Supermarket shop really expensive all of a sudden

[Lockdownhair]

I have a very good husband who normally queues for the supermarket shop so I admit I have not really realised how expensive it has all become. Today I did it for the first time in weeks, in Morrisons & Sainsburys, and have certainly woke up & smelt the coffee! Is it just me or are they taking advantage of the situation? My supermarket shop seemed so expensive today. Even the Co op has become as dear as Waitrose for some things. Once this is all over & greedy consumerism returns they're going to have to become a bit more competitive with each other. There doesn't seem to be a shortage of most things like I imagined there to be, so why the big hike when a lot of people are going to be struggling financially? I meal plan & don't waste food. Is anyone managing to keep their supermarket shop reasonable?

I think @MrSheenandMe has it

Prices have jumped up across the board since lockdown. Supermarkets have had, literally, captive buyers with eye wateringly massive shops when you can order. Scarcity of supply and access has dramatically tilted in favour of the supermarkets to ensure certainty of food supply to the doorstep. I would hope some surplus go towards the staff for remaining in the frontline. However, I am a little sceptical that this week when more slots have become available with ocado/waitrose and sainsburys, specials and promos have come back, maybe coincidence.

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Couldn't find dishwasher tablets under £13 on Friday

This is where aldi and lidl really shine. Most things are well priced and good quality - they usually sell named brand or shop finest level quality for value to standard own brand pricing.

I never pay more than 10 pence per tablet for all in one dishwasher tablets and either get them on offer, from Costco or aldi or lidl. I especially like the lidl ones as they come in a dissolvable wrapper.

On the odd occasion I look at branded equivalents in bigger supermarkets I'm horrified, who on earth pays up to 30 pence per tablet? But tesco has always been really expensive unless you buy what's on offer. But take the offers away and you've basically got Asda quality at Waitrose prices.

France's NMW is lower than the UK's, and unemployment is higher: even more people there struggle to make ends meet. Grow your own vegetables. Utility bills are higher, taxes are much higher, especially local taxes. But equally true, property prices are lower.

My shop hasn’t really changed in price overall as dh is eating less because he’s not exercising as much. There are certain products I do only try to buy on offer...

Iirc, Tescos said the corona virus would increase their costs by £1 billion, what with extra staff training, more cleaning, social distancing, getting more vans for deliveries, etc.

I have also heard that Sainsbury's had to pay their staff bonuses to get them to work - otherwise they were going to work for 20% of their wages, when they knew furloughed staff were getting 80% anyway; and to put up with the abuse from customers and risk of getting the virus themselves!

Supermarkets are going to recoup those costs by putting up prices!

price comparison

£1 price difference between Tesco and Aldi in this survey.

If you shop carefully in Tesco, there’s not much difference, plus you get Tesco clubcard points.

Shopping has increased due to no offers, plus shortages meaning you buy branded goods. Also, sending dh shopping costs more as more treats are purchased!

We normally have 1 takeaway a week which we aren't getting now so ours is up slightly too

I'm not sure the supermarkets are taking advantage. Their costs have risen, and they need to pass the increased cost through to you. DH had a customer last week complain that we hadn't held a quote a year old quote and had to point out that the item came from a $ economy, so the exchange rate had worsened significantly in 12 months. Prices change daily in business.

Most "special offers" in a supermarket are funded by the suppliers of those products - not the supermarket themselves. If you are not seeing as many BOGOFs or multi buys then it is because the big suppliers are not funding them.

Supermarkets "sell" the occupation of certain shelf positions in their shops - the end aisles are considered premium, as are the shelves at eye level. That is where you will find the branded and premium product ranges - the cheaper ranges and own brand will be on the lower shelves.

You can't ask businesses to insulate consumers from real life price fluctuations.

I have noticed that many offers have disappeared but where previously I would do a big shop and some intermediate trips I am now just doing one shop per week and I wonder if it appears to be more expensive because I am now paying for it all in one go.

The warehouse from which we buy our fruit and veg has become more expensive but they were saying that the cost of things from overseas, eg Spanish oranges, has increased because of their own corona problems. .Certainly there are fewer multi-buy offers.

Couldn't find dishwasher tablets under £13 on Friday

Asda has Fairy ones on offer under tenner

I think they removed offers when the panic buying happened and they just haven’t returned.

I've noticed, Asda used to do 3 meat or fish for £10, they've stopped that now.

The offers are returning

I shop at Ocado and Morrisons online (same delivery depot). Oddly this week Ocados is cheaper for some basics and they have have restored multi-buys and increased the buying limits. Morrisons is still limited to 5 of any item with relatively few offers.

Is asda still doing offers as normal then?

Individual items are the same price but there are fewer special offers. For example I've been shopping at asda on and off for years and they've always had 3 for £10 on meat such as mince, pork chops, chicken breasts etc. Not anymore.

Aldi never have offers like BOGOF or multi buys. My shopping in there is more or less the same price as it always has been.

Iirc, Tescos said the corona virus would increase their costs by £1 billion, what with extra staff training, more cleaning, social distancing, getting more vans for deliveries, etc.

But on the other hand their sales are up (and were busier than xmas just before lockdown) and have been given business rates relief of nearly £600 million.

It depends where the sales lie - if it’s in categories with low profit margin? Discretionary spending is also likely to be down, as people want to get in and out of supermarkets ASAP? The earlier increased stocking up by shoppers may lead to destocking later - especially if furlough is only postponing redundancies?

Ours has gone up by about 25%.

We are also buying more of things would normally only get occasionally - dishwasher tablets cost a fortune and now at home it is on more often

Yes, I noted this. I commented today on the amount of washing up liquid we are going through too - something I don't normally buy very often. Also things like showergel - my adult dc will often shower elsewhere during the week. Seems nothing, but starts to add up with about 10 - 15 extra showers a week over several weeks, and even toilet paper etc etc with 5 people at home all day, every day. Little things of course, but all the little things added together start to become noticeable. Plus things they would normall pick up themselves now get collected in the once a week supermarket shop (razors, deoderant, medicine or fist aid, mouthwash, toothepaste etc etc etc)

We are in the fortunate position now to have wiggle room and can absorb it, but I really feel for all those families who were just managing to balance their budgets before this.

I hate this argument that ‘food is too cheap’ here.

Food is only one expenditure that a household has. Housing is very expensive in this country. It’s been able to become expensive partly because food is relatively cheap. The cloth can only be cut so many ways.

We normally budget around 100 a week for a family of 4 - DH would have bought lunch at work 3-4x per week in subsidised canteen, I took packed lunch, DC (primary aged) a mix of packed lunch or hot dinners depending on what was on the menu. We generally had money left out of the 100 a week to put to other things - I shopped the best offers everywhere as I work part time so would pop to m&s one day on way home, tescos the next, lidl the next for any offers - plenty of yellow stickers etc. Now spending £130-140 a week easily - there are some definite luxuries in there eg wine we could cut back but feels like quite a bit more. I supposed is balanced to some extent by reduced fuel bills and no coffee shop type spending but still feels a lot. We buy mainly 'basics' level items where we can but I have noticed a lot of that brand level has disappeared.