“Some meat costs R$60 a kilo. So, for those who have children, they pay the bills alone, it’s hard to buy a kilo of meat. It’s better to buy a tray of eggs and leave it there”, says cook Marlei Cristiane Aleixo. , 37, mother of six children.
To save on food, she became a loyal customer of a genre of markets that has become popular in the outskirts of Greater São Paulo, the so-called “vencidinhos”. These are stores that sell products close to expiration and, therefore, charge less than the large chains.
The name is the way customers themselves nicknamed these networks, which offer discounts of up to 90%, depending on the product and the proximity of the expiration date.
This time to maturity can range from two days to a few months. The closer to expiration, the cheaper. “You pay BRL 0.10 in [iogurte] Danone”, comments the cook.
A resident of Jandira, in the metropolitan region, Marlei sometimes travels to Osasco in search of an offer. The city has well-known units among the “vencidinhos” customers, such as the Mario and Lessa markets, where Marlei usually buys.
She says distance isn’t an issue compared to the value of the purchases she makes. “Even if you go by car and spend R$50 on gasoline, the difference is R$200, R$300 [em relação ao supermercado comum]. It’s a pretty big difference. I could make another purchase”, explains Marlei.
When she can’t make it to the unit, she does online shopping. “I don’t think it’s high to pay R$60 to take it to Jandira de Osasco, it’s worth it for me.”
15 years ago, the cook met a “vicdinho” in Itapevi, another city in Greater São Paulo, on the recommendation of her mother and friends. But it was in the Covid-19 pandemic that these markets became the best option for your home shopping. Now Marlei receives offers from different units through WhatsApp groups.
“Today, 90% of the purchases I make are in this type of supermarket, because the economy is very big. Sometimes they have pork ribs and they sell 10 kg for R$ 59.90, it costs R$ 6 a kilo of meat. In the market [tradicional] you don’t pay less than R$ 16 a kilo”, he compares.
It is in these markets that Marlei buys snacks for the children: “You can find bread, crackers, Danones. They make packages for R$10 with four or five trays of Danoninho or Chambinho.”
She emphasizes that the products are of high quality. “It never hurt, I never took anything that was of poor quality or with a bad appearance. You buy brands like Sadia, Aurora, Perdigão”.
Shopping that fits in your pocket
In Vargem Grande Paulista, cashier Karina Rodrigues, 24, started visiting a supermarket in the segment, “Barato da Vargem”, a year ago.
She discovered the place after other residents of the city began to comment on the offers in Facebook groups and is now a regular customer.
“Whenever I go shopping for the month, I go there. I spend a reasonable amount because I didn’t buy several things in the market [tradicional]”, he explains.
She says that it’s only at “vencidinho” that she can buy some products she likes: “Turkey breast, for example, is 3 packages for R$ 15. [comum] It’s $15 just one. These are things I wouldn’t be able to buy”, says Karina.
According to the survey by Apas (Associação Paulista dos Supermercados), the IPS (Supermarket Price Index) rose 12.57% in the last 12 months. Karina noticed the increase.
“Until about a year ago, the purchase of people here was very large. Now with the same value, we do not fill the refrigerator”, he says.
Nowadays, she only buys items such as rice, beans and cleaning products in supermarkets.
The capital of São Paulo also has some “vancidinhos”, such as Santa Maria, in Vila Maria, north zone, and Vovó Zuzu, which is in the center of the capital and has existed for 19 years. The photographer Junia Soares, 39, is one of Vovó Zuzu’s clients. “I buy cold cuts, cheese, meat, Danone.”
She says that she has already lost food purchased at the unit because she was unable to consume it in time, but now she knows how to deal with the problem. “I learned to go every two weeks so I don’t win.”
How “winners” work
Lucas Jesus de Souza, 27, is the manager of Mercado Lessa and owner of Mercado Pestana, both in Osasco and focused on the food trade with close expiration dates. He explains that the stores negotiate the purchase of products with close maturity directly with the factories.
“The date arrives, they don’t have the output they need, so the factory needs to throw it away or sell it cheaper so as not to have the loss. It is in this opportunity that we buy and sell cheaper”, he says.
Mercado Lessa resells the products to owners of smaller stores and also attracts customers from other parts of Brazil.
“We also work with wholesale. People come from Sorocaba, south zone, east zone of São Paulo, and even from other states”, explains Lucas.
A resident of the Jaguaribe neighborhood, in Osasco, Lucas has worked in the business since he was a teenager and decided to open his own business last year, after pooling his savings with his friend and current partner, Steylor Christian Silva Sales.
At first, the duo enlisted the help of Mercado do Mario to strengthen the business. A year later, Mercado Pestana receives around 2,000 customers a week.
lack of food security
A resident of Rochdale, in Osasco, economist Rafael Fernandes, 37, says that rising prices have changed the way Brazilians shop. “From the moment that the price of food becomes more expensive, but the income does not follow this increase in the price of products, you make the population lose its purchasing power”, says Rafael.
The poorest are among the groups most affected by the inflation of the month of February, according to Ipea (Institute of Applied Economic Research). Over the past two months, the price index for very low-income families has accelerated from 0.63% to 1%. For Rafael, the rise in prices directly impacts the food security of poor families.
“The poorest families are the most affected, because they do not have many alternatives. There is no way to exchange rice, for example, for another product that is cheaper”, he explains. “You’re going to reduce the amount of rice or you’re going to have to stop buying something that wouldn’t be as a priority, like crackers. You can buy bread, but you don’t buy butter.”
In Brazil, more than half of the population lives with some degree of food insecurity, that is, without having full and permanent access to food. The data are from the Penssan Network (Brazilian Network for Research in Food and Nutrition Sovereignty and Security).
Economist Rafael also frequents a “winner”, the Mercado do Mario. For him, these shops have played an important role for families on the periphery.
“I do not believe that they are there to compete with supermarkets and hypermarkets of retail line, because you hardly see someone making a purchase that lasts a purchase for the month, within such a market”, he compares.
“It’s something you’ll consume quickly. So it’s been an alternative for the periphery so that they can have access to products that they either wouldn’t be able to buy or would pay a much higher price in traditional markets.”
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