Supermarket selection in decline :-(

[SparklyMistleToes]

Just a little whinge about what I assume is due to a combination of Brexit and the cost of living crisis.

I've never liked Tesco, but husband pays for the groceries and he prefers Tesco because of the club card points so that's why we shop there.

But recently their selection has become more crap than it used to be. They've stopped stocking Kerry Gold butter, Gourmet Burger Kitchen Burgers, mozzarella for pizzas (the kind you grate yourself), German salami (they've now changed it to German 'style' salami and it doesn't taste the same). There are lots more things that I can't remember at the moment.

Waitrose has stopped stocking Barts dried spices and other bits. The things I can find there that Tesco used to carry are so much more expensive.

The general quality of food is in decline. Cheese has gone to shit and doesn't even melt properly anymore.

My apologies. This post has derailed a bit. I'm sat here with raging PMS listening to jolly Christmas music on the radio and I want to actually smash it. The decline in quality of food and clothing, combined with the shitty weather and amount it takes to heat the house and cook using our oven and air fryer is really pissing me off. Will we (aka the U.K.) ever go back to normal? Or are we stuck like this now? It's miserable already and we've not even hit Jan/Feb. I was in Waitrose today and I swear they've turned the heating off in the store! We could actually see our breathe in the chilled fruit section!

I was in Waitrose yesterday and it was FREEZING!

I am a really hardy type and not averse to shivering in my own home but I put off my intention to browse and fill my trolley, and simply picked up the JL parcel I came in for and left. It was so uncomfortable

The supermarkets have been reducing the amount of products they carry for years now. They’ve realised they can make more money offering a limited range, just like Aldi and Lidl do.

It irrationally annoys me that Waitrose no longer stocks Barts spices. I have a lovely looking spice rack and now can’t restock as Barts are only stocked in a few Co-Ops. Waitress own brand aren’t as good.

Morrisons sell Bart’s including the new refill packs.

I'm finding the range at my tesco is a lot barer than normal they are having a refit but all the stockwells and the low value range aren't in store but the brands are!

Our Tesco still sell the pizza mozzarella. It’s comes in a big long rectangle. Could be a temporary stocking issue or regional?

I've started noticing that Tescos have stopped selling smaller versions of things. No half tins of kidney beans, very few ketchup/mayo etc in smaller sizes. There were 4 or 5 things I noticed this week I can't remember now but definitely noticed it.

I've noticed over the last year/six months that they don't have a lot of items in stock for delivery and then when they do they often don't follow through the order or you can't increase the quantity. There's also a lot of stuff which seems to go in and out of stock like a yo-yo then there's other things which you just can't get even if you go to a store, or if you can get it then you have the "choice" of one very expensive brand name such as risotto rice. I've also found that the search terms are really specific to "find" the cheaper items as the default returns the more expensive ones.

That said I don't think any of the other supermarkets are that different. We mainly get Tesco but also have Sainsbury's, Ocado and Asda from time to time and shop in store a lot at Waitrose as there's stuff you can get at some which you can't get at the other and/or there is a big enough price difference that it's justified. The only good thing which has happened is that free hot drinks are back in Waitrose.

Our local Co-op has taken out a whole aisle and also made another aisle "bargains" so for example you will find the crisps on offer in the crisp aisle but also to fill the shelf in the "bargain" aisle. They also fill the meat section with jars pertaining to the meat, like tons of curry sauce jars with the chicken or packs and packs of stuffing with the beef to pad it out.
It's actually depressing the amount of products they have lost not just quantity.
Also in Sainsburys freezer aisle they have made one whole aisle the frozen fruit and ice cream doing a similar thing I suppose.

I hate Aldi and Lidl for the very reason their selection is so reduced. I don't like the quality of most of their own brand stuff either. But I can't complain much about them really as I won't shop there.

Oh do they? Is Tesco own brand? Theirs used to be in a stubby kind of block. Like a bigger Halloumi. I looked for block mozzarella in Waitrose today but they only had an Italian brand and it was £4.40 😳

I think supermarkets are always a bit cold, but M&S Food Hall is always the coldest.

The government legislation surrounding HFSS products has meant all supermarkets have had to have a shift around so as not to have those items on ends.

Our tesco still has the grate yourself mozzarella.

I guess it's one of things- there's no point having a huge range in stock on only very few people some of it?

Yep their own brand! It was out of stock for a few weeks a couple of months ago but it’s there at the moment. I use it for stuffed chicken breasts but I’ve noticed recently things like cheese do go on and out of stock for a small amount fairly regularly

You want to try shopping a a French supermarket; cold isn’t in it. The girls on the tills in our local Carrefour wear mittens and scarves. People keep a supermarket coat in the car , you see them putting them in at the entrance. I didn’t understand until the day I actually had hypothermia from the U , I was shivering violently, had to go to bed with all the duvets piled on top, it was quite frightening.

My local M&S food hall has filled a whole fridge aisle with wine. It used to be food. Seems a waste of electricity to me.

I haven't noticed a decrease in range but there are sometimes shortages and these are unpredictable, one day there won't be salmon, the next day bananas, the next day lipbalm.
Ours do sell mozzarella - the 'ball' type. Think it's 55p.

Thank you. It's not the wet ball type I'm after though. It's called mozzarella for pizza and looks this - it's still online if I google it, so maybe just not available in my area. I will keep checking for it though.

The pre-grated stuff is coated in potato starch and is high in carbs which I try to stay away from

This is nothing new. For decades I've had products I like withdrawn. Sometimes other supermarkets stock them. Other times I just have to go without. Sometimes products are temporarily unavailable as their packaging is being updated.

I was in Tesco today and I know it's very first world problems (but hey; first world supermarket) but they didn't have all butter puff pastry. They stock Tesco finest but that's a mix of Margarine and butter. I was stocking up for Christmas and fancied getting the good stuff. 10 different types of pastry but all made with marg.

I hate when they do stuff like this! Marg and veg oils are the work of the devil lol.

The decline in quality will effect our overall health. I feel like it's slowly turning like the US with fake low quality everything.

Yesss! Thank you I feel vindicated. Really annoyed me! It is though isn't it - I don't want margarine in my pastry!! It's like when they started putting vegetable oil in Cadbury's chocolate so it now just tastes like hersheys

There's empty shelves everywhere at the moment I find, not just supermarkets. Popped into a boots as needed a new mascara. All the make up point of sale sections were mainly empty.
Is this post Brexit/Covid supply chain issues as I can't imagine it's just people suddenly deciding they need to buy out the rimmel shelf.

Don't get me started on how crap all cheddar seems to be now

Yeah everything's getting crapper. It's a mixture of things actually being more expensive to make nicely and also the wealthiest getting grabby trying to cling onto their wealth by curringcosts so the poorest absorb the costs. But in the end it's just crapper for everyone.

The cheddar 😭😭😭

It doesn't even melt properly now and is so flavourless. My cauliflower cheese I made yesterday was so bland compared to what it used to be 😣