Food prices

[Herefordian]

Embarrassingly, they have recently been overtaken by Aldi as the fourth biggest Supermarket Chain.

Sir Ken must be turning in his grave.

More like "inevitably".

I switched from Morrisons to Aldi back in May. Should have done it sooner.

After seeing how the supermarkets are resisting price cuts on fuel, I am quite sure many are taking advantage of a bad situation to increase prices by more the necessary - although I am not sure it is just the supermarkets.

Look at the likes of Heinz baked beans. Normally Tesco is quite powerful when negotiating prices, but Heinz stood firm and now a tin of beans costs a fortune. I bet people still buy them over non branded equivalents. I find the Aldi beans to be nicer (subjective obviously) and less runny, so I won't buy Heinz again in a hurry.

Yes, I think the Aldi beans are nicer as well.

Better value too.

For the equivalent price of one tin of Heinz in Morrisons, I get four tins of Essentials beans in Aldi.

 

[malc-c]

The other day ASDA announced that it is limiting the quantity of its Just Essentials range of products due to demand. Well what did they thing would happen when a range of products are 50% cheaper than their standard own brand... People are tightening their purses and if you can save £20 on a shop by buying the basics rather then branded that's what happens.

Before my wife left us she always purchased Birds Eye peas... so now I have to do the shopping I naturally followed her advice.... until last week when I notices that there was a big difference between Birds Eye and ASDA's own. £3.25 (1.2kg) against £1.60 (1kg) respectively.... and neither myself or daughter can tell any difference in taste.

It was quite depressing doing the shopping Friday last.... so many complete sections of shelving empty... I know the shops are closing as a mark of respect for the Queens Funeral on Monday, but its only one day or less as some shops are reopening late afternoon....

 

[Gloster]

There are plenty of empty shelves at my local Morrison’s, but the staff say that they just don’t have enough staff to put what they do get on them. Shortages seem to be unpredictably getting deliveries once or twice a week instead of daily, but not getting more in those deliveries that do come in.

I buy Morrison’s wonky peas, which are significantly cheaper, but may have been withdrawn.

 

[route101]

I live next to an Aldi, very handy. I feel most of their stuff is decent or have improved over the years. I feel when I go to Sainsburys for example is choice overload on products.

 

[Lost property]

Embarrassingly, they have recently been overtaken by Aldi as the fourth biggest Supermarket Chain.

Sir Ken must be turning in his grave.

Actually, Morrisons improved a lot once Sir Ken was no longer in power. When healthy food suddenly became more popular, Morrisons had tins saying "good for you ! ", now there's an advertising strap line that took about 1 min to produce....the salad bar had an awful lot of products...covered in mayo and it was a bit of a standing joke the fresh produce was past it's best before / use by date just after the checkout. With Morrisons, it very much depends on the size and location of the store...many will know the one in Derby in this respect, but it's the smaller locations that tend to be less efficient.

Shopped in Waitrose for about seven years, the choice of others was virtually nil unless I wanted to travel...so for convenience I shopped there.....and saved a fortune in the process buying their reduced items as a matter of course. Their own range is, as has been mentioned, equally cheap and nourishing.

Aldi deserve their success as do Lidl ...too many people are brand dedicated, which helps the other outlets, and refuse to change. There's also always been a certain, being the UK, social stigma about shopping in so called downmarket outlets. When Aldi opened in Cheadle Hulme, opposite Morrison's, it was amusing to see some expensive cars parked there with their owners using M&S / Waitrose etc bags to shop with.

 

[341o2]

Just about everything seems to have increased by 20 to 30p, for example, local farm milk, where you reuse the glass bottles, £1.40 to £1.60, 1l supermarket milk £1.10 to £1.30, Seabrook multipack crisps, initially same price, but 5 packets instead of 6, now £1.25 for 5, Admirals Pie, £1.70 to £2.

Locally, a new branch of Aldi will be opening soon, directly opposite a Tesco hypermarket, and with a branch of Lidl less than 1/2 a mile away, things should get interesting.

 

[Butts]

Bring back Kwik Save....

 

[birchesgreen]

I've been using the price of cream at the Co-Op which i have to get each week for my mum as a barometer of food prices. Plot twist, its gone down 10p since last week!

 

[takno]

I've been using the price of cream at the Co-Op which i have to get each week for my mum as a barometer of food prices. Plot twist, its gone down 10p since last week!

Maybe they've finally noticed that summer is more or less over.

 

[Trackman]

Just about everything seems to have increased by 20 to 30p....

I've noticed this too, I would say 20 to 40p.
They think we wont notice!

 

[Butts]

I've been using the price of cream at the Co-Op which i have to get each week for my mum as a barometer of food prices. Plot twist, its gone down 10p since last week!

Well 300g jars of Nescafe Coffee used to be £7.49 in Tesco before the pandemic.

They now carry a normal price of £6 often reduced to £5 with Clubcard Offer.

If you want eyewatering prices try Co-op Locale in St Helier, Jersey, where I have just returned from today.

The Co-ops over here are like Lidl compared to the inflated prices at Locale outlets in the CI.

 

[DelayRepay]

I used to be a regular Morrisons customer, but not any more. It's not the prices that put me off, it's the constant staff shortages.

In my local branch you have to go hunting around the car park for a trolley, as they don't have anyone collecting them up and taking them back to the front of the store. At the tills, they often have one member of staff covering the self-service checkouts, the cigarette counter and the customer service desk.

Last time I went there, I needed an age approval for alcohol. There was nobody covering the self-service checkouts, the person on the cigarette kiosk had a long queue, and the couple of staffed checkouts that were open also had long queues. I ended up abandoning my shopping and going to Sainsburys.

The time before that, I had a lottery prize to claim. I waited for 18 minutes in the kiosk queue, before giving up. The poor cashier was having to deal with refunds, Amazon parcels, click and collect queries and signing in visitors to the store.

 

[Gloster]

One change that my local Morrison’s has made which slows things down is that that the member of staff covering the self-scan checkouts (eight small and four large) now has to go off into the shop if a customer thinks that the object has scanned at a different prices to the one on the shelf. Previously, one of the till supervisors used to do it, but now they only appear to have one and she will be floating around somewhere, rather than based at a box.

 

[takno]

One change that my local Morrison’s has made which slows things down is that that the member of staff covering the self-scan checkouts (eight small and four large) now has to go off into the shop if a customer thinks that the object has scanned at a different prices to the one on the shelf. Previously, one of the till supervisors used to do it, but now they only appear to have one and she will be floating around somewhere, rather than based at a box.

That always drives me nuts. They should send the customer back to take a picture of the label

 

[jon0844]

Seems it isn't just Tesco being happy not to fill vacancies and just work fewer staff harder (but all the time being able to say they've made no redundancies).

WH Smith possibly has done the most by having certain times where there are zero staff members on the shop floor.

You use the self checkout and if there's a problem, press a button. If you're there to return something or pick up a parcel from the counter at the other end of the store, press the button. If you need help or advice, press the button.

There's just the one button also, by the tills.

The called staff member then comes from a back office, and I can only assume they're back there watching CCTV because shoplifting must be an issue.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Just about everything seems to have increased by 20 to 30p, for example, local farm milk, where you reuse the glass bottles, £1.40 to £1.60, 1l supermarket milk £1.10 to £1.30.

I have no qualms in paying higher milk prices if the extra costs incurred are given 100% to the farmers.

Everyone who regularly shops at Tesco will be aware of the existence of the Clubcard, and aware of the benefits that owning one comes with.

Having seen their Tesco recent Clubcard TV advert, when I was in Marks and Spencer in Handforth Dean buying my 100% knee-high lambswool socks, I went into the adjoining very large Tesco supermarket to see if anyone was in there hurling price reduction bolts of electricity as the advert implies, but I was sadly disappointed.

Talking of the new kids on the supermarket block, some years ago, Mercedes Benson sang a hilarious song "Shopping in Lidl". Has anyone else heard it?

 

[davehsug]

I used to be a regular Morrisons customer, but not any more. It's not the prices that put me off, it's the constant staff shortages.

In my local branch you have to go hunting around the car park for a trolley, as they don't have anyone collecting them up and taking them back to the front of the store. At the tills, they often have one member of staff covering the self-service checkouts, the cigarette counter and the customer service desk.

Last time I went there, I needed an age approval for alcohol. There was nobody covering the self-service checkouts, the person on the cigarette kiosk had a long queue, and the couple of staffed checkouts that were open also had long queues. I ended up abandoning my shopping and going to Sainsburys.

The time before that, I had a lottery prize to claim. I waited for 18 minutes in the kiosk queue, before giving up. The poor cashier was having to deal with refunds, Amazon parcels, click and collect queries and signing in visitors to the store.

Agree with all of this, also the deli counter is not opening until 9am. This is leading to big queues, as there is invariably only 1 person serving, and somebody always wants something slicing. I had to wait 25 minutes for a few slices of ham and turkey on Friday morning. The bakery situation is also awful. Invariably no pies/sausage rolls, and very litle in-store bakery stuff early on. These are the things that used to make a difference to me, and there's little point shopping there if what you go there for is no longer available.

 

[Cloud Strife]

One change that my local Morrison’s has made which slows things down is that that the member of staff covering the self-scan checkouts (eight small and four large) now has to go off into the shop if a customer thinks that the object has scanned at a different prices to the one on the shelf. Previously, one of the till supervisors used to do it, but now they only appear to have one and she will be floating around somewhere, rather than based at a box.

I used to deal with this constantly when I worked as a till supervisor for Big W many years ago. Officially, we were supposed to check each time. Unofficially, I was told to 'use discretion', which meant 'don't upset the big spenders, but don't waste your time otherwise'.

Each department had a radio, and I also had one. It would have been much easier to radio for confirmation, but, and this is the ridiculous part: we were formally banned from doing price checks over the radio.

 

[DelayRepay]

Agree with all of this, also the deli counter is not opening until 9am. This is leading to big queues, as there is invariably only 1 person serving, and somebody always wants something slicing. I had to wait 25 minutes for a few slices of ham and turkey on Friday morning. The bakery situation is also awful. Invariably no pies/sausage rolls, and very litle in-store bakery stuff early on. These are the things that used to make a difference to me, and there's little point shopping there if what you go there for is no longer available.

In my Morrisons you often have to play 'hunt the assistant' if you want to buy items from the counters. They are often in the back doing something or other. But at least Morrisons still have their counters - the local Sainsburys and Tesco have both closed theirs. As a single person I like being able to use the counters. It means I can buy a couple of slices of different types of meat, rather than a big pack of ham then having the same sandwiches all week.

I used to deal with this constantly when I worked as a till supervisor for Big W many years ago. Officially, we were supposed to check each time. Unofficially, I was told to 'use discretion', which meant 'don't upset the big spenders, but don't waste your time otherwise'.

Each department had a radio, and I also had one. It would have been much easier to radio for confirmation, but, and this is the ridiculous part: we were formally banned from doing price checks over the radio.

Big W - there's a blast from the past!

When I moved out of my parents' into my first flat, most of the things I needed to set up home (bedding, towels, saucepans etc) came from Big W. It was a great shop!

 

[52290]

In the North West we are lucky to have Booths, but sometimes we get Waitrose customers in lowering the tone.

 

[Bald Rick]

I have noticed a few items bucking the trend and going down in price recently. Including bread.

 

[malc-c]

Just done the weekly shop and not a great experience. Anyone would think we were back at the start of Covid with so many bare shelves. Lots of things gone up. Milk from £1.15 last week to £1.25 this week. Most of the packs of meat such as chicken breasts or pork loins also increased by 10p. But they are also ripping people off. A lot of things are more than the advertised ticket. ASDA own brand frozen peas, ticket price £1 scanned price £1.25. ASDA frozen rice, advertised £2, scanned price £2.10. Granted that's not a lot in the scheme of things, but that made me wonder how many other items in my trolley had the same 10 or 15p difference, and if you multiply that by the number of customers, those small 10p and 25p soon add up.

Might try shopping at Sainsbury's or Tesco next week

 

[GusB]

Just done the weekly shop and not a great experience. Anyone would think we were back at the start of Covid with so many bare shelves. Lots of things gone up. Milk from £1.15 last week to £1.25 this week. Most of the packs of meat such as chicken breasts or pork loins also increased by 10p. But they are also ripping people off. A lot of things are more than the advertised ticket. ASDA own brand frozen peas, ticket price £1 scanned price £1.25. ASDA frozen rice, advertised £2, scanned price £2.10. Granted that's not a lot in the scheme of things, but that made me wonder how many other items in my trolley had the same 10 or 15p difference, and if you multiply that by the number of customers, those small 10p and 25p soon add up.

Might try shopping at Sainsbury's or Tesco next week

Your local Trading Standards should be advised if prices are scanning higher than advertised. It could land them in hot water (Asda, not the frozen peas!)

 

[DelayRepay]

Your local Trading Standards should be advised if prices are scanning higher than advertised. It could land them in hot water (Asda, not the frozen peas!)

I imagine it's not deliberate (although that's no defence!). I expect it's down to a combination of frequently changing prices, and a shortage of staff to update the tickets.

 

[philthetube]

Just done the weekly shop and not a great experience. Anyone would think we were back at the start of Covid with so many bare shelves. Lots of things gone up. Milk from £1.15 last week to £1.25 this week. Most of the packs of meat such as chicken breasts or pork loins also increased by 10p. But they are also ripping people off. A lot of things are more than the advertised ticket. ASDA own brand frozen peas, ticket price £1 scanned price £1.25. ASDA frozen rice, advertised £2, scanned price £2.10. Granted that's not a lot in the scheme of things, but that made me wonder how many other items in my trolley had the same 10 or 15p difference, and if you multiply that by the number of customers, those small 10p and 25p soon add up.

Might try shopping at Sainsbury's or Tesco next week

Asda used to refund the price paid and leave you with the goods if that happened, not sure if this is still the case. I know someone who got a free £20 mirror.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Asda used to refund the price paid and leave you with the goods if that happened, not sure if this is still the case. I know someone who got a free £20 mirror.

Thought their policy was to refund the overcharged amount AND to issue a £2 giftcard.

Presume this policy has since changed?

 

[Kite159]

I tend to use those self scanners which highlights when the product price doesn't match the shelf edge label.

Sometimes it's a case of the wrong sized product being put in the place due to the correct size not coming in

 

[Trackman]

In the North West we are lucky to have Booths, but sometimes we get Waitrose customers in lowering the tone.

Never been in a Booths for about 20 years. Last time I went there one was nearby when I was holiday,. As I remember their own stuff was really good like Bacon, meats etc..
How do Booth's prices compare to say like Asda and Tesco? I imagine a bit more expensive.

 

[Bald Rick]

Today I noticed that Flora has surreptitiously reduced from a 500g tub to 450g, but in the same size tub. I assume without price reduction!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

How do Booth's prices compare to say like Asda and Tesco? I imagine a bit more expensive.

Broadly comparable in quality and in pricing to Waitrose.