New Leaf Produce – Tampa, FL

Our fridge was running pretty low on fresh fruits and veggies (I think all we had in the crisper drawer was a lemon and some parsley), so this morning I stopped by New Leaf Produce.  They had sent me a coupon in the mail for $10 off my purchase of $20.  

I had been there awhile ago when I lived down the street, but back then it was called “Garden of Eaton”.  It is a small farmers market with decently priced produce and plants.  They also have seafood, cheeses, and freshly cut roses in their refrigerated section.  You can take a walk-through of the market on their Google Map here.

They have a nice variety of basic produce that is in season – but if you’re looking for something specific, you may want to check your normal grocery store.  Today they didn’t have pomegranates or Serrano peppers that were on my shopping list. 

The only other complaint I’d have is that my receipt didn’t really itemize my purchase – they just rang up “tomatoes” multiple times for different prices, so I couldn’t really tell how much I paid for each item.  I didn’t even buy tomatoes today!  The top says “refund requires receipt”, but it doesn’t really make sense if it doesn’t even outline the foods. 

One thing I really love is their bumped and bruised area in the back – fruits and veggies that are marked down because they aren’t in perfect shape.  As their sign says, they are great for cooking or juicing.  They also have overripe bananas that would work well for banana bread. 

A French supermarket called Intermarché came up with a similar way to prevent food waste.  They marked down the imperfect produce, calling them “Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables”.  The idea was so popular they couldn’t keep the damaged foods on the shelves. 

Overall, New Leaf Produce was a nice place to shop, but I did need to take a trip afterwards to Publix to pick up the rest of my list.  Without my $10 off coupon, the prices would have been pretty similar to other grocery stores, so I’d probably only go there if I was already in the area and only had a short grocery list.   

New Leaf Produce is located at 3401 S West Shore Blvd, Tampa, FL 33629 and is open from 7am – 7pm every day.