Why do shops like B and M have more unusual flavours of things than supermarkets do?

[BarbaraVineFan]

I don’t know what this says about my social media habits, but the algorithm quite often shows me reels of ‘new foods at B and M’ or similar, and it’s always weird and wonderful versions of big brands, like a cappuccino flavoured Kit Kat or something. Can anyone explain why these types of things are available in B and M but not in mainstream supermarkets? And also, has anyone tried any of these unusual snacks and can you recommend them?

I would like to know too! Surely they can't have more Kit Kat buying power than eg Tesco??

Home Bargains are the only place I know of where you can still buy Viscount chocolate biscuits- I haven't seen them in any of the 'main' supermarkets for many, many years.

Now, lovely though the mint ones are, if only they could be persuaded to start making the orange ones again!?!

My guess would be that they use foreign suppliers, who often have different flavours of stuff because different countries like different things.

The mocha flavour kitkats are nice - I bought some today ! Have also got my eye on some strawberry chocolate coated digestives.

Maybe it's all a numbers game: the likes of Tesco will only consider carrying a line if they can be guaranteed to shift a certain number of units - which may well not be possible for some of the lesser known brands or flavours; and from the manufacturers' pov, maybe the terms they can get with the smaller bargain chains are less predatory and/or they prefer to trial the products in less dominant chains - in the same way as big comedians often deliberately do shows in little provincial theatres to test out new material, to see what lands and what doesn't, before they risk using it in the enormous venues and in TV performances?

They have about 300 different flavours of Kit Kats in Japan - including baked potato and green tea flavours!

That's a good point about foreign suppliers: often the wrappers are labelled (only or mainly) in other languages than English.

Because they are awful and not many people want jam flavoured tea or whatever, and B& M pick them up for cheap.

I always assumed it was stuff that hadn’t gone down well elsewhere. So like commercial flops, that they can buy up cheaply. I could well be wrong though!

Tesco sell them (at least, here in Scotland they do!). 70p a packet.

Ooh, fab - I'm on my way north right now

They also have those President `crispy brie bites’ ❤️

They import a lot of Australian chocolate bars (they have a marshmallow toffee one which is delicious).
Basically though...they just do deals with the manufacturers.
It's not unusual for one retailer to have exclusives.

I think it's often the other way around.
They are the test market for new products.

I bulk buy banoffee flavoured Horlicks at B&M.

I think sometimes they're also things that are discontinued, so they've made something that turns out doesn't sell well, so the mainstream supermarkets don't want any more and the remainder ends up in B&M, Home Bargains etc.

Perhaps also things that are short dated - Tesco etc might not take things with lower than X days/weeks/months left on the date, but the bargain shops will if it's cheap enough. So it could work a bit like Too Good to Go.

Heron is another good one. I pass one on the way home from work and often pop in for a nosy as well as a top up shop - they have bread, milk and a bit of fruit, veg, cheese etc. But I've had all sorts of bargains, such as the Spice Tailor kits for 2 for £1 instead of £2-3 each, Magnums and other ice cream for less than the supermarkets etc. We like the Chovi allioli and always get it for 89 p in Home Bargains instead of nearly twice that in Morrisons.

Heron is also good for mis-shaped frozen breaded chicken, hash browns etc.

I find it quite interesting too OP

I try not to go in there because it is loads of rubbish in there and Ive been stung a few times because its not actually cheaper for some products.

What do you mean by that?
It's just an ordinary shop.

What do I mean by what?

Home Bargains and an expensive farm shop are the only places locally where I can get plain chocolate Tunnocks Teacakes, definitely worth a little detour from the main shops for those.

I usually find their instant coffee is good value and they have great deals. I never even check the date because I drink it so quickly! They do have a great choice like small tins of coconut milk which I haven't seen anywhere else locally, and seasonings. I tend to do most of my shopping in Lidl or Aldi (Morrisons and Sains occasionally) so I think the B & M bits are great for widening the variety. Also, their picture frames are well cheap!

That reminds me, I like Mackies crisps (that are called something else now that I can't remember). I haven't seen them for a while, but they only ever seem to be in the cheap shops, or the expensive farm shops, never anywhere middle of the road. Likewise Tayto crisps (as I'm in England but apparently like Scottish or Irish crisps better).

They don't have any fresh stuff?

Presumably saying that it's all a load of rubbish in there - even though they sell a lot of the same (or very similar) products as the 'main' supermarkets?!

Because b&m pick up the disgusting flavours for cheap.

Home Bargains have a whole aisle of fresh veg, bread and fridge stuff.

B and M stock more ultra processed food which is full of cheap ingredients so will be cheaper for them to buy and then sell at low prices.