Couple outraged they are paying more in Waitrose than Aldi

[Spitsandspots]

Couple are either outraged, upset or disappointed -depending on which link you read -but do people generally not know that food suppliers/processors/factories make the same food for different supermarkets?

www.independent.co.uk/life-style/christmas/food-drink/aldi-waitrose-label-same-ocado-vegetables-a9208836.html

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7694571/Outraged-couple-Aldi-stickers-covering-Waitrose-Mediterranean-roast-vegetables.html

YABU-I did not know this
YANBU-I already knew this

So what we are essentially saying is that the Waitrose med veg were cut a bit neater than the Aldi ones.

With some stuff the ingredients are different.
And some things are better in Waitrose/M&S. One example is samosas. Aldi’s ones are tasteless. Waitrose are much better.

They should be embarrassed that they are even buying this product in a foil and plastic container, when all they need to do is buy a loose red onion, a bell pepper and a courgette, chop them up and bung them in the oven with a little oil and vinegar on them.

My husband used to be a supervisor in a cheese and butter making factory. They supplied cheese to Lidl, Tesco and M&S as well as others. However, the cheese was different quality, with M&S getting the better product.

They also supplied butter to these companies and in this case there was no difference in the product. It all came from the same butter machine, but was put in the package for the respective customer. If you check the codes in the oval, this tells you where the product was made. You can find exactly the same butter, side by side, but different brands and different prices.

It’s not surprising - economies of scale. But it is disappointing that Waitrose don’t offer better quality ready meals etc.

They offer highr prices tho;!!!

More fool then!

My sister used to work in a business that made quilted jackets for M&S. When the M&S person checked them a few were rejected.
Bellmans used to sell a range of clothing called St Margaret. I always understood them to be M&S rejects; but I may be wrong.

OH decanted the cheap whisky into a branded bottle and the friend never realised, he complimented us about it.

My dad just dumped his Aldi/Lidl spirits into decanters that he had and I now do the same thing with the very same decanters! 😁

I cant imagine anyone doesnt know this. As a teenager my best friend worked in a chicken factory..the same belt..one side marks, one lidl..next day one side tesco, one sainsburys. Never morrisons for some reason. Just different packages although they were told to make the marks chicken look nicer.

Yanbu - Aldi for us!

londonrach

That’s a lie

My mother worked in a shirt factory and the exact same shirts went to Woolworth's and Harrod's, in those days, just different labels and obviously different prices

I shop at Waitrose as it's peaceful and quiet in the day time and also has much wider aisles. I think they're entitled to charge a premium for this and always think it's sad people are so entitled they don't realise the extra lengths waitrose go to within their stores does actually cost something. They always look clean and smart. They clean their checkout belts all the time. There's normally someone helpful around. This is all something I and many others are willing to pay for and understand that's not for everyone but don't go moaning the same product is in a different store cheaper. That store probably doesn't offer you the non monetary premiums waitrose does, and can't have come as that much of a shock that waitrose is more expensive surely.

I also love Aldi's but have to beef up the arm muscles to be able to whack the shopping in my bags quick enough! Oh and that bloody pound coin for the trolley. Does my head I'm forgetting that or trying to disturb one of their worker bees to get a token.

@christmasbow

“Worker bees”? Really?

———————

Back in the day I used to be the company accountant for one of the leading popcorn and nuts suppliers in the UK. We literally used to supply everybody from Fortnum & Mason, Harrod’s, every one of the supermarket chains and all of the cinemas.

It was basically all the same stuff, just in different packaging,

It really was.

Yes really I mean I think aldi treat them as such not I think of them that way

Some stuff is exactly the same with a different sticker. Fruit and veg often from the same farms but better ones to better supermarkets. Some stuff made in the same factory but different ingredients or process.

None of it really matters just buy whichever ones you like better!

I used to work on farms sometimes and I’m sure that the better vegetables went to the poster shops. Not always, but we had to make sure the quality was different for different places. Sometimes it was just superficial though, what they looked like.

Although I do think M&S chicken tastes nicer!

Poster = posher... oops

Interesting about the butter ID - will check that out @Cuteypye - thanks!

Thats right, the EXACT same food goes to different supermarkets. The cost depends on the packaging quality and the amount of different colours and the depth of those colours.

I can confirm that this is true - a friend of mine worked for an M&S supplier - if the spec was 8 stitches to an inch, and the randomly selected item had 8 and 1/2 - the entire batch was rejected. That is how M&S used to have a reputation for quality, and how you could rely on the sizes.

There used to me an M and S factory in my town with a fantastic factory seconds shop attached. I bought so many kids clothes out of there for a fraction of the price, they tried to cut the label out but you could always tell what brand it was.

It isn't all the same. Plenty is, absolutely, but plenty more may be processed in the same place, but to different standards, as others have noted. Waitrose weren't caught up in the horsemeat scandal, despite buying from the same places, because their meat was separately processed, from separate supply chains, and the machines cleaned between use for them and for other supermarkets - and they sell fruit and veg that is better stored and so it is riper than some places, but not as quick to rot. Some things are clearly identical, sure, but enough isn't that it's worth it to us.

We buy things like dishwasher tablets, Heinz ketchup (DS can't eat any other sort) etc from Lidl, but fresh food from Waitrose or Ocado. The quality is noticeably different IMO, and we do try it every few months, just to see. Processed food, or cleaning basics, and Lidl is fine. Fresh, and we find the gap in quality not worth the saving. We also buy bulk things from Costco, where quality is also brilliant for fresh fruit and veg, and they also store and keep really well. Their tinfoil is great - but we recently learned that they chop down virgin arboreal forests to make their loo rolls, and it's an environmentally catastrophic option, so we've turned to Who Gives A Crap for those.

We also get milk delivered in glass bottles now, because the single biggest contributor to our plastics bin was from milk. They collect the empties, sterilise and reuse. That costs more but we can swallow the difference, which I appreciate isn't everyone's position.

I think it's about balancing what's worth it to you and what isn't. As well as what you can afford, obviously. It's hard because I know a lot of our choices aren't as environmentally friendly as I would prefer, but we can't afford to be wholly virtuous so we have to just try where we can.

Waitrose is also a worker's co-op. They treat their staff well. Lots of other places very much do not. So there's that, too.

@HopeItComesWithBatteries nuts and popcorn are the same, I absolutely agree.

Incidentally, a small family business in Hove make all Fortnum and Mason's own brand chocolates for them, and they sell direct to the public for a third of the price. They make the fancy Easter eggs F&M sell, with all the sugar flowers and insects on them (bees and ladybirds etc) and if you call them direct in advance, you can get the same eggs F&M sell for literally 1/3 of the price, and they will make them just for you. So the flowers and decorations you choose personally. They're called Audreys. The website isn't fancy at all, and you won't have the famous eau de nil and gilt packaging, but really, who cares? The actual product is identical.

Waitrose also had people on zero contracts not so long back ...

I was just thinking about this recently! The difference between places like Lidl and places like Sainsburys or Waitrose. At Lidl there aren't public toilets, aren't many staff to help you, very small selection of products to choose between. The big older shops are geared more towards convenience for all types of shoppers but especially the elderly who like to have a chat and pack a bit slower, and might need help with packing, and also families where a changing table for babies comes in very handy as do parent and child spaces. Our Lidl only has 2 disabled parking spaces, compared to the large amounts in Tesco, Morrisons, Waitrose.

So it isn't very surprising at all that even if they share suppliers, the big supermarkets still need to charge more than Lidl and Aldi as they have so many more staff and more facilities to keep up.