system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why is produce at ethnic stores so cheap?

**Edit**: Cheers! So, some combination of tiering in the quality of produce, in which 'ethnic' stores buy the least pretty but otherwise totally fine stuff (TLDR; Japanese will kill you for a pretty watermelon), and maybe also non-food factors, like non-union labor, greater share of revenue from cash-based transactions, little expenditure on marketing and aesthetics, and use of loss leaders.
gpt
So i work at a fruit packing company and can further explain what some of the others have said. There are different tiers of quality for produce when it gets packed, they are called classes. The three classes are: Class 1 which is export market(Japan, korea, China etc.) Class two is domestic market (Safeway, Costco, Target) and class three; peddler. For class 1's the fruit must be perfect in the box, zero defects and sizing must usually be accurate at no more than 6% error. Of course because the labor is more intensive the price is premium. Class two standards are  usually at 8% defect and sizing error. Class three is peddler quality, sizing errors are okay, weird shaped fruit and so on, but as long as it passes USDA inspections were okay. The fruit for class three has the most visual defects, not really affecting the quality of the fruit but not the most visually pleasing. Most ethnic markets/flea markets/roadside fruit stands buy class three. A box for class three might sell for 20 dollars depending on what fruit it is, whereas a class 1 might sell for upwards of 100 dollars.