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?

My mum is obviously homeless and stinks of cat litter since she shops at Lidl, when is strange since she has a very nice house, hates cats and works in a bank.

Dread to think what i am shopping a iceland, home bargains and B and M Bargains.

tbf my MIL shops at lidyl and is a bit crazy cat ladyish

LuciusMalfoyIsSmokingHot it's all for the laughs. You're more than welcome to propose your alternative supermarket rating ;)

catheyseeme I don't know about Iceland, have never been to one. Where do you think they'd go in the list?

It's not snobbery. It's a fact. M&S and waitrose are better than Tesco. Fact.

Not according to taste tests and Which? magazine findings it's not. Aldi consistently come out as one of the better places to shop.

And how can you say it's not snobbery when there are people on MN (and even on this thread!) using the word 'chavvy' to describe places and people? If that's not snobbery, I don't know what is.

Our closest supermarket is Waitrose and as I don't drive we shop there. I found it really good when the children were small as the staff help you, I saw a mum with a tiny baby and someone there was helping her load her trolley. When my DC was having a bit of a tantrum they helped me too, brought him a lolly which was kind..
whereas in the other one nearby (Sainsbury's) they were rude and confiscated my buggy! (said it was a security risk )because I wanted to just leave it (folded) at the customer service desk. Had a right palaver getting it back. Then because they have those daft trolleys which you have to put a pound in, it was tricky getting the buggy and the trolley outside and sort it out, all they said was 'well most people drive you know'. Think maybe have got used to the service in Waitrose but won't be going back there!

The only other shop is the local Co-op which is more expensive than Waitrose. the essentials stuff is great.

Anyone who pays over the odds at Waitrose for food that they can buy in Asda far cheaper, is a fool as well as a snob

probably just above lidl and aldi

Everyone says the tesco here has shit customer services but the young saturday staff are brilliant, i was heavily pregnant and getting the xmas alcohol and the young girl at the checkout unloaded and loaded it all back for me , my only problem with the young staff are that they insist on ID-ing me, only when ive got literally nothing but a debit card on me obviously

Eveybody must try Fortnum and Masons once before they die.If that makes me a snob,tough!

The Asda nearest to us is grim. I don't like Asda brand foods, don't like their meat or fruit/veg. It's in a horrible area too and the shoppers reflect this.

Having said that, I don't like Waitrose either.

Sainsburys is my preference when doing the weekly shop.

I like Asda! It's cheap, sells pants and tights and Ben &Jerry's. And it's right by McDonald's.

My favourite is probably a proper big Morrison's - cheap and well stocked (you can get Badoit in Morrison's but not Tesco or Sainsbury's round here). Tesco and Sainsbury's are alright, but a little boring and overpriced.

I love a trot round Waitrose and if you're canny you can get some pretty good bargains. But I wouldn't do a big, 'weekly' shop there - too dear overall.

Tanith how do you know the other shoppers that you see in Waitrose are not middle class?

Seriously wealthy people wouldn't shop in supermarkets - they'd have their favourite independents, butchers, delis, green grocers....I can dream.

I love ASDA and Aldi. Those two are the best to make your student loan stretch further, and then I get 'treats' - basically Dinosaur Turkey - from Morrisons, as I can't find it in ASDA these days.

I went shopping with a "friend" early last year, we both needed to get food in so we went Sainsbos first and then Aldi (on the same retail park). I was shocked in Sainsburys by how expensive it all was, even their basics range (although iirc she refused to buy the basics range as it was 'chavvy'), but kept schtum. Once we got into Aldi my friend looked horrified and whispered to me, 'Isn't this where... poor people... shop?'.

I couldn't stop laughing, her attitude carried on like this through the year until she'd run out of her student loan with six weeks until the next payment and her mum sending her £30 a week wasn't enough budgeting has its benefits, and I've never noticed the taste difference between ASDA, Tesco, Morrisons and Aldi - they all taste lovely to me :) for some people there definitely is a 'snobbery', and I don't understand it - would you rather end up actually being poor through spending all your money on stuff you could get cheaper elsewhere, just for the sake of not being seen as 'poor'?

Asda has organic milk, a reasonably range of fruit and veg, free range eggs etc, some good Asian foods - tinned chick peas etc. Their premium range stuff - eg jams - tends to be very good. There are some aisles I don't tend to go down - loads of fizzy drinks and crisps. But Sainsburys sells an awful lot of junk too.

Spouse and I have started doing half our shopping at Lidl, and the other half - more fancy, deli stuff at Sainsburys. Asda is actually a bit in the middle, though I go there sometimes because it's near my work place.

The last time I popped in to an ASDA there was a woman there in her pyjamas. At 4pm. I fainted of course, as is only proper, and have taken the pledge never to go there again.

I shop at aldi and extra bits at tesco . There are posh cars like range rovers and 4x4s at my aldi .

Tbh, in terms of badly behaved children, Waitrose is the worst, IME! I never go in on a Saturday because of all the 'spirited' little critters zooming up and down the aisles on wooden scooters, unchecked.

I guess the mince pies and cranberry and onion confit cooling in the kitchen, plus the mince lamb simmering away on the hob are all imaginary, then

I was in Sainsburys in Sedgefield, this morning and it was lovely. People waited their turn when there were several people wanting eggs, ham or whatever and, when we were half way around, there was a spontaneous chorus of We Wish You a Merry Christmas led by the staff who were ambling around the checkouts, making sure no one had to queue longer than necessary

The aisles at my local Lidl are nice and wide. The queues at the checkout are a bit on the long side, but I can afford the odd minute staring about.

It's about knowing your place. Scummy little shits like us aren't allowed in places like Waitrose. Better off people (ie proper human beings) have a choice but have to make sure they're not contaminated by our filth. Can't have their day spoilt by a reminder that those of us who have no right to exist do actually exist.

Shop at Fortnum and Mason's? I'd bankrupt myself just getting there.

I do 95% of my shopping at Aldi... I think its great, can't understand why people think it is not good quality. I do my main shop there (where my son works part-time) rather than Tesco where my DH works (full-time) and has 10% discount,because it is so much cheaper.

Most of the teachers and TA's I work with shop there, too. The rest of my shopping is done at Morrisons (meat, mostly) and Tesco for odds and ends and clothing.

All three stores are within a 5 minute drive (Morrisons a 5 minute walk away!) There is no Sainsbury's within 20 miles of us, or Asda, which I can't stand anyway. HATE Asda.

Waitrose is horribly overrated, I visited one once and was unimpressed to say the least. Most of their products are pretentious shit aimed at people who read the Daily Mail and vote Tory( well, if other posters can make sweeping generalisations about those who shop at the other supermarkets..)

I dislike my local ASDA because its always busy and over crowded, nothing to do with the products or people who shop here. My favourite is Morrisons, but I also like Iceland, Lidl and Aldi. I've even been known to shop in whispers Farmfoods!

I think Waitrose has gone downhill. There is more prepacked stuff in the aisles, and not so much on the counters selling fresh produce.

They have had to compete and fewer people cook 'proper' meals from scratch now.