The first time I came across this way of doing things was back in 1996 in Brixton, south London.
A then-student and I were taking Mr Moon there as it's an ethnic area with all sorts of exotic foods, fresh and packaged, which we thought might be fun for him.
Mr Moon was in London for a year with a group of a dozen or so colleagues from the South Korean Housing Board, learning English and studying the UK's housing policies and practices. His digs were across the street from the university where I was teaching at the time.
We ended up in the Brixton open air veg market area around closing up time (4pm'ish).
As we walked past one of the greengrocers packing up, I heard him say, "One pound, one pound, one pound." I turned round to find him holding out a weighing scales pan filled with French beans going for £1. I love French beans, and it was cheap, so I asked my student if he'd like to go halves.
After the French beans were poured into our respective rucksacks and we were walking away, I heard the same man say, ""One pound, one pound, one pound." I turned round to find him holding out the same weighing scales pan now filled with potatoes. I love potatoes, and my student is Irish, so we went halves.
Yet another "one pound, one pound, one pound" lot of veg later, we had to stop, because our rucksacks were bursting at the seams (and my knees buckling under the weight -- I was also worried that the bus on the journey home might end up with a puncture).
Not long after that Brixton experience, I started to notice roadside stalls selling veg in big plastic bowls, all going for a quid each.
As with the uniform-price format for the dim sum dishes, just put less veg in the bowl for the pricier veg (e.g., broccoli). This makes life quicker for both seller and buyer, unlike in the old days when time was spent weighing up the veg, then collecting the relevant sum for each type, not to mention giving change in return (where applicable).
The downside would be if you didn't want or need so much, e.g., if you live alone or are a small eater. My solution was to take advantage of the cheaper price all the same but share them with friends and students. I used to go to private students for their lessons, loaded up with fruit and veg from these stalls.
What I'd experienced in Brixton might've been the start of the trend.
Actually, prior to that, in the mid-80s, a greengrocer's in north London (Gibbers on Seven Sisters Road) was already doing something similar -- selling things off in £1 lots, but in clear plastic bags tied up. This means extra work for the shop staff, though, whereas the plastic bowl system is less work and quicker for processing on all fronts.
Both systems use plastic bags, unfortunately, and not everyone is conscientious about recycling them.
(London, 1980s and 1996–present)
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