I don’t understand Waitrose.

[JensonsAcolyte]

I just went to the big Waitrose because they stock gochujang paste. I thought I may as well get a few bits, chicken, cereal, crisps, pasta etc. All the sort of stuff that isn’t dinners but filler food.

£90!

For four bags of shopping.

And it didn’t feel special or posh or magical or anything.

Why do people shop there? Is it actually a snobbery thing? We have a Sainsburys, Tesco and Lidl within a mile or so radius as well.

The only thing it had going for it for me was the aforementioned chilli paste that I couldn’t get in Tesco. But other than the Ingredients range, the other ranges they offer aren’t very wide.

Will anyone admit that they shop there out of snobbery/classism?

@Scrfgkesjwjrf

I have tried them all and would not feed my DC veg from Sainsbury’s or Tesco unless it is a last resort. Never been to Lidl and don’t plan to. Basically, the cheaper it is, the poorer to quality because they still need to make a profit.

Oh, come on, you're being ridiculous. Lidl is cheaper for several reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of the food (plainer stores, fewer staff, cheaper areas, simpler ranges, far less non food).

Many items are exactly the same and are grown in the same fields and packaged on the same lines. Some are exactly the same, I've visited dozens of food factories and seen this multiple times.

There's a posh Italian supermarket in my area that does lovely prepared foods and has one of the best bakeries in the area. The meats are also absolutely top end and they have butchers who will custom cut meat and roasts while you wait.

So I go there about once a month for the things that they do best and do my regular shop at the warehouse club or normal supermarket.

Groceries have gone up in price in the US too as a result of covid, particularly meats.

£7 for some sliced chicken...surely if you were shocked you'd not buy it and pick something else?

I don't find Waitrose much more expensive than Morrisons which I also use. A few pence here or there, sometimes it's cheaper. I find the quality much better on fresh items and prefer the wider selection of food.

Morrisons have shrunk their range of items hugely since lockdown eg Can't get butternut squash at all, not even frozen. Weird

I worked at a Waitrose branch for four years. In a relatively small town with a large proportion of elderly customers. Not to toot my own horn too much but we would go above and beyond especially for our often-vulnerable regulars. We would check in with a customer who did not come in for their weekly shop a couple of weeks in a row. We had lots of widows who would come in to do a daily small shop (single serving Charlie Binghams) instead of a large weekly one so that they could have a little chat and not spend the entire day alone. Local carers would have unofficial time and days of the week that they would bring their charges so that they could be served and welcomed by the same person. I never understood the appeal either before I started there but there is a work culture in John Lewis/Waitrose of protecting our customers where appropriate and our branch had a lot of loyality because of that

We don’t have Waitrose.
I used to shop in Sainsbury’s as it was near my work but since resigning I go to Booths.

I go because I don’t meet anyone from my job.
It is probably a bit closer, it certainly is quicker and a much pleasanter journey.

The staff are very knowledgeable and helpful ( actually show you where a difficult to find item is) and don’t keep shopping coming when you can’t pack fast enough.
It is very safe. They still have someone wiping the trolleys and remind you politely to use the sanitizers.
They have moved some of the aisles as they had noticed an area where it was causing congestion and therefore changed it.
Fruit and veg is very fresh.
We don’t have to queue. Only had to once and it was marked out with a bit more than 2 metres.
Hardly anyone is in when we go. Often more staff as we don’t need to go at peak times.
I save money by not going very often, taking a list and using the bargain bit which items are often in date and I can freeze. Good mark down.

We go to the butchers for most of our meat and we get a veg box but sometimes I want to make something with more unusual veg.

It is more expensive but not always. Almond milk was on offer for £1.25 whereas the cheapest I have seen it elsewhere it was £1.50.
At the moment it suits us. I use a village co op in between.

JudgeJ I think it might have been you yes they still have the tea.

Years ago I used to do my weekly shop in Waitrose as it was no more than Asda's bill if I stuck to my list. I only stopped going as the drive got annoying. These days my main shop is done at Asda as it is my nearest supermarket but I also buy a fair bit from Sainsbury's and some stuff at M & S.

Haha yes from Gousto! The kids went mad for the Korean chicken

Gousto sent me a really tempting offer last week - 2 meals for 2 people for £10 or something but when I looked, all the delicious looking Korean specials had sold out .

I was forced to do a Waitrose shop last week as had forgotten it was a Bank Holiday weekend. I was surprised at how cheap it was. However, the difference in quality between there and our usual independent suppliers was vast. I certainly won't be shopping there again any time soon.

I do an online shop there. Buy mostly from the essentials range and offers. Avoid the really fancy stuff mostly except as a treat. Tend to spend £50 to £100 pw compared to my previous shop in person of minimum £140 Aldi Sainsbury's mixed.

There's always been a lot of food in Aldi I don't rate. I eat the Aldi meat and fruit but not the veg. So veg and brands I can't substitute with Aldi ones (coffee, cereal) I'd get from Sainsbury's.

I dont rate Waitrose veg over Sainsbury's. I love Sainsbury's. Sadly I found the online shopping not good from Sainsbury's. Very sad tired old veg. Waitrose is better for online shopping. Sensible substitutions and reasonable dates on food.

Since shopping at Waitrose I have been impressed with the quality and flavour of the food. If never want to do my big shop at Sainsbury's as it was so expensive and meat not great quality. I am finding Waitrose worth the extra money for nicer tasting meat and fish.

So no it's not snobbish of me. It's just I like tasty food and dont want to go in person as I spend too much.

@blobblob

We can't comment because we don't know what you bought. £90 might be reasonable. I shop there because:

• they treat their staff better
• they treat their suppliers better
• their food is generally much better quality - and I don't want to eat rubbish, cheap food
• they support charities that I support
• their staff are properly trained and pleasant and polite

I have done cheaper shops before and I feel hard done by because the food's not as nice or I know the supplier's been screwed over or the chickens have lived miserable lives etc etc

You think people shop there for snobbish reasons. Really - why on earth would they?? I'm sick of people moaning and virtue signalling about what they think should happen but supporting businesses that make it less likely.

Very well said, it's very much values v value for me

@roseinthedark

That's a lovely post, makes me feel warm and fizzy inside.

I was just about to post asking if you got Gousto

I thought we were missing ours on last weeks, DD said she could go to Waitrose but I said I didn’t think they’d have it, so good to know!

I use Waitrose as they are the 2 closest supermarkets to me. Essentials range is good - I used a supermarket comparison website once, and a weekly shop really wasn’t much difference across the board.

I only go in occasionally for “nice treats” same as Booths which I adore. I like to see things a little bit different but I wouldn’t buy my Whiskas and toilet roll from there.

They treat their suppliers much better.

If food cost in the shop what it should we'd all be paying Waitrose prices.

I shop there because

• it's one of the more ethical supermarkets
• it's smaller than all the other local supermarkets, so I can do my whole shop in a shorter amount of time
• I loathe supermarkets that are the size of aircraft hangars
• The lighting doesn't give me a headache
• The staff go above and beyond
• it's clean (unlike our local Lidl)
• They sell everything I want/need. When I go to other supermarkets (particularly Lidl) there's always something that isn't in stock and it's usually something really basic like eggs
• I don't think it's any more expensive if you stick to the basics of meat, veg, fruit, dried goods etc. Just try not to have your head turned by the more artisanal stuff.

I honestly find Tesco just as expensive these days

I’ve always used Waitrose as my store cupboard shop. Easier to get a slot, order mostly the essentials range, Ecover/eco period stuff/eco kitchen stuff as they have a better range than elsewhere and then the fancy ingredients I can’t get elsewhere.

The rest of my food comes via a local meat and veg box place.

I’ll dip into other stores too when I need to get something specific.

Eg Oats from lidl as they’re paper wrapped, olive oil in glass as it’s cheaper there too and their bakery is better than Tesco and they never question my clear Tupperware for the rolls/bakery treats.

Local zero waste shop for other stuff. Tesco for the deli counter as they fill my own tubs for cheese and cooked meats.

I don’t shop for snobbery. It’s mostly eco values I look for an an aim to be zero waste.

Many items are exactly the same and are grown in the same fields and packaged on the same lines. Some are exactly the same, I've visited dozens of food factories and seen this multiple times.

I used to work as QC in a food factory which served different supermarkets and M&S ingredients used to be kept separate from the other stuff as it came from different suppliers and was a better quality, it was never processed with other supermarkets food and their QC used to come and inspect regularly.

I wouldn’t buy my Whiskas and toilet roll from there.

Why not? They price match with Tesco on branded goods.

Waitrose is my local small-ish supermarket and much less cluttered and better stocked than the local mini-Sainsburies. I get a weekly Tesco order and top up with naice things from Waitrose.

Sheer laziness tbh.

Well there you go. Now you know why other people shop there. If I'm in Waitrose for something special I can't be arsed to go round Sainsbury's as well.

For some reason the first thing that caught my eye on your list was the 700g of Nutella . Waitrose used to sell the 500g jars of Marmite, now they're gone and Nutella are in its place!

@CounsellorTroi

I do a Waitrose shop once a month or so. I find the self checkout way better than other stores. They have tables in between the machines that you can put stuff on like your bag or purse without upsetting the machine.

Yes that's a brilliant aspect of Waitrose shopping.

If you do Self Scan (QuickCheck) there's never a surprise at the till.

Yes, no 'Unexpected item in the Bagging Area' bellowing at you at Waitrose.

I don't find Waitrose more expensive than Sainsburys but it is a more enjoyable shopping experience in my opinion.
Quality is a lot better than Tesco. I find Tesco's fruit and veg pretty rubbish.

It's not the cheapest but for a lot of things the quality is better and their supplier treatment and animal welfare standards are superier.

We do a mix of them and Sainbury's as that's much closer for us.

I find Tesco really grim and grotty, especially the meat, and Asda seems to be mostly stocked with miles of aisles of processed crap. Difficult to get organic stuff in Morrisons.