Laiki Agora - Products

Products

The Products sold in people's markets are typically those comprising a Mediterranean diet, known for its healthy qualities, and are key ingredients in the cuisine of Greece. They are mainly local food, known as ntopia (ντόπια) in Greek, such as fresh fruits (including, depending on the season, oranges, apples, watermelons, melons, strawberries, and others), vegetables (like cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, potatoes, broccoli, carrots, and others), leaf vegetables (e.g. lettuce or antrakla), chicken eggs from suburban farms, and fish (for example sardines, European seabass, red mullets) recently caught from nearby seas (often caught the same day sold). Usually local food sold in people's markets is produced by family farms within the same geographical region as the market, and the "producers" who sell the local foodstuffs in the people's markets are usually the farmers themselves who travel from market to market in nearby towns to sell their produce directly to consumers.

Some fish sold in laikes agores is imported from overseas, such as Norwegian salmon. All foods, including fish, usually state their place of origin on a card that is displayed together with the product.

The "professionals" sell both local food and food imported from overseas, including avocados, mangos, yellow watermelons, cherry tomatoes, and other exotic fruits often bought from the tropics.

Gardening products, including flowers, ornamental plants, nutrient-rich soil, and fertiliser are also sold in laikes agores.

A few people's markets, usually in high-population neighbourhoods, also sell refrigerated seafood, cheese, salamis, and other produce which is preservated in refrigerators set up in the streets and supplied with electricity by diesel generators. Some laikes also attract kantines, which also use electricity produced by diesel generators, and prepare and sell souvlakia, sausages-on-a-stick (souvlaki loukaniko), long-burgers-on-a-stick (souvlaki bifteki), bifteki (greek stuffed hamburgers), soft drinks, et cetera.

Most people's markets also sell traditional home-made/farmer-made olive oil, white wine, red wine, and other products, typically sold in 1.5 litre containers.

In addition to the food market, there is often a market for clothing and kitchenware, with very low prices. In Chania, Crete for instance, this is as large as the agricultural market and as popular. Many of the vendors are Gypsies. See pix in link below. This is an important resource for many Greeks, whose salaries (e.g. 500 Euros for a police sergeant, married with 2 kids) make it impossible for them to shop in the stores.