Whether you're sifting through a sea of bananas, rummaging around for the longest use by date on a pack of raspberries or reaching for the freshest tomatoes hidden at the back of the fridge - shopping for fresh fruit and vegetables is always a tedious task. With the cost of living crisis continuing to ravage our bank accounts and supermarkets bidding for our custom with offers and deals, it's hard for shoppers to figure out where to buy fresh produce. Recently, people are taking to social media to bemoan the quality of Aldi and Lidl's fruit and veg, with claims its 'abysmal' products 'go mouldy the minute you leave the car park'. The budget chain boasts big claims of its 'freshly picked savings' and has even forced its competitors to price match their pocket-friendly offers. But if the rumours of its measly longevity are true, then who can UK households truly rely on for long-lasting fruit and veg? To answer this question, MailOnline conducted an experiment in which we purchased the same produce from nine of the most popular supermarkets and monitored their progress over three days. We visited Aldi, Lidl, Morrisons, Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys, Waitrose, M&S and Wholefoods. On the shopping list for each was raspberries, blueberries, easy-peelers, bananas, cherry tomatoes, a bag of salad and an avocado. To keep it as fair as possible, on April 15, we bought the best looking products with the longest best before dates we could find and kept them in the best conditions possible. Many stores removed best before dates to prevent waste, so for those we chose the freshest looking products. MailOnline can now reveal which stores have the longest lasting fruit and veg so you can shop smart. Aldi - £9.48 Fresh produce pass score: 2/7 Signs around Aldi brag of how they have been 'fuelling Team GB since 2015' with their 'freshly picked' fruit and veg. However, it only took us a few minutes to find avocados that looked like they had seen better days in the UK's third most popular supermarket. We even had to visit two locations to find raspberries after a member of staff in the first one said they did have some out the back but they aren't allowed to put them of shelves or give them to customers until the next morning. Raspberries - FAIL We managed to purchase a punnet of raspberries for £1.89 at the second location with a best before date of April 18 - giving us just three days of promised freshness. On day one, they looked edible and smelt fine but the pack contained a few mushy ones and they were covered in was a pink watery substance which had leaked out. They would have been fine to add to porridge or give to a weaning baby but the average customer may not be overly impressed with the quality for a punnet bought that day. By day two, the pink liquid had covered all the raspberries as more succumbed to a limp state which most people would turn their nose up at. On the third day, small specs of mould had begun to sprout on the insides and the sludge had fully ruined the fruit. A taste test of the most decent looking one revealed a sloppy texture and slightly fermented notes. For a fragile berry with just three days to be enjoyed, customers would be disappointed to only truly be able to eat and enjoy them on the day they were bought. Blueberries - FAIL The pack we snapped-up cost £3.39 and had a best before date of April 19 - giving consumers four days to enjoy them. With their taut skin, blueberries generally stand a better chance than most berries at lasting longer in the fridge. But shoppers want that sweet and tart taste to stick around instead of being let down when they bite into a soft and tasteless morsel. On day one, all was well and the blueberries were firm, shiny and a lovely shade of deep navy. Despite looking relatively identical, around 50 per cent of the pack had started to soften by day two. This expanded to about 70 per cent by the third day and in a taste test we discovered the mushy ones had no satisfying snap and were bland in flavour. Customers would likely be fooled by their appealing look but potentially discontented by their relatively quick deterioration. Easy-peelers - FAIL We picked up a bag of the classic lunchbox snack for just 89p and kept them out of the fridge.. For the first day they were fine and looked great to eat - bright orange, plump and firm. However, by the next day some had started to turn a more sickly shade and a few developed brown patches on the peel. Discolouration had spread to more in the pack by day three and they had swapped their firm feel for a more squidgy feel. The taste was fine, not as sweet as one might hope but definitely still edible, however the look of them was slightly off putting. Bananas - PASS We carefully picked a plastic bag of five bananas for 78p which had a green hue of hope and spotless skin. Aldi's bananas looked promising on day one as they hadn't completely ripened yet and were still quite hard. Day two appeared to be the prime eating time as they had slightly softened and turned completely yellow. Just a few clusters of brown freckles had popped up across the peels on day three - perhaps the best time to eat them for those who like them a little sweeter. Despite initial worries about humidity caused by the plastic bag they were wrapped in, Aldi's bananas were amongst those which held up the best and tasted great. Cherry Tomatoes - FAIL For 69p, we picked up a bag of cherry tomatoes with a best before date of April 18 - giving them a three day freshness window. From a quick glance, they looked fine, if a little pale in colour, but upon closer inspection there were tiny wrinkles on the underside of their tough skin. Day two saw those wrinkles become slightly more visible and their plumpness was beginning to fade as they started to feel mushy on the inside. By the third day, all of the above had worsened and they would not be up to scratch as a fresh addition to a salad but would be fine to roast for a sauce, for example. A taste test found they had no snap or refreshing crunch and instead offered a squelching pop with overly soft and tasteless insides. Bag of salad - PASS A bag of pre-washed mixed leaf salad from Aldi cost 95p with a best before date of April 18 - another three day window. This popular side dish passed the test with flying colours, staying fresh and crunchy for all three days with a bright and peppery taste. Avocado - FAIL Aldi's avocado, priced at 89p, felt softer than the rest we bought from other shops and were smaller and darker in colour. When we cut it open on day three, there was one patch of flesh which had gone brown but it was easily scooped out and we were left with the rest of the pale green flesh. However, the taste was watery and it lacked the creamy texture customers crave. Lidl - £7.94 Fresh produce pass score: 1/7 Often seen as Aldi's even cheaper twin, supermarket giant Lidl also promises 'the very best of British' fruit and veg from its suppliers with 'maximum freshness'. The chain was even dubbed Fresh Produce Retailer of the Year in the 2024 Quality Food Awards. Despite this, just one item in our haul managed to pass our three day freshness test and we found peppers already rotting on the shelves. Raspberries - FAIL For £1.89 we purchased a punnet of raspberries with no best before date on the pack, leaving customers to guesstimate how long they will last just by appearance. On day one, they were looking plump and ready to eat but were darker slightly deeper in colour than the other contenders. But their condition quickly changed overnight with several berries growing patches of white fluffy mould and others covered in black rotting spots by day two. That mould had spread by the final day and many had become soggy leaving them inedible. The one we tried which had escaped any obvious mould tasted rotten. Blueberries - FAIL A box of Lidl's blueberries were reasonably priced at £1.79 and also had no best before date. On the first day they looked ripe and fresh but a few were slightly squashed and perhaps overripe. Day two and three saw them become pappy, despite looking exactly the same, and a taste test on the final day found them to be bland and void of any appetising tang. Easy-peelers - FAIL A netted bag of easy-peelers cost us 89p but the selection on offer wasn't great with all of them containing at least one with brownish-green patches perhaps formed from being stored on top of each other. The ones we bought felt softer than the ones from elsewhere and contained three with these bruises which got darker over the test period and spread to more in the bag. By day three, they were unappealing to look at and had a horrid limp texture. Bananas - PASS For a bunch promising looking unripe bananas with a green tint, we paid 78p. They had ripened by the next day and were showing a few brown spots but were still in good shape. Our bunch was still looking good on the third day and were perfect for consumption with a good taste. Cherry Tomatoes - FAIL The 89p bag of cherry tomatoes had no best before date and looked similar to Aldi's with small wrinkles on their skin. Performing almost identically, their wrinkles deepened over the next two days. A final day taste test yielded the same squishy pop followed by overly ripe and bland flesh. Bag of salad - FAIL A bag of pre-washed mixed leaf salad with a best before date of April 18 cost us 95p. It looked crisp and vibrant on the first day with no signs of any decay on any leaves. However, the salad began to wilt by the following day and the sogginess left a green liquid covering the inside of the bag. On the last day, the entire bag had wilted and we were left with a flat bag of greens which tasted far from fresh. Avocado - FAIL Lidl's 75p avocado felt firm and unripe when we bought it, leaving us to assume it would be ready to eat in a day or two. When we cut it open on the third day, it had multiple rotten brown spots which ran through the entire avocado making it impossible to cut off and save. It had no flavour, the greener parts were watery and the brown parts had an unappetising earth taste which made it unsuitable to eat in a salad or on a slice of toast. Morrisons - £8.80 Fresh produce pass score: 3/7 'Freshness from field to fork' is the promise Morrisons makes to its customers. But despite this and claims their farmers 'meet some of the industry's highest standards', just three of their products passed our test. Raspberries - FAIL A punnet of raspberries with a best before date of April 18 was priced at £2.15 (£2 for More Card holders). They held up well for the first day but by day two grey fuzzy mould had sprouted on one berry in the pack. Overnight, that mould grew and infected many of the other raspberries in the pack. We tasted a few which still looked good to eat and found them to be slightly mushy and not so fresh tasting. Blueberries - PASS We purchased a box of plump blueberries for £2 with a best before date of April 18. They stayed looking nice and fresh for the entire three-day period, kept their sharp yet sweet taste and would make a great addition to a fruit salad or as a lunch time snack. Easy-peelers - FAIL The £1.35 bag of easy-peel mandarins we bought were a vibrant shade of orange and felt juicy on the first day. Sadly, the skins on a few of them were turning brown by the following day and they looked less inviting. Three of them did not look fit for consumption on the last day and the ones which were still salvageable tasted fine but were nothing to write home about. Bananas - FAIL Morrisons only had 78p 'ripe and ready' bananas on sale which looked like they had been in battle with black scars and bruises covering their skins. Somehow, more gashes appeared in the following days and the discolouration spread rapidly. A taste test found them to be very sweet but too soggy in some parts making them acceptable for a banana bread, at best. Cherry Tomatoes - PASS With a best before date of April 17, giving us just two days to eat them, the 68p cherry tomatoes seemed doomed from the start. However, they proved us wrong and kept their shape and colour for the test period with no wrinkling or mould. Morrisons' tomato offerings tasted great on the third day and had a satisfying crunch even though they were technically one day out of date. Bag of Salad - PASS Their 89p bag of ready to eat crispy salad had a far more promising use by date of April 20. True to their word, the leaves stayed fluffy, crisp and green the entire time and made for a wonderful side salad with dinner. Avocado - FAIL We picked up what looked and felt like the perfect avocado with at least a few days ripeness on them for 95p. But when we cut it open on day three, brown rotten streaks had burrowed through the entire right side. Whilst the rest of it tasted fine and still had a creamy texture, the taste was bland - even for an avocado. Tesco - £9.44 Fresh produce pass score: 4/7 Confident in the quality of their fresh produce, Tesco allow customers to return anything they are unhappy with under their Freshness Guarantee. Their return rate would likely rise if more people knew about this policy because whilst their fruit and veg fared better than others we tested, three of the items failed in our experiment. Raspberries - PASS For £2 we bagged a pack of raspberries with a best before date of April 17 which gave just a two day eating window. Miraculously, the berries stayed perfect for the entire three days, not changing in shape or colour at all. They tasted sweet, ripe and bright on the last day even though they were a day past the best before date. Blueberries - FAIL The £2.45 box of blueberries had to be eaten by April 20 which was a hopeful start. Some were large and firm whilst others were smaller and felt a little squishy on day one. Over the next two days, more became deflated and most were insipid with an overly ripe taste. Easy-peelers - PASS Unlike others we tried, Tesco's £1.19 easy-peelers kept very well during the test regardless of a few blemishes on the peels. They had less pith than others and were sweet, slightly sour in the best way and very juicy. Bananas - FAIL The 95p bunch we took home were, for the most part, solid yellow with a bit of green around the stalks but did seemingly have some scratch marks, likely sustained during transit. On the second day, they looked to be the perfect ripeness, although the scratches had turned darker and revealed indents into the fruit itself. And by day three, they were covered in brown freckles and would be far too ripe for most people. Cherry Tomatoes - PASS Priced at £1 and with a best before date of April 18, Tesco's cherry tomatoes held up perfectly in our test. They looked just as fresh on day three, had a strong aroma and tasted excellent in a salad. Avocado - PASS The 75p avocado felt slightly too hard to eat on day one, as if it needed a couple of days to ripen. Upon cutting it open on day three, we were met with an perfect smooth, green and delicious flesh which made for a great guacamole. Asda - £8.38 Fresh produce pass score: 2/7 In 2021, Asda made a £9million investment in their fruit and veg, opening 150 specialist greengrocers in stores across the UK in an effort to improve the standards. Was it worth it? Perhaps not, as just two of their products passed our test. Raspberries - FAIL The £1.89 tub of raspberries we bought had an expiry date on April 18 and looked perfectly fine on day one and day two. However, on the last day small bits of mould had formed round the edges and on the inside. The taste was bland and they were too soft. Blueberries - PASS Asda's £1.90 blueberries were best eaten before April 19 and did not change in appearance at all. A taste test found them to be relatively pleasant but there were not many in the pack which had the nice tart flavour. Easy-peelers - FAIL A greenish-brown hue covered many of the easy-peelers in the 89p bag we got. We thought they could be under-ripe but nothing changed over the three day period and we found them to be mushy and not very tasty. Bananas - FAIL The 94p bunch we grabbed was green at the stalks, yellow further down and covered in brown spots. On day two, the bottom of two of them had started to mould and was leaking a foul smelling liquid on to the table which we had to keep wiping away as to not impact the other bunches. When we lifted them up to check them on the last day, one of the stalks broke, exposing the fruit inside. They were rotten and were not enjoyable to eat. Cherry Tomatoes - FAIL The £1 box of 'crunchy and juicy' cherry tomatoes had tough skins with a few wrinkles. They looked the same by the end but the taste and texture was very off and not crunch or juicy. Bag of Salad - PASS Asda's 88p 'delicate' peppery baby leaf and rocket salad had a best before date of April 18. The leaves held up well and it was still fresh by the end with a nice crunch and good taste. Avocado - FAIL The 94p avocado looked absolutely perfect when we cut it open on the final round. But we were left disappointed by it hard texture and watery taste which made it almost impossible to mash it up and spread it on a slice of toast. Sainsbury's - £9.47 Fresh produce pass score: 6/7 The chain claims to 'work closely' with their farmers to 'help them grow the best fruit and veg' for its customers. As only one item failed, it seems they have been quite successful in their efforts. Raspberries - FAIL All of the punnets on sale had yellow sale stickers as they were going out of date the next day so we had to buy a joint pack of raspberries and blueberries for £2.95 with a best before date of April 17. A few of the raspberries already had some white mould growing on the inside but the rest looked fine. Unfortunately, the spores spread quickly across the rest by the next day and on the last day green mould appeared. A nibble on one revealed a rather rotten taste. Blueberries - PASS The deteriorating raspberries had little effect on the blueberries despite being in the same pack only separated by a wall of plastic. Passing the test with flying colours, they were still ripe and delicious on the third day. Easy-peelers - PASS Our £2.25 bag of clementines stayed consistently good for the entire three days. They had minimal pith, were plump and tasted sweet with a strong citrus flavour. Bananas - PASS We paid 78p for a bunch of bananas which were not quite ripe one day one. They held up very well, only had a few small black marks and were perfectly ripe and tasty by the end with just a sprinkle of brown freckles across the peels. Cherry Tomatoes - PASS Priced at £1.10, the bag we picked up was full of shiny red tomatoes with no blemishes. By day three, they were unchanged and made for a succulent snack drizzled with olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. Bag of Salad - PASS Sainsbury's £1.50 Italian style salad had a use by date of April 20 and passed our test with ease. It was still fresh and crisp by the end of the experiment and paired well as a side dish with some pasta. Avocado - PASS The 89p avocado was the brightest in colour and creamiest in texture when we took a look inside after it had sat in the fridge for three days. Its seed came out easily and it cut like butter making for a lovely slice of avocado toast. Waitrose - £10.73 Fresh produce pass score: 7/7 The upmarket chain vows to bring its customers 'quality food' with their new brand positioning of 'Food to Feel Good About'. All of their products passed our test proving Waitrose's fresh produce to have great longevity. Raspberries - PASS Priced slightly higher than other supermarkets at £2.60, their raspberries had a best before date of April 18. They stayed the same during the test and had a luxurious flavour on day three as if they had been picked that day. Blueberries - PASS With the same best before date and costing £2.50, Waitrose's blueberries delivered identical results. They were firm with a burst of sweet and sour juice and could have lasted much longer. Easy-peelers - PASS A bag of easy-peelers cost £1.50 and had minimal discolouration on some of the skins. However, this did not worsen as others did and by the end they were still good to eat with a scrumptious sour zing. Bananas - PASS An 83p bunch of very green bananas had us fooled in thinking they wouldn't even be ripe within three days. But they had turned completely yellow the next day and had a few brown spots appear which was a concern. On day three, they looked the same and were ripe and ready to eat with a soft and fresh taste. Cherry Tomatoes - PASS A bag of tomatoes cost £1.55 and managed to pass the test, staying impeccable throughout. On the final day, they had a nice bite with a garden-fresh flavour and could have stayed good in the fridge for a few more days . Bag of Salad - PASS A bag of mixed salad from their essentials range was 95p with a use by date of April 18. It stayed crisp, avoided wilting the entire time and had a mild and light taste. Avocado - PASS Their 80p avocado was the smallest out of all the ones we tried which could have spelled disasters. Luckily, it was flawless when we cut it open and, even though the seed was huge and there wasn't as much actual avocado, it was smooth and buttery. M&S - £12.45 Fresh produce pass score: 7/7 Often famed for its quality, M&S has a Trusted Value commitment which promises to provide 'a great everyday price' without compromising on quality. Its claims of its products being a great everyday price could be disputed as it is generally more expensive than the likes of Aldi, Lidl and even Tesco. But perhaps paying that little bit extra is worth it in the long run as every single fresh produce item stayed fresh for three days. Raspberries - PASS Our £2.65 punnet had only developed one or two blemishes over the test period which the average person wouldn't notice when tucking into them. They tasted like summer and were in the same state as they were when we bought them after three days. Blueberries - PASS The blueberries followed suit with the same £2.65 price tag and equally impressive durability. Not a single berry was mushy or bland in the taste test and made for a refreshing snack. Easy-peelers - PASS Also priced at £2.65, the easy-peelers came in a more sturdy bag than others with a netted window. They stayed the same vibrant shade of orange and were flawless the whole way through with a gorgeous zingy smack. Bananas - PASS A bunch of their firm unripe Rainforest Alliance bananas cost £1.05 and were very uniform in shape and size. On day two, they had become more yellow and a few brown scars appeared near the top. Freckles had developed by day three but they still looked, felt and tasted delectable. Cherry Tomatoes - PASS A bag of little tomatoes cost £1.20 and kept well. They had not changed in appearance or feel by the end of their date, keeping the same plump and red look with good flavour and pop. Bag of Salad - PASS M&S only had a bag of organic baby leaf and rocket salad available for a relatively high price of £2.30. Perhaps organic really is better because the leaves kept their colour and tasted fresher than the other bags we bought. Avocado - PASS This one passed by the skin of its teeth as we found a bruise had formed on the inside when we cut it in half. However, it was tiny and the rest of the £1.25 avocado was flawless and tasty. Wholefoods - £16.60 Fresh produce pass score: 7/7 The American chain has just seven stores across the UK which are all located in more affluent or gentrified areas of London. It is known for its high-end prices and can feel almost exclusive, especially to those on a lower income. For those who can afford it however, the steeper price tags could be worth it as the shopping experience is luxurious and every product passed our test. Raspberries - PASS The most basic raspberries they had for sale were the £2.99 Driscoll's brand which can often be found in greengrocers. These were by far the best out of them all with a deep fuchsia colour and unbelievably picture perfect appearance. Even on the final day they looked as if they could be featured in an advert and had the most outstanding taste - we ate the whole pack in one sitting. Blueberries - PASS We also picked up some Driscoll's blueberries for £2.99 which admittedly looked the same as the ones from every other shop. Maybe there is something to be said for storing berries in sealed card tubs as opposed to the plastic ones most supermarkets use as, yet again, these kept very well. Every single blueberry in the pack had that divine pop and lip-smacking tartness. Easy-peelers - PASS Wholefoods' £2.39 easy-peelers were slightly bigger and more uniform than the rest. They were definitely on par with M&S in terms of longevity, quality and taste. Delicious. Bananas - PASS The bananas were the most expensive we bought at £1.77 and performed similarly to Aldi's. Our bunch was slightly under-ripe when we bought them but were in the ideal condition to be eaten on day two and three with virtually no blemishes. Cherry Tomatoes - PASS A card punnet of on-the-vine organic Isle of White tomatoes set us back £2.96. One look at these bad boys would make you think tomato season had come early. As in keeping with the Wholefoods trend, they passed our test with no problems and were delectable even on day three, reminiscent of the kind you would be served in an Italian restaurant with burrata. Bag of Salad - PASS Similarly to M&S, we were only able to find organic mixed leaves for a rather steep price of £2.99. They did pass but there is really no need to spend so much on this bag of salad when they look, taste and last the same as so many other supermarkets - leaves are leaves at the end of the day. Avocado - PASS Though smaller than most of the others, the £1 organic avocado stood the test of time. There was just one small blemish when we sliced it open but it was otherwise flawless and delivered that creamy mouthfeel we are all looking for. Our experiment proved the age-old saying 'you get what you pay for' to be true with Wholefoods, M&S and Waitrose coming out on top with perfect scores. The complaints from Aldi and Lidl customers about the longevity of their fresh produce were validated with the two famously cheap chains scoring the lowest out of all nine shops. Deciding where to do your weekly shop to get the most bang for your buck is difficult and can depend on various factors such as the size of your household and income. It's easy to be drawn in by the pocket-friendly prices and deals offered by the likes of budget supermarkets such as Aldi, Lidl and Asda. But the results of our experiment suggest opting for these cheaper stores could see you having to replenish your fresh produce more frequently as they simply do not last as long. They could still be a great option for big families who get through their groceries quickly but people living alone or in couples will want their fruit and veg to last more than three days. Of course, not everyone can afford to switch to Wholefoods, M&S or Waitrose so a better option may be somewhere in the middle, like Tesco or Sainsbury's. If you are still desperate to shop in the cheaper supermarkets then a more financially smart way to do so would be to only buy fresh produce as you need it rather than stocking up for the week. It would mean doing more than one shop a week but you would ultimately be saving money in the long run and reducing your waste. Another option would be to buy your fruit and veg at a more upmarket chain and stick to getting the rest of your shopping from a cheaper one. Something we noticed was some fruit and veg can be deceiving as they looked the same as the day we bought them on day three, such as blueberries, easy-peelers and tomatoes. It's only when you actually eat them that you realise they are not as fresh as the appeared. This makes it hard to trust the products you buy but we hope our test results offer some valuable information which will help you make that decision.