To wonder why people do "top-up" shops

[RedSkyAtNight]

Just as the title says really. I've read a few threads where people either mention a fortune doing a top-up shop or mention doing a top-up shop as a job that needs doing in the week.

We shop once a week and buy enough food for the week. We then don't buy any more food until the following week. Other than folks who have very little storage (or possibly very large families?) I can't really understand the need to do a top-up shop. I mean obviously if you want to go and get something different to what you have in, that's fine. But why do it if you see it as a chore?

So yes, YABVU

Saucy,

"I walk past the local Co-op up to TWELVE fricking times a day on some days. Popping in for some pasta or cheese just only adds to the pant-wetting joy of my suburban SAHM life."

I imagine your eyerolling game to be strong?

It's the modern equivalent of having a milk man deliver. Is that ok in your books?

For fresh fruit/veg. That doesn't last for a week in the fridge!
For milk.
For anything I've forgotten...

haha to people saying they want fresh fruit and veg that has sat in storage for the best part of a year before reaching the supermarket.

But I agree freezing bread is gross.

I also agree top ups don't have to be every week, just when you have forgotten something. Sometimes I shop on Saturday neither sainsburys nor Tesco do my bread and I either have to go to Waitrose or morrisons (the only seller of it) on another day to get it. All my household loves the bread so it's something I have to do. Can't afford to do a whole shop in Waitrose unfortunately.

SaucyJack 🤣🤣

mydogisthebest you do realise that not everyone has the freezer space for bread and milk right? In fact (shock horror) some people may not be able to afford a freezer at all.

I don't do top up shops more I shop several times a week because,
I'm bad at meal planning it's too hard to think on a Monday about what the six of will want to eat on a Sunday week in week out,
I can't drive although I online shop for a lot of regular items I prefer to choose my own meat and fresh items I can't carry a weeks worth home so buy as I need it.
I like to buy different things from different places.

Buck3t what are you on about? How the hell can fresh fruit sit in storage for a year??

What dont you understand about people wanting fresh food rather than week old ?

We use a loaf of bread every day for lunches, and about 10 pints of milk a week. we're lucky I guess that our local shop doesn't stock much for us to buy as a treat or afterthought, so it doesn't necessarily cost much extra.
Weird OP though: do you have small family or not eat much fruit? The peaches are so delicious at the moment that the DCs can eat a punnet in a day, and blueberries and grapes for lunches a=only last a few days, even in the fridge.

Because not all of us have gigantic fridges/freezers/larders to store food
Milk doesn't last a week, and I don't have enough room in my fridge to store a week's worth
We sometimes change our minds about what we want to eat
Bread is only nice when it is fresh
Sometimes the unexpected happens

What's not to understand?

What a bloody odd thread. FWIW, I can't imagine doing one shop a week, though I am perfectly willing to accept that other people in other circumstances with other food preferences do!

However, I can't imagine e.g. a Friday morning at school drop-off when another mum asks if I can be on standby to pick up her three DC from school and possibly give them dinner, as her dad has just been admitted to hospital and she's got a five-hour round trip to go and see him - and I say "sorry, no, I did the big shop last Saturday and I don't do top-up shops". Seriously?!

I shop as and when we need food. Sometimes I buy 5 days' worth of fresh and 2 months' worth of longlife/non-perishables, sometimes it's just for that evening. Why is that so hard to understand?

Our nearest supermarket is 10 miles away too. I do my top-up shops at the independent grocer, butcher, bakery, vintner etc.

Things like apples, carrots, potatoes, onions and probably other things could well have been in storage for months before they reach the supermarket.

Lettuce and strawberries less so, but I left some salad in the fridge before we went on holiday and it was still fine 10 days later when we returned. There are some potatoes, a pepper and onions in there now that have been at least a month and are all fine along with a cauliflower thats been there about 10 days and is still not brown.

But I still shop more often than weekly, because as explained above, weekly isn't the best or cheapest way in a lot of cases. I would argue that the weekly shop is a construct by supermarkets because it makes people more predictable and also that they buy more, pay more and waste more if they shop weekly, rather than more often.

wombling I know apples and many potatoes are usually around 6-9 months old before they even get to the shelves.

I buy the filtered milk which lasts for ages, but will always need to top up on stuff like bread, lettuce and some fresh veg that isn't very nice when it's been in the fridge for four or five days. I guess if I planned better I could eat all the veg that might wilt in the beginning of the week but I find it simpler to buy the bulk at the weekend and a smaller shop for fresh stuff midweek.

For fresh fruit/veg. That doesn't last for a week in the fridge!

Yes it does.

I don't really get it either OP, but each to their own...!

What dont you understand about people wanting fresh food rather than week old ?

So how old is it already when it's in the shop? It isn't 'new' because you bought it today, it may be 'older' than what I had delivered on Monday

The only reason I top up shop is if I forget something or run out of something at the end of the week (often milk).

But I agree freezing bread is gross. Why? it tastes exactly the same if you defrost it correctly. For toast it just goes straight from freezer to toaster.

But I agree freezing bread is gross.

LMAO

We don't often do top up shops but it tends to be things like bread, milk, eggs, fruit. Sometimes they just unexpectedly go off, or perhaps people had extra snacks. Our children do mainly eat at their childminder's though so when that stops we may find we need more top ups. We have a big fridge and freezer but still sometimes run out of space!

We do, we have spinach every evening in the summer with our salad, and if we bought enough to last the week it would go over... no matter where we buy it from our fridge seems to destroy it a couple of days after being open, same with things like strawberries, we just have a not so great fridge

KeiraKnightleyActsWithHerTeeth oh ok, I get it now. I wouldn't buy those every week anyway because they last ages in the house. By fresh fruit and veg I had in my mind stuff like lettuce or strawberries that I would have to buy in the week as they go off or get eaten and need relplacing.

wombling www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2003/jul/13/foodanddrink.features18

There was a documentary about how long food is stored before getting to our shelves a few years back. I remember watching it in my old house so more than six years ago. Fresh food is very rarely 'fresh'.

hth for clarification

Yeah sorry, cross-posted. I was seeing fresh stuff as things like soft fruits or salad, not root veg and hard fruit.

Milk and meat mainly.

I don't buy anything unnecessary - ie if I've done week shops it all gets eaten.

But need some fresh foods. Meat doesn't last long in my fridge