The small enterprises of the Hungarian retail market of food and related commodities are in a dismal crisis, many of them got bankruptcy, whereas fruit and vegetables are offered in large shop-chains and supermarkets. Traditional small shops near to the domiciles are still highly esteemed by the population and their lack is regretted especially because of commodities for fresh consumption. For the purpose to evaluate the situation, I planned the comparative study of fruits offered in the retail markets by tracing their origin, quality and prices. From the six shops selected for the study three represent department stores belonging to different chains. Independent entrepreneurs manage the next three shops of vegetables with own suppliers. It was stated that the retail shops offer mainly fruits of Hungarian growers. It is however worthwhile to state that the origin of the produce was frequently not marked. The fruits imported from abroad, apple, pear, peach, were sold at substantially higher prices than those of Hungarian origin.