Supermarket pricing policies

[youngoldbloke]

Increased use of 'each' pricing really annoys me - instead of by weight. Some items have traditionally been sold individually, unweighed, such as cucumbers, but it seems to be spreading to all sorts - apples 4 for a pound, rather than by the pound, bananas so much each. Watch out for Morrisons offers on 400gm packs, of grapes for example, which sound cheaper than other supermarkets until you appreciate the others are using 500gm punnets.

 

[fossyant]

89p for a 5kg bag of wonky potatoes from Morrisons were fine by me, as were the wonky peppers. Neither packets had anything I'd actually call wonky ?

 

[Pat "5mph"]

Mod Note:
Next time add a smiley face, thanks!
End Mod Note.

Filthy capitalist pig!!

My original post was removed because it was deemed an unnecessary insult.
@Moderators this is a joke, I am not insulting anyone, thanks

 

[classic33]

89p for a 5kg bag of wonky potatoes from Morrisons were fine by me, as were the wonky peppers. Neither packets had anything I'd actually call wonky ?

It's just not the uniform size/& shape that we've got used to being sold over the years.

If you were buying 2lb of spuds, would you be happy if you only got three?

 

[Speicher]

One potato, two potato, three potato, four

 

[PaulSB]

Went into our local Tesco today.
Strawberries - you would think that the 'misshaped' range would be cheaper. They aren't.
Two 400g punnets of best quality British strawberries - £3.00.
One 227g of 'misshaped' - 90p.
Go figure.

I had to use Tesco yesterday - a company I avoid whenever possible as I feel of all the major supermarkets they care least about both supplier and customer. Tesco range and quality is also extremely poor. My wife wanted Rye Sour Dough bread and despite my feelings on Tesco......

I happened to see the offer which was across a range of soft fruit and I thought good from the consumer perspective.

My point though in posting though is I feel your expectation the mishapped fruit should be considerably cheaper (it is £3.96 against £5/kilo) means you fall in to the trap of most British food consumers. The “perfect” strawberries are only so because all the “mishapes” have been graded out at significant cost to the grower.

As a consequence the demand for perfect looking fruit and veg has resulted in breeding programmes and growing regimes designed to eliminate the perceived imperfect product usually at the expense of taste. Such programmes reduce the % of imperfections thus lowering waste and cost. This demand leads to massive food waste.

The grade outs from the strawberry example would probably have gone for jamming. Currently it’s trendy for Tesco et al to react to supposed public concern over food waste by selling wonky veg. It’s a con, it doesn’t begin to address the issue.

My guess is the offer went like this. Tesco demanded a grower funded 2 for 1 offer. In return Tesco offer to take mishappen fruit at slightly above jamming price. Tesco wins all round.

All strawberries of whatever shape cost the same to grow. However the “perfect” ones add cost through the labour required to grade and the wastage thus created.

It would be far better if Tesco sold “perfect” and mishapes in the same pack for £4.48/kilo. This reduces cost and eliminates waste other than that created by pest or disease.

Only when the British as a whole learn to understand food will it change. Effectively it is the public who create waste for the grower by demanding the perfectly round, unblemished tomato of a certain size.

It will never happen

 

[Blue Hills]

Sneaky bar stewards ain't they?

Sneaky bar stewards ain't they?

Yes and then there's the fake offers. My local sainsburys for years used to claim reductions on its fruit. No, you &&&&, it was in season. Three pineapples for a pound yesterday from a south london market.

 

[Drago]

You know the government are making noises about banning BOGOF deals to combat obesity? Well, it seems the supermarkets are ready for this onslaught, and Buy One Get One For A Penny seems to be getti g quote popular.

 

[stephec]

Mishapen fruit my arse

Is this connected to Slomo's finger thread?

 

[Electric_Andy]

The public drive demand for uniform fruit and veg. In the old days where lots of stuff was loose, customers would pick out the best and the mishapen remains would be binned. It makes sense to me for grade B stock to be cheaper, for those not fussed about about appearance.

As usual though, the supplier will never win, the customer will never win, and the supergiants are still making millions each year.

 

[glasgowcyclist]

I've given your post a like, except for this bit-

My wife wanted Rye Sour Dough bread and despite my feelings on Tesco......

I know not everyone wants to make their own, simple as it may be, but the public is being duped by the big businesses like Tesco and Morrisons into thinking that their artisan style loafs are the same as those from a real baker. What they are selling is sourfaux and I can guarantee you that it will contain preservatives, additives, and so-called processing aids, none of which they're obliged to declare (although you can ask in the store and wait for half an hour while someone tries to find out). It will even contain commercial yeast, the last thing that a real sourdough needs.

What it won't contain is the one thing that big supermarkets can't afford: time.

Oh, they're very clever with their wording of descriptions so might say their sourfaux is 'slow proved', to mislead you into thinking it's had many hours to ferment. However, when you consider that their standard sliced loafs can go from being mixed to being packaged in just 45 minutes, the term 'slow proved' becomes meaningless.

In my view, it's much better to give your money to a real baker, thereby getting an authentic product and supporting local jobs in the process. If that's something you couldn't afford to do regularly, then making your own is much cheaper and a lot easier than many realise.

 

[User6179]

Mod Note:
Next time add a smiley face, thanks!
End Mod Note.

 

[Blue Hills]

Glasgow cyclist, since you appear to be an expert on bread, please educate me. It has long puzzled me that whilst factory made bread has all sorts of nutritional info listed on the wrapper, the supposedly home made instore supermarket bakery stuff has diddly squat info. What's all that about? A legal loophole?

 

[NorthernDave]

I've given your post a like, except for this bit-


I know not everyone wants to make their own, simple as it may be, but the public is being duped by the big businesses like Tesco and Morrisons into thinking that their artisan style loafs are the same as those from a real baker. What they are selling is sourfaux and I can guarantee you that it will contain preservatives, additives, and so-called processing aids, none of which they're obliged to declare (although you can ask in the store and wait for half an hour while someone tries to find out). It will even contain commercial yeast, the last thing that a real sourdough needs.

What it won't contain is the one thing that big supermarkets can't afford: time.

Oh, they're very clever with their wording of descriptions so might say their sourfaux is 'slow proved', to mislead you into thinking it's had many hours to ferment. However, when you consider that their standard sliced loafs can go from being mixed to being packaged in just 45 minutes, the term 'slow proved' becomes meaningless.

In my view, it's much better to give your money to a real baker, thereby getting an authentic product and supporting local jobs in the process. If that's something you couldn't afford to do regularly, then making your own is much cheaper and a lot easier than many realise.

You're 100% right, but a big part of the problem is a lot of people don't have easy access to a baker (or butcher, etc).
Our nearest one (about a mile away) closed a few months ago and the nearest "real" baker now is probably 3 miles away. We're lucky enough to still have a decent butcher and try to use them whenever possible, but it's getting difficult to avoid supermarket shopping.

 

[MartinQ]

Went into our local Tesco today.
Strawberries - you would think that the 'misshaped' range would be cheaper. They aren't.
Two 400g punnets of best quality British strawberries - £3.00.
One 227g of 'misshaped' - 90p.
Go figure.
Also, has anyone else noticed that most of their prices are rounded ie. 50p, £1, £1.50, £2.00 etc. This started about 6 months ago and seems like they are taking the p*** to me.
I try to avoid Tesco and the other big operators in this sector as much as I can, but it's unavoidable sometimes.

TBH, Tesco have been really bad in the past for raising prices just before a "special offer" which returned the price back to just about the original one. Too much management with too much time on their hands.