to ask for an explanation of supermarket snobbery?

[elfsmamma]

I am British but I have lived abroad for the last 5 years, when I lived in the UK I had a pretty demanding job so I did my shopping in the nearest supermarket.

I am staying with my parents over Christmas, me and dp wanted to go shopping for tge ingredients for a couple of meals and also some pyjamas as I had forgotten to pack mine.

There is an ASDA and a Sainsburys both about a 5 minute drive from my parent's house I suggested we went to ASDA as it is bigger and more likely to have pyjamas.

My mum said "oh god, don't go to ASDA, it's terribly depressing" she went on to justify this by saying the food was crap and the other shoppers were rude, people often had trolleies full of junk and whinging kids. I am not sure how the other shoppers are anything to do with my dm. Dm finished off by saying she prefers to spend an extra 20 pounds a week on her shopping at Sainsburys.

We went to ASDA despite the warnings. It was great, we got a huge fresh salmon for 4 pounds a kg, fresh dill, organic new potatoes, pasta and the ingredients to make bolognese, some good wine and lots of fresh fruit.

Cab someone explain supermarket snobbery to me?

cjel...
FYI I drive an Audi A6 TDI and own a Mulberry Bayswater. I can't use the latter at the moment as I'm always carrying a changing bag full of nappies wipes etc.
It just amuses me how much forced effort people seem to go to when they step inside our local Waitrose. Some are also rude. I was behind an outwardly genteel couple in the checkout queue who were downright nasty to the checkout girl because some products were out of stock.They had a really entitled attitude.

Our ASDA is huge and it's been extended so nothing lines up, it's very irritating, but cheapest.

I can't do Lidl and Aldi, for a full shop and non of them are in helpful bits of town.

Nearest little Tesco has lovely helpful, pack for you beautifully staff, but limited stock.

Next nearest (13 miles away) Tesco is my shop of choice. it's actually a mile and loads of traffic lights nearer than ASDA. Not too big and not too small. Easy to find stuff in.

Both Sainsbury's are fine, (same sort of distance as ASDA), but work out expensive.

No waitrose, so Sainsbury's are the town's posh shop and they tempt me with things.

I have never set foot in a Waitrose in my life. What am I missing?
We get the bulk of our shopping in aldis and the rest is Asda.
The Morrisons where I work is great, the one near home is horrible

Our local town has ideas above it's station. We have a Tesco and a Co-Op, recently Sainsburys put planning in for a supermarket, but were turned down because it wasn't posh enough right for the town.

A couple of weeks ago, Aldi have put planning in and the local paper has been inundated with letters begging the council not to turn Aldi down because the residents think it would be an ideal supermarket for the area!
I'd quite like it to be built because it would save me trekking the 13 miles to the nearest one!

I love our local ASDA. It's huge and airy.

Tescos, OTOH, feels smaller and cramped.
Though I've been in smaller ASDAs and they weren't that pleasant either.

There's no doubt that ASDA is cheaper, and George children's clothes are pretty good. I also like Lidl but it doesn't have everything I need.

We just did our Christmas food shop in Lidl. Much quicker than anywhere else.

I rally don't understand supermarket snobbery. I don't like Sainsburys as I think it's expensive, but I'll shop anywhere else.

MrsFassbender77

Come and hang with me at the local waitrose, today I am wearing ten year old trainers, two year old strech pants from M&S, used to be black and velvety, now grey and mottled, a charity shop top and a charity shop cape.

We will have a ball

( oh and we drive an old banger too)

I used to shop in Asda but it extended and I didn't like how big it was, didn't like the fact they move everything all the time and didn't like the fact the fruit didn't last. I started going to Waitrose with a meal plan and spent no more than I had going to Asda with no plan.

People who slag of others because of how they shop, what they buy, how they speak or what they wear are idiots.

mrsfassbender

I went to Aldi and was nearly punched in the face because I had the temerity to have my pushchair with my NB in, in some ones way for all of a .....split second which was profusely apologised for.

I was then started at and watched for the rest of the shop and I felt so threatened, I had to go and wait in the car whilst DH carried on.

however, I do like Aldi lots and wish there was one near me.

I like ASDA and Co-OP.

I can't bear Morrisons - it just looks so grubby.....

The only place I don't go is Tesco because I don't like their lack of customer service and how they have taken over so much that small shops have gone out of business. Sainsbury's is expensive for what it is and the staff don't like helping. Asda staff are either rude or lovely. No in between.

We've got a Sainsburys and a Waitrose where I live. Sainsburys is great, it keeps the riff raff out of Waitrose

don't find Asda much cheaper than Sainsburys basics...buy hardly any branded stuff, which is definitely cheaper in Asda. When I do go to Asda the veg is good and the fruit is less good. The local independent shops are often as good or better for anything that can be put in a curry (or pasta...there are more shapes than in the supermarket).
Overall I think the Sainsburys basics are nicer than the Asda equivalent (except the fruit and fibre cereal, according to DH)
Overall I think that it is easier to get sustainably sourced fish (pollock and trout generally) in Sainsburys, and I don't like Walmart.
But I may just be being taken in by marketing.

Love asda! Fresh food is actually fresh unlike tesco and they tend to always have the items im looking for the bakery isnt bad either.
I hate Morrisons with a passion and will only shop there for extremely cheap offer ie 9 baileys a few weeks ago.
Lidel is almost awful but so cheap and right next to our house it has to be done.
Dont understand the comments about aggressive shoppers but im from SE15 and now live up north , honestly id say man up its only a supermarket!

Elf - I have complained bitterly about the standard of their fruit and veg - it doesn't change and it's not just me, my friends feel the same way...the local Waitrose is just known for having shitty veg but then Sainsbury's does too so there's no competition. Some of the staff are great but overall they are sourly and lack food knowledge at the deli counter and I feel quite annoyed that our Waitrose is so poor in comparison to others. Last week I bought diced lamb from Waitrose and it was mostly fat, I threw half of it out. Their free range chickens have recently needed plucking before putting in the oven. Marks on the other hand is always brilliant, nice helpful staff and good quality produce but the store is too small for me to do all my shopping there.

It's obviously very regional, rather than 'Tesco is shit' and 'Asda is brilliant'.

Our local Asda is fantastic. It's huge, has everything, and is miles cheaper than the other big supermarkets. I haven't noticed any different in the 'quality of customer' as it were between any of the supermarkets. Our Morrisons doesn't stock a lot of healthy food but has tons and tons of cakes/crisps etc, but the Morrisons nearest my mum's is lovely. So there you go. That's my 2p!

I buy meat , fish, bread, fruit and veg from the local independent shops and I buy milk and eggs from the farm. I use Sainsburys for anything outside of that because the local Sainsburys is incredibly quiet in comparison to every other supermarket around here and I want to get in and out as quickly as possible.

My job means I come into contact with food suppliers and whilst on a factory visit once they explained that the food is graded a - e with the highest graded food going to waitrose, m&s and the lowest sent to aldi, lidl etc. Obviously it all passes quality control but higher end shops definitely get the best of the batch.

I honestly have no idea, but I'll ask the Butler.

When Aldi got supermarket of the year I made the effort to drive 10 miles to my nearest one. Never again, it was like a 1970s Scout jumble sale but with food. Dirty. Boxes of stuff on the floor. Everyone rummaging through so all the stuff was already handled or broken.

I am dead frugal as on a tight budget but Sainsburys is best value...own brand stuff is cheap and good quality.

Tesco and asda too big and depressing. Also irresponsible IMHO...local big tesco piles very cheap own brand vodka in the front entrance in the poorest part of town.

i shop around and go to different supermarkets/suppliers for different things.

snow I really find that so hard to believe.

Have you gone higher with your complaints...

I believe stores are graded, I know ours and most round here are top ones.

I have never had any problems with their veg, they are the best at doing veg out of all the normal stores.

I would write to the top person.

Going to out myself as an absolute snob.

I travel around London for work, so have seen pretty much all supermarkets.

Here are the results of my extensive research

Lidl & Aldi

Grim, grim places. Absolutely hate going in there. A lot of fellow Germans go in there, for the german stuff...but I just go the Polish shop. Cleaner, brighter. Staff gets treated apalingly, check out line absolutely annoying. I only went into my local one once but emerged with a filled pepper mill for 89p. So not all bad.

ASDA

Hate the lighting, hate the fact that most of them have mostly self-check out lanes, and last time I was in there you couldn't even turn the volume off. Staff also don't get treated very well. I can't really comment on their own brand stuff, though but it looks like it was made on the cheap.

Morrisons

Used to live a really nicely-laid out one. Pretty cheap for own brand and brand stuff. But their own brand stuff is absolutely vile, as are fruit and veggies.

TESCO

Usually I'm not a fan, the shops seem messy, the staff clueless. Their own-brand range can be pretty hit-and-miss. There is one shining exception, a 24 hour tesco in North London. Their fruit and veg, meet and Deli produce is really good and they have amazing herbs. The sometimes have my favourite Haribo's (not normally available in Britain). Loosing points for having a pretty crappy record when it comes to employment terms.

Sainsburys

Very good own brand ranges. Even basics are pretty good, TTD products are in many cases better than branded stuff. Very good for organic produce. Very good deli cheese and cold meets sortiment (though staff at two different stores were confused at me asking for something measured out in grams).

Waitrose

My favourite supermarket in the world. All their own brand stuff is amazing. Winner for quality and ethics. Their fresh bread is great, and they sell rye bread (yay!). I love Duchy originals, especially their milk is great (make a point of only getting DO milk). Amazing quality. Best choice for free range meet (amazingly not only chicken). It is not that much more expensive thank other supermarkets (with their loyalty card it often ends up cheaper). Staff are treated well (as far as i know). If I would have to find a fault, the shoppers tend to be on the entitled side, can be a bit slow, and tantruming children tend to not be stopped (freerange children, after all)

Oh, yes and their loyalty card. Free coffee, free newspaper, instant savings on your shopping.

Sadly Waitrose have decided not to pay me for that little bit of free advertising.

Elf I complained to the shop manager, I complained online about the poor quality produce. I complained about the meat i recently purchased and they are sending me vouchers. Mostly I just put up with it. It's annoying, can't believe the store is even getting an average rating, it is one of their poorest stores but they have little competition.