Food prices

[Mcr Warrior]

Definitely a big difference between certain 'wannabe' copycat products sold by a number of supermarkets, and those own brand items which are produced on essentially the same production line as their branded competitors.

Working out which of these alternative products are worthwhile purchasing, and which should be avoided at all costs, can often be a matter of trial and error.

 

[david1212]

Taking digestive biscuits in 400g packs as an example both Tesco and Sainsburys sell the cheapest with a house brand name at around 35p, corporate branded at around 50p and McVities at around £1.50 - yes at three times as much or more.

Given the price difference maybe they want their own branded items to taste significantly inferior as more profit on the branded item?

I too risk one purchase of the cheaper options to find which are acceptable. Overall I'm happy with Tesco biscuits but avoid Aldi.

......

Because of rising food prices, I had already switched 80% of our weekly shop to the newly-opened Aldi in town, and that I reckon conservatively has saved us well over £1,000 a year ....
I suspect many higher-end food shops will be similarly haemorrhaging custom to the discount supermarkets.

Last Thursday in Aldi there was low stock or no stock of numerous items. I wondered if supply chain / delivery issues or a significant number of people swapping to them for at least some of their regular purchases.

 

[Trog]

However, not sure if this diversion as regards the best method of storing paint and cement falls neatly under the thread heading of 'food prices'.

Recipe for inexpensive long life rock cakes.

Take one shovel full of cement powder.
Mix with seven shovel fulls of mixed aggregate.
Add water folding it into the other ingredients until the mixture is uniform and tends to slump somewhat.
Proportion out into suitably sized dollops for the cakes required, leave to set.

Once set you can use old emulsion paint from a suitable jar to paint on icing.


As for the comment a couple above has anyone else tried Aldi's dark chocolate digestive biscuits, food of the gods and only about 50p a packet.

 

[ComUtoR]

Recipe for inexpensive long life rock cakes.

Take one shovel full of cement powder.
Mix with seven shovel fulls of mixed aggregate.
Add water folding it into the other ingredients until the mixture is uniform and tends to slump somewhat.
Proportion out into suitably sized dollops for the cakes required, leave to set.

Once set you can use old emulsion paint from a suitable jar to paint on icing.

Sounds like *Dwarf Bread



*or cake with Rocks in...

 

[david1212]

......
As for the comment a couple above has anyone else tried Aldi's dark chocolate digestive biscuits, food of the gods and only about 50p a packet.

Of those tried these are the only biscuit from Aldi I would buy again. To me anyway their plain digestives and cream crackers are awful compared to Ms Molly and Tesco.

 

[Mojo]

OK, there is 20% off already heavily-priced deli and cheese counter stuff for card holders, and a rolling programme of weekly personalised special offers from which you can download a couple to an app on your phone and redeem them at the checkout.

It isn't too much faff for this old geezer, - as well as the 'two out of eight' voucher choice every week, I also get vouchers for a paper every day provided that I spend more than the price of the paper on other goods.

I find the myWaitrose offers a little bit clunky, certainly not as good or easy as the Nectar prices at Sainsburys where they are automatically added to your account and valid for multiple purchases. I wonder if they'll work out what I'm up to with them though because I am stockpiling the offer items. Even without the voucher; Waitrose is the cheapest shop to buy sugar in, at £1.25 for a 2kg bag, but every week I get 50p off, so even if I don't need sugar I buy it because of the price. I get through A LOT of sugar in the summer because I make chutney and jam with fruit I've either grown or foraged. Nectar prices are a bit more clever, because they try to get you to upgrade, not on everything, but quite often. For instance I might buy a Honeydew melon and the next week I may get an offer for a Piel de sapo melon.

A bit like @AM9, I often struggle to understand the reverse snobbery with Waitrose. It's also my nearest shop and I treat it like a convenience store. We also have an Iceland a few doors down and for non-frozen goods, Waitrose is substantially cheaper for almost everything. A family member lives in a small village, and doesn't drive, so does most of her shopping in Londis. She's paying more than Waitrose prices for Farmfoods quality.

 

[DelayRepay]

Last Thursday in Aldi there was low stock or no stock of numerous items. I wondered if supply chain / delivery issues or a significant number of people swapping to them for at least some of their regular purchases.

I went to Lidl at the weekend and it was similar. Lots of gaps on the shelves in particular in the fruit and veg section. On the other hand, they had plenty of cooking oil whereas Tesco had completely run out apart from the premium very expensive olive oils.

Nectar prices are a bit more clever, because they try to get you to upgrade, not on everything, but quite often. For instance I might buy a Honeydew melon and the next week I may get an offer for a Piel de sapo melon.

I find the Nectar prices to be very clever. I only use Sainsburys for 'topping up' because it's next to work so I can call in on my way home. I don't normally do a full shop there. Yet somehow they seem to offer me Nectar prices on things I need - last week I needed laundry detergent and a jar of coffee and had offers on both in the Nectar app. I also tend to get offers on things I can stock up on like shower gel.

 

[Paul Jones 88]

Smoked Salmon is getting really expensive just now, paid twelve pounds for enough for my wife and I for Sunday morning breakfast.
Saffron has gone up four pounds in my local delicatessen, need it to give the rice some colour and flavor.

 

[AM9]

Smoked Salmon is getting really expensive just now, paid twelve pounds for enough for my wife and I for Sunday morning breakfast.

Have you tried smoked trout?
It is less greasy than salmon and has a cleaner mellow taste.

 

[Paul Jones 88]

Have you tried smoked trout?
It is less greasy than salmon and has a cleaner mellow taste.

Thanks, I might give that a try.

 

[AM9]

I find the Nectar prices to be very clever. I only use Sainsburys for 'topping up' because it's next to work so I can call in on my way home. I don't normally do a full shop there. Yet somehow they seem to offer me Nectar prices on things I need - last week I needed laundry detergent and a jar of coffee and had offers on both in the Nectar app. I also tend to get offers on things I can stock up on like shower gel.

I've used all the supermarkets over the years, - Tesco and Sainsbury I occasionally use for things that I can't get in my Waitrose corner shop and they are OK, Tesco is good for their vitamin and Q10 packs even when their 3 for 2 offer isn't running. Sainsbury used to be OK for fresh fish & meat when they had counter service but that's all gone now. Asda I abandoned when they were taken over by Walmart, (badly treated staff doesn't work well for customers either), and from comments I've heard over recent years, it hasn't improved much since they Walmart dumped them. Morrisons is OK, but IMO much of their offering is cheap because it is lower quality. Aldi/Lidl has a limited range of foods and apart from some German type meats (e.g. salami and some wurst), just reflects the price asked for. They also run close to the limit on what might be seen as passing off of branded goods and I'm sure many items are picked up by customers falling for the trap.
The bottom line is that cheap food comes at a cost, - usually, lower quality, and in my experience, Waitrose 'Essentials' range should be compared with the standard ranges from the other main shops, not Tesco's Value Line or Sainsbury's Basic products.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

Recipe for inexpensive long life rock cakes.

Take one shovel full of cement powder.
Mix with seven shovel fulls of mixed aggregate.
Add water folding it into the other ingredients until the mixture is uniform and tends to slump somewhat.
Proportion out into suitably sized dollops for the cakes required, leave to set.

Once set you can use old emulsion paint from a suitable jar to paint on icing.


As for the comment a couple above has anyone else tried Aldi's dark chocolate digestive biscuits, food of the gods and only about 50p a packet.

Funny you should mention that. As I am doing small mixes my measuring is actually done using a 250g egg fried rice container, but I'm on 1:2:4 proportions - a recipe I got off the internet. The sack suggests 1:2:3.

Back to food prices.
Tesco 6 small bananas: 68p in December, 71p from February, 75p from this week. 10% increase.
Seabrook Crisps 6 pack: 16% increase in Tesco (99p to £1.15), 10% increase in Morrisons (£1.00 to £1.10).

 

[david1212]

In Aldi tonight while individually not large amounts the price of numerous items increased for the second time this year so if e.g. 99p to £1.09 then £1.15 that is 16%.

Iceland have had some larger jumps e.g. £1.99 to £2.50 to £2.75 so 38%. Even £1.99 to £2.25 to £2.50 is 25%.

 

[Typhoon]

Iceland have had some larger jumps e.g. £1.99 to £2.50 to £2.75 so 38%. Even £1.99 to £2.25 to £2.50 is 25%.

Iceland - I've noticed biscuits - 50p to 60p now 75p

Seabrook Crisps 6 pack: 16% increase in Tesco (99p to £1.15), 10% increase in Morrisons (£1.00 to £1.10).

Need to be careful with Seabrook Crisps, some places are selling packs of 5 rather than 6 for £1 (effectively a 20% rise).

 

[Mojo]

Iceland have had some larger jumps e.g. £1.99 to £2.50 to £2.75 so 38%. Even £1.99 to £2.25 to £2.50 is 25%.

Iceland is a rip off - don’t understand why people shop there. It’s more expensive than Waitrose for most non-frozen things! Unless that’s the idea; people go in there for frozen goods and make a distress purchase for other items?

 

[Typhoon]

Iceland is a rip off - don’t understand why people shop there. It’s more expensive than Waitrose for most non-frozen things! Unless that’s the idea; people go in there for frozen goods and make a distress purchase for other items?

You are probably right. They send me notification of special offers (which used to be pretty good - half price items), so once every two or three months I might pop in and spend about a fiver.
I don't know whether they still do it, but I would see pensioner couples at the check out, their shopping would be bagged up and delivered for them, you only had to spend about £20 so if you didn't fancy lugging the shopping home it might have been ideal. (I know that you have to bag it yourself now, I had an e-mail which I didn't read too carefully).
I have noticed there are fewer people in the store now (useful for me - item, item, item, checkout) so they could be in trouble.

 

[Jamiescott1]

You are probably right. They send me notification of special offers (which used to be pretty good - half price items), so once every two or three months I might pop in and spend about a fiver.
I don't know whether they still do it, but I would see pensioner couples at the check out, their shopping would be bagged up and delivered for them, you only had to spend about £20 so if you didn't fancy lugging the shopping home it might have been ideal. (I know that you have to bag it yourself now, I had an e-mail which I didn't read too carefully).
I have noticed there are fewer people in the store now (useful for me - item, item, item, checkout) so they could be in trouble.

I used to go in Iceland for their frozen fish (tuna steaks, smoked haddock, white fish). 3 bags (12 fillets of fish) for £10.
Its now cheaper at lidl.

 

[malc-c]

2ltr Milk in ASDA three weeks ago was 90p. Last week it was 95p, yesterday it was £1.05.... probably be £1.15 next week !

 

[DelayRepay]

2ltr Milk in ASDA three weeks ago was 90p. Last week it was 95p, yesterday it was £1.05.... probably be £1.15 next week !

And you can bet our poor farmers haven't seen much, if any, of the increase!

 

[takno]

And you can bet our poor farmers haven't seen much, if any, of the increase!

You can bet what you like, but this (UK government report showing a rapid upward trend in "farm gate" prices for milk) suggests otherwise.

 

[david1212]

Iceland is a rip off - don’t understand why people shop there. It’s more expensive than Waitrose for most non-frozen things! Unless that’s the idea; people go in there for frozen goods and make a distress purchase for other items?

Generally back in time the non-frozen items were priced similar to or more expensive than other supermarkets unless an offer, which is only when I bought. However it is most of the core frozen items that I buy that have jumped 25% or more.

Back to Aldi recently some empty sections or low stock so I'm thinking an increase in customers. Also some lines have been discontinued. The nearest alternative to these in .... insert name of other preferred / regular supermarket which for me is Tesco .... is more expensive.

 

[DelayRepay]

You can bet what you like, but this (UK government report showing a rapid upward trend in "farm gate" prices for milk) suggests otherwise.

That's good to see. I remember reports from not too long ago that farmers were selling their milk at a loss due to the pressure on prices from supermarkets. I do not mind paying more, if it is supporting our farming industry. But I do wonder why the prices have risen? Brexit maybe, making it harder to import milk, if indeed we ever did?

Generally back in time the non-frozen items were priced similar to or more expensive than other supermarkets unless an offer, which is only when I bought. However it is most of the core frozen items that I buy that have jumped 25% or more.

Where I used to live, there was an Iceland at the bottom of the road so I used them like a corner shop. Their staples like bread and milk were usually a good price. When I moved, I used to go to Iceland every few months to fill the freezer. They used to be cheaper than the supermarkets. I went recently and was not impressed - the frozen prices seemed quite high. The only thing that seemed cheap was frozen pizzas but I don't buy many of those.

 

[Typhoon]

That's good to see. I remember reports from not too long ago that farmers were selling their milk at a loss due to the pressure on prices from supermarkets. I do not mind paying more, if it is supporting our farming industry. But I do wonder why the prices have risen? Brexit maybe, making it harder to import milk, if indeed we ever did?

Increased electricity prices for the milking parlour?

I have also heard increased price of animal feed; there will also be the cost of transport. In the back of my mind I think we might have imported some milk from Ireland.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Need to be careful with Seabrook Crisps, some places are selling packs of 5 rather than 6 for £1 (effectively a 20% rise).

Indeed. That's effectively another example of 'Shrinkflation'. We had a separate thread going on that, this time last year.

Shrinkflation - examples?

"Shrinkflation" is the business practice where pack sizes of items (often food items) shrink in size or quantity, yet the selling price remains the same, or even increases! An example: Packs of McVities (Jaffa Cakes) Cake Bars came, until recently, in packs of eight and were being sold for £1...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[Typhoon]

Indeed. That's effectively another example of 'Shrinkflation'. We had a separate thread going on that, this time last year.

Shrinkflation - examples?

"Shrinkflation" is the business practice where pack sizes of items (often food items) shrink in size or quantity, yet the selling price remains the same, or even increases! An example: Packs of McVities (Jaffa Cakes) Cake Bars came, until recently, in packs of eight and were being sold for £1...

www.railforums.co.uk

I may be wrong but I don't think I have seen packets of 5 Seabrook crisps before - I have seen '6's since. The '5' is quite clear but the bag appears to be the same size and it was just a warning - Morrison's and tesco may not be such a bad deal if they are still selling 6's.

 

[takno]

Increased electricity prices for the milking parlour?

I have also heard increased price of animal feed; there will also be the cost of transport. In the back of my mind I think we might have imported some milk from Ireland.

Offhand I think the feed costs, and the farmers needing more money to stave off their own starvation, will actually take up a fairly big chunk of this. In terms of what's made it happen, on the supply side I think there's been a fair number of farmers pulling out of the market. On the demand side supermarkets have been forcing the price down for years, mostly because it's one of those totemic prices which gets into all the comparisons and is quoted a lot in the news. Now that they can't hold the line on it they might have given up entirely and decided to try to rebuild their relationships with farmers.

 

[Baxenden Bank]

That's good to see. I remember reports from not too long ago that farmers were selling their milk at a loss due to the pressure on prices from supermarkets. I do not mind paying more, if it is supporting our farming industry. But I do wonder why the prices have risen? Brexit maybe, making it harder to import milk, if indeed we ever did?



Where I used to live, there was an Iceland at the bottom of the road so I used them like a corner shop. Their staples like bread and milk were usually a good price. When I moved, I used to go to Iceland every few months to fill the freezer. They used to be cheaper than the supermarkets. I went recently and was not impressed - the frozen prices seemed quite high. The only thing that seemed cheap was frozen pizzas but I don't buy many of those.

The main pressure for low milk prices tends to be from the processors rather than 'wet' milk for supermarkets. That is for cheese, yoghurts, ingredients for the food manufacturing plants and so on. Following lots of publicity supermarkets (I haven't checked every chain!) have 'fair price' deals with their farmers.

I had also noticed a second, and possibly third, round of price increases feeding through. Milk being one of those things - another 5p per two-pinter this week. At this rate it will be cheaper to buy my own cow, then I'll get the grass 'mown' and manure for free!

 

[DannyMich2018]

For anyone here wanting food at awesome prices I'd recommend Home Bargains!! Cheapest place out for many branded items. Don't go rip off Asda, Tesco, Iceland, Poundland etc. We get most of our sweets, biscuits, crisps, toiletries and many grocery items from here. Go and check it out!! Decent date life's too.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

For anyone here wanting food at awesome prices I'd recommend Home Bargains!! Cheapest place out for many branded items.

There's a similar store in the North West called "Quality Save". Slightly cheaper on many food lines, but they don't have quite so many outlets as their larger competitor.

 

[py_megapixel]

There's a similar store in the North West called "Quality Save". Slightly cheaper on many food lines, but they don't have quite so many outlets as their larger competitor.

It's no coincidence that they're similar: Home Bargains is a trading name of a company called T J Morris, whose other activities include supplying the vast majority of Quality Save's stock and equipment! (Could they really be considered competitors then? I'm not sure...)

I'm not certain but I think there's actually more of them east of the Pennies than west.