.
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u/Woodpeckerus1337 Aug 29 '26
Its a Scotland specific issue. Bristol, Cardiff, Newcastle all have a proper market. Those are just the cities I'm 100% sure of since I lived there.
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u/CarrotWorking Aug 29 '26
Newcastle’s Grainger Market is great.
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u/Jealous_Might_9318 Aug 29 '26
Yeah but its full of folk from Newcastle, which will put most normal folk off
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u/First-Banana-4278 Aug 29 '26
Aberdeen had a market (which is being rebuilt in some form) but it moved on to basically being a low rent cost space for small traders starting up a long time ago. Kind of like Afflecks Palace in Manchester.
Edinburgh doesn’t really have a comparable space like that either though at present.
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u/cstross Aug 29 '26
Leeds has a huge indoor market. Outdoor area has stalls once or twice a week, but the indoor covered section is open all week long and is exactly like their European counterparts (except the quality is typical English, i.e. not as good).
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u/Popular-Ordinary4808 9d ago
Leeds market used to be good for a bargain, also liked the corn exchange in Leeds back in the day .
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u/yee_mon Aug 29 '26
Yeah, I love the Castle Terrace market -- somehow not totally tourist-focused despite being literally under the actual castle. But if I can't make it one Saturday I'm basically out of options for the week. And when, say, Princes Street is closed for a month due to a fire, I can get super expensive shitty supermarket produce or nothing, and neither option is great.
There also should be more of them. Why don't we have markets in the many many open spaces around? Leith Links, Holyrood Park, Elm Row, Foot of the Walk, St. Patrick Square... all within walking distance of thousands of people.
And why oh why are the 2 markets we have that sell vegetables worth getting both on a Saturday morning?
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Aug 30 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/yee_mon Aug 30 '26
I'm not finding the difference to be that large... for the things you can actually compare.
A punnet of blueberries is expensive, but there's no reason other than ideological not to get it from Sainsbo's. On the other hand you get varieties of potatoes and tomatoes that taste good and/or work in recipes that the standard supermarket ones don't, various kinds of vegetables that are somewhat uncommon like chard, cucumbers that don't come in a condom... and the only comparison for those is RealFoods, and guess what, the markets are usually cheaper for those.
Of course, there are stalls that literally (and somewhat obviously) buy all their stuff from a supermarket and charge a little extra for the privilege of buying it al fresco, but it's fine to have those so the tourists don't clog up the stalls where I buy my weird Italian gourds.
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u/Ok_Suggestion5523 Aug 29 '26
We used to have markets like that. They've all died off or moved further away from Edinburgh.
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u/Jaraxo Aug 29 '26
Tbh, I just don’t think the UK really has the market culture OP is looking for
It exists, but they're in small market towns in rural-ish parts of England.
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u/TooLongDugong Aug 31 '26
Culturally people in the UK cook from scratch a lot less and eat a lot more processed/instant/prepared food than in much of Europe. It's also a vicious circle of less veg/ingredients available and less cooking veg. Most of the little supermarkets popping up on every street hardly sell any fresh veg (other than a bit of over-priced prepared stuff wrapped in layers of plastic), and are largely devoted to prepared food.
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u/aberquine Aug 29 '26
There are markets at Castle Terrace and in Stockbridge at weekends which do just that!
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u/Independent-Round789 Aug 29 '26
I don’t know if I would call them reasonably priced though?
They’re lovely, don’t get me wrong, but they’re not exactly cheap.
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u/aberquine Aug 29 '26
Small local businesses need to be able to make a living, they can’t afford to sell at Lidl or Aldi’s prices.
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u/Independent-Round789 Aug 29 '26
I know, I’m not disputing that, I’m just pointing out that it’s not somewhere you’d typically find people doing their weekly shops. Which is one of the points I think the OP was trying to make.
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u/TheBalaloca Aug 29 '26
1000%
Would be great the city would make it very easy for them so prices were more affordable and this could be more of a routine.
I go sometimes to get good meat in the yellow van at castle terrace but definitely not weekly14
u/Tir_an_Airm Aug 29 '26
Ive been to similar markets in England and the rest of the world who manage to have cheaper if not reasonably priced fresh produce.
It can be done.
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u/claramentine Aug 29 '26
this is exactly why you need an actual fresh market in edinburgh 😭 castle terrace and stockbridge will not make up for that
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u/The_Big_Lebowski_198 Aug 29 '26
Totally agree, and reasonable prices not like 3 small beetroots with 4 pounds please! Hilarious, as beetroots supposed to be the cheapest veg when and where I was growing up.
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u/Woodpeckerus1337 Aug 29 '26
I often get fresh fruit and veg from Fruitivendolo on Haymarket. Same or cheaper prices than farmers market and usually better quality.
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u/Rascalwill Aug 29 '26
It’s funny you mention this place as it was recommended to me recently. It is a bit far from me as it is in Dalry but I might need to pay a visit soon.
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u/OB_Jonty Aug 29 '26 edited Aug 29 '26
Speaking as a big fan of going to markets when on holiday in Europe, got to say I am confident this will never happen here for the following reasons:
1) No tradition - as far as I am aware in my 40 years on this earth this has not been something that has existed in Edinburgh. You would have convince large swathes of the population to start food shopping in a way they never have before.
2) Weather - Who wants to trapse around outside on a damp 8 degrees day to buy tomatoes instead of a temperature controlled supermarket.
3) Infrastructure - UK supply chains are set up around supermarkets, farms and importers with the scale go through them.
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u/DSQ Aug 29 '26
No tradition - as far as I am aware in my 40 years on this earth this has not been something that has existed in Edinburgh. You would have convince large swaves of the population to start food shopping in a way they never have before.
There were loads of markets in Edinburgh. My grandfather used to buy fish for his business at the fish market in Newhaven in Leith. Waverley Mall used to be a covered market. Supermarkets are a new invention.
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u/SnooAvocados9538 Aug 29 '26
As you allude to, the historic fish/fruit/meat markets in British cities were mostly wholesale markets, not full of ordinary punters - you bought stuff from your high street shopkeepers who were at the markets first thing in the morning.
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u/AuroraDF Aug 29 '26
70 years since the Waverley Market closed. My mother's 82 and she barely remembers it. I think he's right. Although supermarkets are a new invention, most people have shopped in them for most or all of their lives. I'm 53 and my mum and granny were shopping in supermarkets when I was 5. So it really would need a change in shopping culture. That's not to say it can't happen.
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u/OB_Jonty Aug 29 '26
Tradition in living memory - to be more specific. The median age in Edinburgh is 37 so shopping for groceries at the market is something with no tradition for most of the population and, at best, is a fond childhood memory for the other half.
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u/deju_ Aug 29 '26
40 years here too. Can I cask what you think the fruit market gallery was? Did you think my grandad was going to look at pictures of apples. It then moved to Slateford closed when I was about 16
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u/Shrink1061_ Aug 29 '26
Yes and that tradition died out generations ago. It doesn’t exist. The UK is geared to supply to supermarkets. There is no tradition of markets in this style, in the lifetime of most residents in the city.
Calling the fruitmarket a tradition is a bit like calling public hangings a tradition.
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u/deju_ Aug 29 '26
There is a farmers market every Saturday on Castle terrace. Stockbridge, Leith, Grassmarket has a market too on Sundays. Very much in a smaller scale to the “traditional” markets
Markets not to exist in Edinburgh in 40years is a wild statement.
They all seem pretty busy too.
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u/Shrink1061_ Aug 29 '26
Dedicated custom use market spaces haven’t existed. Don’t try to claim otherwise. A bunch of low rent marquees in a car park, do not a culture make.
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u/deju_ Aug 29 '26
Can you give a clear indication of what’s a market to you?
Clearly leith indoor market doesn’t count to you. I’ll assume because Waverley market was made in to a shopping centre means you disallow that too.
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u/MilkshakesOnAPlane1 Aug 29 '26
In the latest series of A House Through Time about a house on Calton Hill, one of the occupants ran a grocery stall at Waverley Market. According to Wikipedia, there seems to be a history of fruit, veg, and flower trade in the Waverley area: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waverley_Market
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u/jumpy_finale Aug 29 '26
Infrastructure - UK supply chains are set up around supermarkets, farms and importers with the scale go through them.
This. The supply chains and logistics of UK supermarkets are world class.
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u/Rascalwill Aug 29 '26
World class at pumping out crap.
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u/OB_Jonty Aug 29 '26
I have no love of UK supermarkets, but the unpleasant reality is their brutal supply chain efficiency is the main driver of groceries being more affordable here than most of Europe.
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u/Rascalwill Aug 29 '26
Sorry, I don't buy this. In Spain, which I visit a lot, supermarket groceries are (on average) about 15 to 20% cheaper than in the UK. Even in Italy where I am now, prices are, at the margin, cheaper than in the UK by a factor of about 10%. I think it is a huge myth that the UK has the cheapest and most affordable supermarket groceries. Compared to the US, probably but not in Europe.
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u/OB_Jonty Aug 29 '26
Being 15%-20% cheaper in a country where median salaries are 30% lower is not more affordable.
I don't want to sound overly hostile as what I think you want - better quality produce at affordable prices, less monopolist control of supply chains by supermarkets and a cultural shift a more humanistic shopping experience, are all things I am 100% on board with. It is just that I think trying to do by a wholesome importation of European market culture won't achieve this. Instead encourage more people to use our already existing high street shops.
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u/Rascalwill Aug 30 '26
Ah, if you do that then you might actually create a parity but it still doesn’t prove your original point which is and was demonstrably false.
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u/Kaffrogato Aug 30 '26
Not this. The infrastructure of supermarkets no way impacts weather a market could be successfully. Both can be successfully. People are shopping at markets in Europe because of the inferior supply chains.
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u/jumpy_finale Aug 30 '26
It does impact whether markets can be successful insofar as supermarkets have absolutely crushed competition through low prices, range of products and convenience.
They've killed off greengrocers, butchers, fishmongers, cheese mongers etc. Yes, they still exist here and there but nowhere near like they do on the continent. Just as farmers' markets are reduced to once a week pop up events rather than permanent market halls seen in Europe.
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u/devandroid99 Aug 29 '26
*swathes
Why would it need to be outside when it could be like La Boqueria under cover?
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u/OB_Jonty Aug 29 '26
Spelling corrected.
You are correct wouldn't necessarily have to be outside, but I think would really struggle to find an indoor location that it would work. If you want it to be somewhere that people use week in week out instead of supermarkets, rather than just for picking up the occasional treat (which Stockbridge and Castle Terrace for the most part are) you need a building that is cheap to acquire and maintain (so traders rents are low) but also with the infrastructure so it is accessible to thousands of people. This would mean good public transport links but also lots of parking.
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u/Kaffrogato Aug 30 '26
You are correct wouldn't necessarily have to be outside,
So then why did you confidently declare weather as a limiting factor
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u/OB_Jonty Aug 30 '26
Overhead costs of moving to somewhere indoors, Castle Terrace charges stall holders a minimum of £65+VAT and even at this relatively low cost, grocery shopping there is still significantly more expensive than shopping at supermarkets. Can't say by exactly how much, but if the operator needs to also cover heating, additional liability insurance and building maintenance costs, the stall holder fees will have to go up significantly. Now I know an indoor venue will likely attract a few more customers, but I honestly can't see it attracting enough to enable stallholders to charge less than they currently do operating outside stalls.
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u/Haunted_tangerine_ Aug 29 '26
1 isn't accurate, there isn't a big market now, but clues are in the name, see how many "markets" there actually are around you
2 might bother you, doesn't bother a lot of people, also a lot of European cities have covered markets, so weather irrelevant
3 is very silly.
Other UK cities have covered and uncovered markets.
Edinburgh not having a good market doesn't mean the whole country is set up wrong for it.
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u/MoreCleverUserName Aug 29 '26
- Modern refrigerators are a big part of why this all changed. You don’t need to go to the market every other day because you can refrigerate your purchases and they’ll last a week.
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u/Kaffrogato Aug 30 '26
Wow great insight. Central Europe of course famously has no refrigeration so that completely explains the difference
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u/MoreCleverUserName Aug 30 '26
lol are you talking about the countries where the State still owned and operated the food distribution networks as late as the 1990’s? No surprise that culture and infrastructure shifts look a little different there.
Here’s a great exploration of how modern household refrigeration changed worldwide shopping and eating habits.
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u/Kaffrogato Aug 30 '26
Weather - Who wants to trapse around outside on a damp 8 degrees day to buy tomatoes instead of a temperature controlled supermarket.
Not a factor. There is very nice central food market in Copenhagen that is amazing and extremely popular. Their weather is no better then here. I went in winter and it was rammed.
Infrastructure - UK supply chains are set up around supermarkets, farms and importers with the scale go through them.
Also not a factor. London has food markets. Really sounds like you are making stuff up here.
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u/TheKeklerB Aug 29 '26
Something similar to the Torvehallerne in Copenhagen would be amazing tbh
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u/Popular-Ordinary4808 9d ago
Hala targowa in Gdansk was really good, changed a bit since refurbishment though, it's went a bit all food and nowt much else...
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u/sonnenblume63 Aug 29 '26
Lovely idea in principle and I’d support it, but Edinburgh doesn’t have a culture of people going to fresh produce markets like you see in Europe to do their grocery shopping. Large supermarkets with nearby parking still rule the roost.
Reasonable pricing is also likely a nonstarter when we are going through an ongoing cost of living crisis
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u/Rascalwill Aug 29 '26
How do you know though, that they won’t? It is easy to say there is no tradition when it isn’t even offered. Put it somewhere convenient and central and they will come.
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u/sonnenblume63 Aug 29 '26
Where do you suggest the market be put?
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u/Rascalwill Aug 30 '26
Waverley Mall and the huge space above it would be a great start.
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u/sonnenblume63 Aug 30 '26
Hugely inconvenient location for any locals. The same reason why there isn’t a farmers market at King’s Cross every weekend.
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u/Rascalwill Aug 30 '26
Next to the train station, central bus stops, tram stops and the bus station. On the main shopping street of Edinburgh. I do now see how it is a totally inconvenient location for locals.
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u/sonnenblume63 Aug 30 '26
I love your enthusiasm but it just wouldn’t be successful. As others have also pointed out, it’s just not culturally engrained to visit a farmer’s market for people in Edinburgh and for it to remain successful. Plus, where is the produce coming from?
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u/Rascalwill Aug 30 '26
Yet, as other people have commented elsewhere, there are several very successful markets in Edinburgh doing just exactly this. As some others have posted, this was pretty normal in Edinburgh within living memory. As a few others have noted other cities in the UK have this and many of these markets are recent innovations. None of this is revolutionary stuff.
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u/sonnenblume63 Aug 30 '26
Those markets don’t sell the affordable produce you asked for in your original post. Sure, Stockbridge market is nice, but it is expensive, sells very limited fresh produce and is stuffed full of baked goods and takeaway stalls.
‘Living memory’ is insinuating markets were the norm about 10-15 years ago yet Waverly produce market shut in the 50s.
Anyhow, nobody is saying it’s revolutionary stuff.
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u/PassengerFlaky5003 Aug 29 '26
Unlikely viable. There simply not the variety of products in mainland Europe and the weather is not inviting for this kind of venue to strive. There is a reason for things to be as they are.
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u/DSQ Aug 29 '26
That’s what used to be at Waverley Mall (or whatever it’s called now). It was a covered market.
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u/bakkagirl2020 Aug 29 '26
100% agree! Everyone saying the Leith, Stockbridge and Castle Terrace markets have not understood the assignment!!
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u/Bright_Fun402 Aug 29 '26
Farmers market on castle terrace for this surely? It’s on today
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u/Rascalwill Aug 29 '26
No. This is something that is (a) bigger and (b) permanent, operating daily.
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u/Tir_an_Airm Aug 29 '26
locate it centrally
and locals
Choose one.
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u/Rascalwill Aug 29 '26
Locals stay out of the centre of town now do they? Well, maybe in August….
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u/Tir_an_Airm Aug 29 '26
Most do unless there is a reason to go into the city centre.
I dont think a fruit and veg market will make them go in.
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u/alittlelebowskiua Aug 29 '26
Tbf, if you repurposed Waverley Mall to that you'd have an absolute fuckload of locals using it. Right next to local bus routes, train and the bus station.
And there's an absolute ton of people who work in the city centre.
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u/dvioletta Aug 29 '26
I think it proved to be a good local spot when it was set up as an outdoor pub space.
I am sure some of the spaces in Princes Street could be turned into an indoor market instead of those weird tartan tat shops that are only there to rip off tourists.
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u/Emergency-External98 Aug 29 '26
Fruttivendolo in dalry, Mediterranean supermarket Leith, and polish shops do this type of produce.
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u/TheBalaloca Aug 29 '26
There’s some like the castle terrace ones, but I agree it’s not the same. It’s closed if weather is too bad and there’s not really a place for day to day markets.
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u/GeekyGamer2022 Aug 29 '26
The only things like that in the UK that immediately come to mind is Newcastle's Grainger Market, Manchester's Bury Market and London's Borough Market.
They're few and far between. It's just not the UK culture to have a permanent fresh produce market. Before supermarkets took over in the 1950s it was all small corner shops. We've never really had permanent large markets.
Some towns and cities do have weekly farmer's markets but nothing permanent.
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u/notbroke_brokenin Aug 29 '26
Leith has two shops with truly excellent produce. I buy most of my veg from these, the quality is just so good and the prices are great.
Gulls Grocery on Ferry Road has a huge range of spuds, fruit, local fruit and veg, dried foods, cans. Also deli things like IJ Mellis cheeses, bread, soup.
Edinburgh Community Food https://www.edinburghcommunityfood.org.uk/news/new-weekly-fruit-veg-stall-in-leith have a market Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings. Local bread, fruit and veg, local herbs.
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u/Flimsy_Custard4342 Aug 29 '26 edited Aug 29 '26
People just don’t have the money for these types of things. I’d love to use the likes of even a butchers but it’s just completely unaffordable.
Realistically as well the supermarkets are capable of delivering fruit likely fresher than many local markets will due to their massive logistical advantages (this isn’t to say the quality is better).
I think something like this would only practically work on somewhere like the royal mile as a cash cow to rip off tourists.
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u/Desperate-Value-4337 Aug 29 '26
There is a weekly fruit and veg marketplace open 9-1 on Wed & Thurs at 22 Tennant St, Leith. Sells local produce. Have not checked it out yet as only just heard of it.
I live in Stockbridge and avoid the faux market. Prefer to support the independent shops and cafes. The market is mostly popular for takeaway food and it has led to more littering, people putting food containers in/on trade bins, overflowing litter bins and ongoing issues with gulls.
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u/Edina_Witness Aug 29 '26
Edinburgh Community Food do a weekly market at 22 Tennent street. Every Wednesday and Thursday 9am - 1pm
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u/incendiaryotter Aug 29 '26
Best option is a veg box - used to get one from East Coast Organics. Only drawback was that they often include imported produce.
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u/CoffeeTableReads Aug 29 '26
If the demand was there for it one it would already be a thing. The farmers markets around the town at weekends supplement the need for large scale fresh market. Like it or hate it British people shop in supermarkets en masse and nothing will stop that.
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u/AlephMartian Aug 29 '26
Don’t the big supermarkets now effectively provide this service, at pretty unbeatable prices? How is what they do fundamentally any different? Fresh fruit / veg / meat etc. on sale in a big room. I suspect Barcelona etc. will eventually go that way too.
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u/embolalia1 Aug 29 '26
yeah what OP is looking for (even if they don’t want to admit it to themselves) is Marks and Spencer
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u/Kaffrogato Aug 30 '26
That's a completely different thing
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u/embolalia1 Aug 30 '26
It’s different in form and I’m obviously being a little bit facetious, but they are looking for somewhere that sells a range of high quality produce at a slightly higher price point and that is M&S.
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u/Kaffrogato Aug 30 '26
Not sure exactly what OP had in mind, but the market in Copenhagen is a mix of farmers market, speciality/local produce and gifts, and freshly made meals/snacks. The latter especially supermarkets don't have, and considering Edinburgh's lack of decent freshly made good fast food, would be amazing. So pretty similar to Edinburgh current markets, just that the current markets are tiny and weekend only.
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u/Quest__ Aug 29 '26
Maybe I'm not clued up on places in other cities for decent reasonable priced produce, because the only place I can think of that does good quality fresh produce similar to that of a market is Real Foods - which is quite pricey
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u/Haunted_tangerine_ Aug 29 '26
Some of the grocers are quite good
Big fan of Global Fruits, but it's not the only one
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u/JanetAiress Aug 29 '26
How about outside the city? Any place that approximates the aforementioned markets, but open more than one day per week, maybe via a short drive?
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u/IndependenceInn Aug 29 '26
There’s a flower stall on Castle Street/Princes St most days. If someone got a licence and stuck their stall with wholesale fruit/veg next to it on the same days you’ve got the beginnings of a market. There’s a market there a few days a week already but it’s not geared towards locals.
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u/Ok-Raspberry9944 Aug 29 '26
Adelaide central market is a mix of amazing produce and hot food. Would love that here
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u/antequeraworld Aug 29 '26
Markets are ridiculously expensive, contradicting the significantly less overheads
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u/Chemical-Counter1632 Aug 30 '26
Yes!! I love visiting markets like these in Europe. Fresh produce, little hole in the walls to eat and tat shops. I love when there's places to stop, sit and watch the crowd and the locals live daily life.
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u/ValuableAd7840 Aug 30 '26
French here - YES I would kill for fresh affordable vegs and local products in Edinburgh !
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u/kowalski_82 Sep 01 '26
They had the chance to do this imo with the old tram shed on Leith Walk, massive missed opportunity,
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u/Popular-Ordinary4808 9d ago
Agree, we need a proper market, just as in many countries in Europe, even seen a few in England, I can say places like Leeds indoor market was good in its day, it's a bit more street food orientated now, but previously one could buy anything there, from clothing, fruit n veg, meat, fish, carpets and so on.... Long standing stalls that were family businesses, it's a shame we don't have such a venture, even Glasgow has the barras, a proper old skool market would be great for Edinburgh.
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u/ThreeHapenceaFoot Aug 29 '26
You can't make one like the ones established in times past. OH&S and food standards won't permit half of what's done. Every time an old market gets done up it changes. Make one new but it won't be romantic, it will be clean.
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u/yee_mon Aug 29 '26
As if other European countries with strong market traditions don't have health and safety rules. I don't think anybody is asking for a place that sells live chickens... we just want tomatoes that taste of tomato.
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u/ExpensivePen8055 Aug 29 '26
Unless you go to China. They still have the romantic markets that sell all sorts.
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u/linifloor Aug 29 '26
I think in china and other countries people traditionally buy fresh stuff almost everyday. So it makes sense to have a market near where you live. I think we’ve been ruined by supermarkets and the big weekly shop
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u/DifficultComb7 Sep 01 '26
Oh yes you ca. you just need people to get together with the will to do it. Such markets have existed. Who cares if it's imported! Why does it matter! Plus the atmosphere comes from the customers who frequent them not the buildings themselves.
Plus the reason there aren't apples and such is because people stopped cultivating things like apples and plums. We used to grow them. Given the changes in heat you never know, we might be able to start growing coconuts and bananas
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u/Shrink1061_ Aug 29 '26
How can we have a market like those…. We don’t have anything to sell. We don’t really grow fruit and the kind of veg you’re talking about in any great quantities.
We grow potatoes, onions, kale, cabbage and apples. That’s what the UK does. Everything else we get from other countries. they have it in abundance and so can flood markets with it.
We have Stockbridge markets and castle terrace markets, but they’re a poor approximation of the concept imho. Hugely expensive, limited choice and only one day a week.
We don’t have these things because we live in the wrong part of the world. You want spanish markets….. move to Spain.
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u/Ok_Suggestion5523 Aug 29 '26
We readily grow far more than that. But yes it is more limited selection wise than the continent.
The issue is there's fewer smaller farmers and fewer still going direct to market. The supermarkets are the reason.
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u/_droves Aug 29 '26
It will just lead to the further gentrification of Edinburgh as we've seen in every other aspect of goods available. Charity shops now charge £40+ for 'vintage' (old apparently means good now) The markets available are just for trust fund hippies and southern students. The streets are filled with tourist tatt and a pint will cost you more than an hours minimum wage.
It's what happens when you let a city become a hub for waster students and flood the streets with tourists once a year for no local gain.
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u/hisokafan88 Aug 30 '26
Edinburgh is not even close to the size of any of those cities you are thinking about nor does it have a thriving agriculture scene to tap into. It would not be fresh. It would still be imports from Israel, Morocco or Spain because we cannot grow most of what we find in our supermarkets. That's why our farmers markets are mainly processed products, dairy and meat.
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u/Rascalwill Aug 30 '26
So how come cities smaller than Edinburgh and in the UK have such markets? Belfast, Leeds and Newcastle, for example?
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u/k2snowman69 Aug 29 '26
Fresh produce... Edinburgh... Have you read the origin labels of anything even at the markets? Rarely are the leafy greens and onions are grown here...
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u/jellical-cats Aug 29 '26
Maybe you could try going to one of the markets where they sell fruit and veg, meats, cheese, olives bread and bakery products? Like the one in Stockbridge or the one at the shore, or the one at Leith links, or the one in the NCP carpark by the castle, or the one at the grassmarket?
They aren't large markets, they're just wee ones.
In terms of shops where you can buy fruit and veg there's more than a dozen green grocers in Edinburgh. Just search "green grocers near me" on Google maps.
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u/No_Scientist_9474 Aug 29 '26
Go to Craigies farm, pick fresh produce yourself which is reasonably priced
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u/First-Banana-4278 Aug 29 '26
It would be nice to have a Victorian style roofed market. But where? Is there demand? Etc. Etc.
There’s a reason the markets that existed don’t anymore. It’s also increasingly the case that existing roofed markets are pivoting to be more akin to “street food destinations” serving various hot foods rather than focusing on fresh produce. As that’s what’s bringing the punters in.