Freight is one of the main factors in rising food costs. Because of high gasoline prices and supply chain difficulties, heavier foods, especially, have increased dramatically. Melons, for one. Whereas cantaloupes and honeydew melons had been running $2.99 and $3.99 respectively, they are now $3.99 and $4.99 each, an increase of 25% to 33%.
Since buying a melon is crap shoot anyway – half the time they are unripe and tasteless – it’s even more important now to get it right when the melons are so expensive.
One way to be sure is to buy melons you know will be good. Sugar Kiss Melons, for example. These melons from Dulcenia Farms out of California are always good. They are sweet and delicious every time. I find them most often at Sam’s Club, but I have seen them on occasion at Kroger’s. They usually come two to a package, wrapped in a mesh bag. They are smaller than a typical cantaloupe, but who cares? They are fantastic.
The melons are harvested only when they are ripe and they are so sweet, you think that maybe they are injected with sugar. The texture is similar to a Crenshaw and the melons are naturally sweet and juicy. They are available in stores from mid-June till the end of October, so take advantage. Try one and you’ll agree that Sugar Kiss melons are the sweetest buy of all.