How to grocery shop safely during the COVID-19 pandemic
Know the best days of the week to go grocery shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic Image Credit: Screengrab

Dubai: When analysing the cost of poultry, seafood, fruits and vegetables over the past ten weeks, a few useful trends were observed, patterns that can assist a shopper in saving money in both the short run and even more so in the longer term.

Over the last ten weeks, it was observed to be cost-effective to buy fresh chicken during the start of the week, whereas halfway through the week, seafood and vegatables were seen to be largely cheaper, and fruits could be picked up any day of the week, as prices mostly stayed in check!

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Chicken gets cheaper every Monday

In the past months, it was observed to be cost-effective to buy fresh chicken during the start of the week, whereas the cost of other poultry items like frozen chicken and eggs stayed the same during the entire course of the month.

The price of fresh chicken was seen dipping at the start of the week, particularly Monday - making it an ideal time to buy and stock up on the poultry meat. A kilogram of the meat currently costs Dh11.9.

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Time to stock up on some fine cuts of beef or lamb and cook a steak on the grill?

Stock up on beef or lamb any day of the week!

On the other hand, the price of beef and lamb, be it variants from Australia, Pakistan or the UAE, have stayed the same, as has been the trend, and did not witness any major fluctuation in prices. However, good news for some would be that the per kilogram cost of the Indian variant of beef dropped by about Dh10. 

While beef from Australia stayed steady at Dh38 per kilogram, beef from India cost Dh28.3 and regionally it was priced at Dh42.6. When it comes to lamb, the Australian variant of the meat cost Dh32.9 per kilogram, while the type from India was Dh36.5, from Pakistan it cost Dh37.7 and regionally prices started at Dh45.2.

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When's the best time to shop for some shrimp?

Pick up seafood every Wednesday!

If you were pondering which day of the week would be ideal to pick up seafood, the answer is - Wednesday. A study of prices over the past several weeks showed that the cost of fish and shrimp dropped halfway through the week.

The price of all seafood variants, be it Seabass, Hamour, Kingfish, Salmon, Sea Bream or small-sized shrimp, was seen dropping mid-week in the past weeks. So, that would be good news for those seafood-lovers who were looking for cost-effective days to shop!

As of Thursday, among fish variants, Seabass costs Dh37.9 per kilogram and Hamour was priced at Dh60. On the other hand, Kingfish was now priced much cheaper at Dh19.9, while Salmon was priced at Dh29.9. A kilo of Sea Bream costs Dh29.9, while small-sized shrimp was currently priced very cheaply at Dh19.9.

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Fruit prices stay in check, but veggies get cheap mid-week

If you were pondering which day of the week would be ideal to pick up fruits, the answer is - any day of the week. A study of prices over the last many weeks showed that the cost of fruits stayed largely in check all week long.

The price of bananas stayed the same the past weeks, so did oranges. Moreover, the per-kilogram cost of lemons dropped last month. So, that would be good news for those who are looking for cost-effective days to shop for citric fruits!

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Shopping for fruits? Picture used for illustrative purposes. Image Credit: File photo

However, a trend was observed when analysing the cost of apples and lime, which rose slightly towards the end of the week and got comparatively cheaper at the start of the week, particularly Sunday and Monday - making those days an ideal time to get some fruit shopping done!