Cheapest good quality grocery delivery?

[Hollyontherampage]

We use Ocado but I'm trying to see if I can get cheaper elsewhere. We have a very healthy diet - fresh Mediterranean food on the whole, and organic milk. Not necessarily all organic veg but try to find the best quality and avoid stuff flown in from half way round the planet if possible.

Is it possible to find cheaper groceries within these parameters? Im wondering if perhaps I find cheaper household products from elsewhere eg cleaning stuff, kitchen roll etc and then only buy fresh stuff from Ocado, which would mean two separate shops so this might not be cost effective.

Anyone done this?

Following as my Tesco delivery pass is coming to an end

Quick bump

Tesco can be as little as 1.50 for a flexi slot in the evening (was £1 but all changed during covid!). Have used them for 7-8 years and always been great. You can buy a delivery saver for 6 months which can work out cheaper.

Thanks @ginghamstarfish, good to know. I have found Tesco to be one of the worst for flying fruit and vegetables half way around the world however, and have struggled to buy local or even European, so not convinced about their providence or quality.

Could you do a monthly big order with free delivery from Iceland, things like household items, tins, condiments, their frozen veg is fine.

Going from Ocado to Iceland would be a step down in variety but I’ve always been happy with the quality and the deliveries have all been prompt and perfectly maintained. They did run out of Easter eggs one year, though…
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I use them because I don’t have a UK bank account and they accept PayPal.

Plus you get an extra £1 for every £10 you put on your Iceland clubcard.

Yes I find them very good for essentials and they do stock a lot of branded items.

I recently put a weekly Ocado shop into a basket online at Asda, Morrisons and Tesco. It came in as being £2–3 more at Ocado than the others for like-for-like products.

I think if you cook mostly from scratch and don't buy a ton of big brands like Walkers/Cadbury/Coca Cola etc. then it doesn't cost much more to shop at one of the more expensive shops.

For example, to buy free range chicken at Ocado doesn't actually cost more than buying free range Tesco finest. I generally find it's cheaper to buy organic, free range eggs on Ocado because I buy whichever of the smaller producers' eggs happen to be on offer that week.

I can't eat Morrisons bread as they bulk every bakery product out with broad bean flour and I'm allergic to pulses so if I did my weekly shop I'd have to always bake my own bread which is a faff.

Basically I came to the conclusion that Ocado makes my life so much easier and I'm so happy with the quality of Ocado own brand fruit & veg that I really wouldn't save much by going elsewhere.

When I've bought veg at our local Tesco it all looks tired on the day I buy it. With Ocado I pretty much never have to throw any fresh produce away (apart from the odd potato).

I recently downgraded my Ocado smartpass to a mid-week pass which is half the price and you can still get free deliveries at weekends if they're late at night.

I'd do a smaller Ocado shop every week and a big top up instead of or in addition to this from Asda. Their branded items such as Heinz , toilet rolls, bleach is really good value.

Waitrose is a good alternative for organic but not much better value but they have a minimum order of £40 with £3 delivery which you can make up with their vouchers etc.

Ocado don't deliver to my area so I don't have a comparison. I've found ALL the supermarkets fluctuate in quality and length of shelf life with fresh produce.

Hence I fluctuate which supermarket I use.

I've had the most longest success with Asda. Recently they've been really impressive with the length of dates on stuff. I had a delivery from Asda on a Monday and some of the meat and veg I got delivered from Sainsburys on the Friday had the same date on it! (Shelf life of 2 days.)

We have tried Ocado, Tesco,Waitrose,Sainsburys and we are now back to where we started with Asda in a different location and so far after 6 months or so with 1 or 2 exceptions thay have been very good. The price difference between Asda and Ocado/Waitrose is considerably in favour with Asda.

I do not know other Op's judge the quality of the service but we put it down to the quality of the vegetables and the care they make in the selection

We have been using home deliveries for approximately 10 years and much prefer this to going to a supermarket and finding lanes blocked by inconsiderate shoppers or when you exit again having the exit blocked by people congregating and smoking phew!

We don't buy any junk at all, so no crisps, biscuits, chocolate, cereal or sliced bread etc, nothing like that. So I'm thinking that we could continue to buy fresh fruit & veg, meat, fish and dairy from Ocado, but not buy store cupboard stuff there. And then instead, every couple of weeks or so do a stock up from either Iceland or Asda for things like tinned tomatoes, tinned pulses, brown rice etc, and the cleaning products and toothpaste etc.

That's basically what I do OP. Weekly shop at Ocado and every couple of months I go into a big Asda and get washing powder, tinned tomatoes, huge bag of rice etc.

That sounds a good idea, asda will have a bigger range than iceland but it depends on what you like. Waitrose are good quality and free delivery over £40 and they are not as expensive as some people think, they do a lot of 3 for £10 offers on meat and fish but sometimes their fruit and veg can be a bit ropey, asda seem much better quality.

Look for local companies. We have a great company in our village who do fruit and veg boxes but also offer things like milk, cheese, oil, preserves etc. All local and high quality. They don't do meat but I'm sure others do