Broccoli Conundrum

I would have asked....is what one does...isn't it. Ok I am the one who talks to people in queues...

Flossieturner. I admire your restraint and good manners! I did once ask a man who had a big trolley load of chicken if he was having a party, but only because he was smiling and made eye contact. He said it was to feed his family!
Brocoli? A special diet? (ugh) maybe soup. Possibly to freeze...
I once saw another man with a whole basketful of cucumbers, masses of them. I could only think of soup then.
Both above were in Lidl.
(btw I am so envious of all of you with Aldi! I like Lidl but I don't think it is the same.)

I'd guess he's in catering of some sort - maybe a pub or small cafe. Many catering suppliers have a minimum bulk delivery or maybe he is one that decides on the day for the menu

lol depending on the vibes from the person, I would have asked.

catering of some sort!

Many years ago my (now ex) husband ran a grocery shop with his parents when we first married. They were too tight to let us have food from the shop, so I continued doing a weekly shop at Asda. Whenever he knew I was going, he would give me a list of things to get for the shop, which were cheaper to buy at Asda than at the cash and carry! I would cringe with embarrassment going through the checkout with dozens of trays of yoghurts, but was never asked why I was buying so many thankfully. I think the broccoli and swedes must be for someone catering.

Before I moved to Osnabrück I lived on the Fylde coast, where there are many retirement/nursing homes. It wasn't unusual to see staff members with trolley-loads of sliced white loaves, plus lots of whatever was on special offer that day..veg, fruit tea cakes, milk near its use-by date. Could it have been something like that?

I'd have asked! I'm a nosy sod anyway but my excuse is my job - I can always say it comes under 'research'.

why waitrose? I'd have thought that the price was better in almost any supermarket.

Just wondered, maybe he was a Muslim and was sent out to buy it to go with the meal they give free to people?

Or the local school dinners hadn't been supplied with their proper amount?

Or he was a Fireman and was sent out to get the greens for their Watch's meal?

widgeon3. Me too. I saw this happen in Lidl. Perhaps he couldn't get to a cheaper place quickly enough? Needed it urgently. Good start for a novel:

"Kevin raced out to get the 10 kilos of broccoli he urgently needed....."

Tillybelle - that made me smile! Maybe someone should start a new thread where each contributor added a sentence or paragraph to story, starting with the broccoli?

I boil broccoli with sliced up potatoes, strain and mash, add salt, pepper, flour and an egg or two and fry as "meatballs". They make a good vegetarian dish, served with boiled carrots or with a salad.

I imagine he was filling his freezer with some of the dishes suggested on here.

grandtanteJE65. That's lovely! I think he's someone on here's friend / DH, sent out to start getting recipes....

Tillybelle----because, while secretly researching in his lab, he had discovered how to make an extract from the broccoli stalks which was an undetectable poison.

Don’t you just love other people’s baskets of shopping. I always wondered about the man with 12 white sliced loaves and a bottle of Scotch!

Maybe that was our error, Absent - a hidden pea! We had good success with parsnip and also strawberry wine one year when we had a glut.

At the other extreme I once saw an extremely well dressed mother and daughter in the queue. They were expensively dressed and the mother was holding a large bag of crisps. There was a hissy conversation and then the daughter snatched the bag out of her mother’s hand, stamped on them and ran out of the door. The daughter was about 25.

I think maybe the man was probably a vegetable artist Flossie and the broccoli is for the trees.

Gillybob you win?

I know someone that feeds it to their aviary of birds.

My GS calls broccoli 'trees'. Maybe they were to landscape his model train layout?

don't like broccoli so i only buy the frozen packets so my oh doesn't have to go without

Definitely buying for a shop or catering business. Here in the north it will be cheaper to buy in from a supermarket than pay transport costs to have it delivered from a supplier. I see it often in our supermarkets. Sainsbury, Morrison, Asda Tesco.

I make a lovely no pastry Quiche with broccoli

Waitrose shouldn't really allow people to buy in bulk, they're not a wholesalers and then there is not much left for other customers.