Produce butchers the latest trend

Don’t laugh — high-end grocery stores provide helpful service

Whole Foods is the latest grocery store to offer a vegetable butchery service to customers. The American supermarket chain opened its 468th store in New York City’s Bryant Park, the

reports, and the “produce butcher” service has simultaneously elicited eye-rolling and acclaim on social media.

Whole Foods is not the first to offer custom-cleaning and chopping. The Italian marketplace Eataly offers a vegetable butchery service at its New York City and Chicago locations, as does upscale grocery store Pusateri’s in Toronto.

While Eataly and Pusateri’s offer the service free of charge,

reports that Whole Foods charges $1 US per pound (454 g), (5-pound/2.2-kg maximum) on top of the cost of the produce for fruit and vegetables that are sold by the pound. Prepping produce sold individually costs $1 US per piece.

Before you write off the service as validating or encouraging laziness, think of it this way. As one of Eataly’s original vegetable butchers, chef and author Cara Mangini told me last year, part of a produce butcher’s role is educational. Customers are welcome to ask questions about cooking and preparation.

Not sure how to trim that fennel bulb? Ask them. Looking for a tear-free way to chop onions? Watch their technique closely as they do it for you.

You’ll be armed with the necessary knowledge to try it yourself in no time.