Food prices skyrocketing again!

How's that going to work then? An d the quality is rubbish.

Went to Sainsbury's today. My god, the prices were eye-watering. Came out with nothing. Refused on principle to buy anything.

I think people are starting to realise that chicken thighs are tastier than breasts so the price has increased, it has always been the case in other parts of the world that thighs are more expensive.

As well as saving by buying a whole chicken, bone in legs are a bit cheaper, even when accounting for the weight of the bone.

I’m the same re chicken fillets. I do my main food shop in Dunnes (Ireland). A whole small chicken is €3 bit two chicken fillets are €3:49. This week I’ve bought 2 small chickens and I plan to take the breasts off tomorrow to make a big pot of curry. The legs, wings and carcasss are being thrown in the freezer. The drum sticks and wings build up over a few weeks and make up a dinner and the carcasses I use to make stock or a stew

i only has this conversation with my MIL earlier RE food prices. I find everything has increased and to keep to some sort budget. For eg treats I buy what’s on special offer. I buy my branded stuff Dunnes but everything else I buy in Lidl/Aldi. I do an online delivery and look for offers and food plan accordingly

Prices always jump up after Christmas. ALWAYS.

In part, it's to make up for all the special offers and unsold stock from Christmas.

They often drop back if people refuse to pay it.

Refuse to pay it. Buy something different. Go somewhere cheaper. You send a message with your feet and by keeping your purse firmly shut.

But, no. People want what they want and as long as they're unwilling to compromise by having something different or going without, the sellers will charge however the hell much they can get.

I think you can get cheap chicken maybe from Halal butchers? I'm not sure.

1kg chicken breasts at M&S 27 Jan £9.50
1kg chicken breasts at M&S 10 Feb £10.50

the increases never end

Sounds abotu right ( sadly) . How do people afford holidays?

I spent £45 yesterday on a whole chicken, lunch stuff for today (ham, baguette and pickle) plus a few crisps and ingredients to bake biscuits. I was gobsmacked.

Exactly. All businesses have gone the same way...and customer service is awful; many businesses still have the Covid-era 'we are experiencing unprecedented levels of demand' message.

Get used to it. The supermarkets need to recoup the NI increases.

Yes, I am noticing this too. Some things have trebled in just a couple of years - I often notice this with "treat" foods in particular, things like Pringles and Sensations you could regularly get on offer for 99p, now they're almost £3. Another one that sticks in my mind is the Aldi own brand versions of Mars bars, Twixes etc. They used to be 39p but are now £1.19!! Olive oil is now too expensive for me to consider buying. Even "cheap" sunflower or veg oil is now £2.

The lockdown has made them realise they can get away with anything. Price gouging should be a crime. Two successive governments have failed to combat this.

Asda have just dropped their Star Buys so that will affect the Loyalty programme. They have , however, resumed their Rollbacks, so that might help.

I have my shopping delivered as I am physically disabled with mobility problems, so home delivery makes my life so much easier! One of my neighbours has a Tesco delivery each week, so she kindly orders anything for me that is cheaper at Tesco or which I can't get from Asda.

By selling tens thousands of units a day countrywide at low margins. Smaller independents can’t compete with their buying power so you are forced to use the supermarkets. (Don’t even get me started on the rental cost of retail properties alone, owned by shell companies). It’s like the widget billionaires … washers cost next to nothing, but are sold in such vast quantities the manufacturers are billionaires living it up in the Caribbean 🤣

RR’s increase should have come off big business bottom line, not be passed on to customers. However, because they have been allowed to go public, they have shareholders to answer to, ultimately Joe Public bears the cost again. It’s all very well the Gov telling us they won’t tax us, they’ll tax the companies, but ultimately that rise just meant we’d be stealth taxed by the huge corporations who don’t want to lower their profits.

Supermarkets are always on the radio pleading poverty with their “tiny margins”, but if you look at the volumes they sell in - there is where you will find their massive profit. They’re not in it for love - it’s all about their bottom line being high enough.

Didn’t the UK used to be called Treasure Island by European car manufacturers? We just dig deep and pay up. Always have always will.

What else can we do? I’ve given up raging about it. Not sure what the answer is, but I know you can’t keep all of the people happy, all of the time …

That could be because they make very little profit on the basics ranges.

Likewise delivery is actually a loss leader, subsidised by the profit on the food.

It would cost them money to deliver a shop that contains lots of basics items.

Unfortunately that's a disadvantage to people with less money, that are also less likely to have a car, but after all, it's a business decision.

However, Asda's loyalty app seems very generous, we only do small shops occasionally there, but they always seem to be giving vouchers away through it, which is another thing that shoppers need to take into account.

Most supermarkets give discounts in one way or another through their apps so if you don't use these you're paying even more and, for many items, the discounted price is the price, as the item is on offer more often than not, eg its not necessary to pay close to £3 for Pringles because they're always on offer somewhere for under £2.

If you’d asked me a few weeks ago I’d have said yabu but actually, I really noticed how expensive this week’s shop was and I didn’t buy anything out of the ordinary or particularly expensive. All the same stuff that might have cost around £120 a few months ago was more like £150. I was really quite shocked!

I think it's Asda and at least one of the other supermarkets that have stopped selling many of their basic ranges online. An Asda delivery driver told me this a few months ago as he had seen it on a Saturday morning tv programme. Tesco are still selling their basic range online though.

Single mum on benefits here and definitely struggling. 2 kids and me plus cat. I used to spend £50/60 on shopping, I’m now spending about £120/130 a week over two shops. I meal plan but everything is so much more expensive. Kids have ASDso won’t have school dinners but I get fsm vouchers in the holidays and they are a life saver tbh.

I have also noticed bars of chocolate have increased drastically amongst other things

As I said upthread, the price of chocolate has rocketed due to a series of poor cocoa harvests. Cocoa is a comodity and when there's less of it available but demand remains high then the price goes up.

You are correct as I always buy the same product for baking and when looking last week I couldn’t believe it was over a pound now for value chocolate! The equivalent at Tesco (Ms Mollys) has also increased in price.

I don’t think it’s ever gone down. I did a top up shop three small bags worth from Lidl today and that was £50. Would have been £30 pre Covid. And that was only two meals, fruit, and a few snacky bits. I’m spending an absolute fortune at the moment.

I haven’t noticed that it has gone up in the last couple of months, but it has gone up in the last year definitely. However £170 a week what are you spending it on? Ours is nearer to £100 and I wouldn’t say I shop frugally.

Well I've definitely noticed the reduction in staff in my local Tesco but the prices are still increasing way ahead of inflation.