Today's Yellow Sticker Bargains

[Blue Hills]

We bought some Batchelors mushy peas from Morrisons.....45p.
Next week we bought mushy peas from Lidl......17p. On the label it says (to the effect) supplied by Batchelors Foods.

It says that explicityly or you just deduced it from looking at the nutrient table?

(I do a lot of that - really puts the mockers or so much branded stuff that claims to have been lovingly prepared according to a centuries old recipe - I seem to remember sainsburys tried that once with crisps)

 

[Reynard]

According to the various friends who work in the food industry, a lot of stuff is made on the same production line and just stuck in different packaging. Well, that's the simplified version.

In reality, there do tend to be minor tweaks, e.g. how long something is baked for, or how thick a coating of chocolate a biscuit gets, or how much seasoning is added to a soup, but in a lot of cases, it's so hard to tell.

Case in point. I buy the Tesco extra mature cheddar - it's actually really, really nice, and you wouldn't be embarrassed to put it on a cheese board. It's £5 a kilo. The branded equivalent e.g. Pilgrims Choice or Cathedral City usually comes in at £8 a kilo. Can't say that the branded stuff is £3 a kilo better...

 

[Blue Hills]

Lidl extra mature cheddar when on special is pretty fine.
Who knows, maybe the same stuff.

 

[Reynard]

More than likely. Some supermarkets have a deal with a single creamery, but others don't...

 

[Mike_P]

Lidl do have a habit of stating the supplier on a number of their items. I shop at all locally available stores (no Tesco bar Tesco Expresses that stock everything not wanted) due to having a proven gluten allergy to get a decent range of goods; quality varies, some items are better from one store than another and quite disgusting from others and its not necessarily the cheapest that is the worse or the more expensive the best. Quite typical a price ending 9 in Asda etc is 7 in Aldi and Lidl and prices ping pong all over the place generally - apples are a classic example, one or more of Asda/Morrisons/Sainsburys drop their prices and shortly later Aldi and Lidl have reduced theirs or increased the number in bag; then they all creep up and it starts all over again. Soon notice in each store what is cheap and what falls in "are they kidding" category - the latter is, Waitrose aside, usually Morrisons. Convinced Lidl and Waitrose Chicken Breasts were the same bar a 60p difference in price, when a pack in either store had 3 or 4 in it and equally little fat when cooked whereas ones from Aldi were swimming when cooked.

 

[Reynard]

I feel your pain @Mike_P - a lot of GF stuff is pretty spendy. Must be a right pain to find tasty stuff that doesn't bash you in the wallet. Oddly enough, there's always a lot of GF bread and cakes on sticker in my local Tesco.

BTW, have you tried buckwheat pasta? Picked some up on sticker out of curiosity, and it was really nice. Especially with a creamy mushroom sauce.

 

[DCBassman]

Certainly wasn't much on offer in our nearest big Tescos yesterday...

 

[Dave7]

It says that explicityly or you just deduced it from looking at the nutrient table?

(I do a lot of that - really puts the mockers or so much branded stuff that claims to have been lovingly prepared according to a centuries old recipe - I seem to remember sainsburys tried that once with crisps)

How could I deduce it from the nutient table
As I said.....it is written on the label.

 

[Blue Hills]

How could I deduce it from the nutient table
As I said.....it is written on the label.

well if the nutrient table (and list of ingredients) has the same order and figures on two cans of stuff I take it that they are near as dammit the same stuff. Has always been good enough for me.

 

[Dave7]

well if the nutrient table (and list of ingredients) has the same order and figures on two cans of stuff I take it that they are near as dammit the same stuff. Has always been good enough for me.

Thats too complicated for my brain.
Cant I just read the price difference and the 'supplied by' details

 

[Blue Hills]

Thats too complicated for my brain.
Cant I just read the price difference and the 'supplied by' details

Very rare indeed for them to name a supplier in my experience.
For obvious reasons.
I fear you may be missing "bargains".
We're not talking deep deep levels of molecular analysis here.

 

[Poacher]

Not even a yellow sticker - local Lidl were giving away packs of a dozen large free range eggs, with a best before date of 6th December, i.e. a week hence. I was relatively restrained and only took a dozen, unlike some customers! We've started on them already, as part of an ad-hoc Portuguese-style dish involving cod, onions, garlic, green pepper, carrots, potatoes, black olives, olive oil, white wine and a dash of Henri Bardouin pastis.
Absolutely delicious, but I doubt I could replicate it exactly if (when!) asked.

 

[Reynard]

Mmmm sounds like someone bollixed up the ordering @Poacher

Eggs tend to have two dates on the box - a "display until" and a "use by", typically with a week's difference between them. I suspect they were on the "display until" date and they probably had far too many to shift by any other means.

Certainly not to be sniffed at.

What you cooked sounds good too.

Not sure what I'd do with a gross of eggs though... Not the world's biggest fan of pickled eggs...

 

[Poacher]

Mmmm sounds like someone bollixed up the ordering @Poacher

Eggs tend to have two dates on the box - a "display until" and a "use by", typically with a week's difference between them. I suspect they were on the "display until" date and they probably had far too many to shift by any other means.

Certainly not to be sniffed at.

What you cooked sounds good too.

Not sure what I'd do with a gross of eggs though... Not the world's biggest fan of pickled eggs...

Yes, display until 28th Nov, best before 6th Dec, although experience suggests they'd still be usable for up to a fortnight after that.
A dozen eggs, you wally, not a dozen boxes! (I suspect you knew that, really.)
I should have taken another box for the neighbours, but they're away at the mo.

 

[Reynard]

Yes, display until 28th Nov, best before 6th Dec, although experience suggests they'd still be usable for up to a fortnight after that.
A dozen eggs, you wally, not a dozen boxes! (I suspect you knew that, really.)
I should have taken another box for the neighbours, but they're away at the mo.

Yeah, I'm a wally. Guilty as charged.

A cheese souffle is a good way of using up a surfeit of eggs, btw.