Trayner Brothers is a wonderful little green grocers in Maghull Square. I love green grocers…read morebecause they always seem to have a far greater variety of fruit and veg than you find in most grocery stores, and the prices are generally really great too. When I popped in here there was quite an array of fresh produce, and I found some very tasty, plump and juicy nectarines for 39 pence each. I am a fruit lover, so I know when I see a good nectarine. They have to be ripe and ready to eat when you buy them, otherwise most of the time they turn out bland or chewy even after they are ripe. This place knows its fruit. Mmmm.

I'm not really sure why but I've never really liked eating fruit and veg much, but I definitely…read moredon't eat enough. Maybe it's because my parents didn't force it down me enough as a child, or not often enough anyway. Whatever it is, I always struggle with eating it and I'm definitely not ever going to be one of those people that order a salad for lunch, either. Thankfully, local greengrocers like Branfresh in Ormskirk village almost make me change my mind and start eating my greens more often. The shop is full of various freshly grown and picked produce that even I must admit does look quite tasty, even if I'm reluctant to actually eat it. As it's a small local business, the service they offer there is personal and friendly, meaning the staff are chatty and happy to help if you can't find the cucumbers or oranges (although the shop is set out well enough for you to probably not need them anyway) and their prices are more than reasonable enough for you to consider choosing them over the local supermarkets.

This is a wonderful fresh produce shop on Church Street. I say wonderful because they stock far…read moremore than the average fruit and veg shop. Besides an abundance of tasty and decently priced fruits and vegetables, Branfresh also sells some grocery items, a wide selection of herbs and spices, and some organic/health foods like dried fruit, nuts, and my all-time favourite--yoghurt covered raisins! The prices here are very good. I was very pleased with the garlic chips and the yoghurt raisins that I bought. I would definitely come back here if I were planning to be in the area again.

I love the name of this shop! It makes me want to hug whoever thought of it. :)…read more I also love fruit, so any shop that sells lots of fruit is generally speaking a winner in my book. This particular one offers a wide variety of fruit and veg at good prices, and what I saw looked like pretty decent quality. No mould or rotten spots here.

As you may or may not have noticed, I find it difficult to give local greengrocers particularly low…read morescores. I guess there's just something very pleasant about small, independently run businesses such as greengrocers that really charms me, even if I'm not a big fruit and veg eater. This is especially compounded when you compare them to their supermarket counterparts. Marshall's is no different to the other greengrocers I have reviewed in the past as they offer a friendly, personal service to all their customers. Their produce always looks fresh and tastes even better than it looks. Their fruit is juicy and sweet and their vegetables are pleasant enough which, coming from me, is quite the compliment. Their prices are very cheap, giving their supermarket rivals a real run for their money which means that if you're in the Crosby area and looking for some fresh fruit or veg, I see no reason why you wouldn't check out Marshall's.

This local greengrocers boasts fresh, high quality local produce all year round. There's always an…read moreabundance of perfectly ripe colourful fruit on display which is just irresistable and the earthy, mishapen veg indoors looks distinctly unmodified, rustic and natural. Marshalls can be a little pricey but it's quality produce and there's a much greater selection than the co-op down the road!

Barn Owl Produce proclaims itself to be "a wise choice." Wise or not, they are pretty small, so I…read moredon't actually know that you would be better going off here than any other fruit and veg shop--and I much preferred Barnfresh over this one. They do have the basics, though, so head on over for a fine selection of fresh fruit and vegetables at good prices. And the name is so cute!

This site, right at the centre of Formby village, has been occupied by supermarkets for a long time…read more- first Safeway, then Morrisons and finally Waitrose. The shift from one of the cheapest chains to one of the most expensive was somewhat of a shock to locals (particularly those who couldn't drive to the local Tesco behemoth on the edge of town) how would they be able to afford the prices at the boutique of supermarkets? It was as though the water board had replaced their tap water with Chanel No.5 and was expecting them to foot the bill. Having done a couple of shops here though I can confirm that it is nowhere near as expensive as people seem to think, particularly if you are prepared to shop from the 'essentials' range (the John Lewis food version of 'smart price', 'basics' or 'value') which offers a broad range of products from pork sausages to toilet paper at a fraction of the cost of named or premium own-brand products and, unlike the larger supermarket no-frills ranges the quality is certainly comparable to the more expensive stuff, even if it might not look as pretty. There is a decent fresh produce section here (although I would suggest you head to nearby independent greengrocers, Cassidy's, which stocks a wider and finer range) but the bakery is disappointing, with bread arriving in store part-baked rather than baked from fresh each day and cakes which look a lot nicer than they actually taste. Also in this branches favour is the reliability of the layout - in contrast to when the store was owned by Morrisons when shelves seemed to shuffle on an almost weekly basis.