Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

£3.25 for a pack of McVities choc digestives??

104 replies

Lilifer · 11/04/2023 16:18

In my local Co op just now, reached for a pack of mcvities chocolate digestives only to promptly put it back when I saw the price, £3.25???!! Aibu to think this is completely bonkers? I know price of everything has gone up but I don't think I've ever paid more than £1.50 for a pack of these biscuits, this is taking the piss. Also why is Co op so much more expensive than other supermarkets for everything ? It's the only supermarket in my small town so I am stuck with it but it's crazy for pricing.

OP posts:
KnittingNeedles · 11/04/2023 21:55

So don't buy them.

Changeau · 11/04/2023 21:57

A large bag of posh crisps was 3.20 in my local Co op. I was gobsmacked.

flutterbyebaby · 11/04/2023 21:57

KnittingNeedles · 11/04/2023 21:55

So don't buy them.

Ooh, controversial 😁😁😁

Murdoch1949 · 12/04/2023 00:58

£2 at Waitrose and on Ocado

Ktime · 12/04/2023 01:09

I know of 3 Co-Ops in a 5 mile vicinity and I give them all the side eye.

I'm sorry there is no other choice in your area.

MrsClatterbuck · 12/04/2023 01:17

My dp loves digestives and I used to buy McVities but now get the ones at M&S which cost 80p. I noticed in our local Spar that McVities are now reduced from 400g per packet to 360g. Marks are still 400g for the moment. Plus they were £2.67 for 2 packets. Tesco charges £2.30 for the double packet and £1.30 for a single. The M&S ones are just as good and taste just the same. It really does pay to look at things closely.

Loria · 12/04/2023 01:34

Frabbits · 11/04/2023 16:26

"It's the only supermarket in my small town so I am stuck with it but it's crazy for pricing"

Well this is just basic economics, isn't it.

If you are the only supplier of something within a given distance then you can charge more than if there was competition.

Your choice as a consumer is whether you want to pay for the convenience of getting your biscuits from your local shop or if you want to pay for fuel and spend more time travelling to a bigger supermarket to get the item cheaper.

Hrm that's not really the whole picture though is it.

There are lots of things that determine the price of food, the majority of which have nothing to do with some mystical supply-demand perfect ratio. Which doesn't exist btw.

Eg what trading clout your country has. That has a lot to do with how much your biscuits cost. The agreements they've set up with other countries. Again this has a massive impact. Brexit, anyone? Then there's things like speculative trading and market investment. Well we've had a number done on us with that starting from the point in 2008 when we began to print currency and continuing till now. All of that takes us up to the actual supply/demand point which is now wobbly to the point of distortion and so you have the situation where a woman on a talkboard bemoans the price of biscuits and is told that it's her fault for living where she lives. Just as people living in staple food scarce countries are told it's because they live where they live and it's all down to almighty market forces that seemingly operate outside the whim of power/money.

madamepresident · 12/04/2023 02:20

I can get a large double pack of plain mcvities digestives for less than what here in Malaysia and that's taken into account that they're imported !! Madness

Casilero · 12/04/2023 02:25

InTheFutilityRoomEatingBiscuits · 11/04/2023 16:25

They are more expensive because they are the only supermarkets in small towns with all the attendant issues with more expensive suppliers and longer, more difficult delivery routes, more issues with staffing and staff retention, and usually long opening hours.

Big supermarkets do not set up in tiny villages for obvious reasons and so there is far less economy of scale.

You pay more if you want a freshly baked croissant at 7am in the arse end of the backroads of the west coast of Cumbria than if you want the same thing in central Manchester. For example.

What a load of bollocks. So why is my local co-op which is literally opposite my local tesco double the price?

MissGroves · 12/04/2023 02:30

Not biscuits but Asda own brand strawberry mousse pots - about a quid in January has now gone up to £1.60 - everything is just stupidly priced now.

ThinWomansBrain · 12/04/2023 02:30

I prefer Waitrose own brand - but they've increased from 90p to £1.20 over about 3 months.
I generally find co-op expensive other than their special offers and lunch time meal deal.
The freezer deal is good - although I did end up with some odd alphabet shaped potato shapes the other day.

dadadeedadada · 12/04/2023 14:00

@Ilikewinter I hear you about the mr Kipling's. I was looking at the French fancies yesterday. £3.20. Don't think so. They are simply not that good anymore and certainly not worth £3.20.
Op, try own brands for biscuits, they taste the same, I got some of Tesco's the other day for 80p. Let's face it, they probably roll down the same conveyor belt as the mcvities.

Comedycook · 12/04/2023 14:06

I find co-op shockingly expensive and bizarrely are so often located in poor areas. I popped into one to grab something for dinner as it was next to where my ds did an after school activity. I was aghast at the prices... easily on a par with m and s or Waitrose yet no where near as nice

Devoutspoken · 12/04/2023 14:11

It depends how much you like chocolate covered biscuits. They're not very good for you so maybe it's a good thing

GrannyWeatherwaxsHatpin · 12/04/2023 14:37

Co-Op are vastly over-priced and trade on there not being much competition nearby. The one I can go to at work is so expensive it's cheaper to get in the car and drive to the nearest big supermarket. And they've removed their 10% student discount (unless you also have a Membership card). I get that times are tough for everyone but for a company that prides itself on its "ethical" credentials, the price gouging is a bit hard to stomach.

On top of that, it seems to be the brands that are hiking their prices the most. I absolutely wouldn't be paying £3+ for chocolate digestives when even the Waitrose own-brand ones are about a third that price. Who on earth is buying brands nowadays when they're so expensive?

Frabbits · 12/04/2023 14:45

Loria · 12/04/2023 01:34

Hrm that's not really the whole picture though is it.

There are lots of things that determine the price of food, the majority of which have nothing to do with some mystical supply-demand perfect ratio. Which doesn't exist btw.

Eg what trading clout your country has. That has a lot to do with how much your biscuits cost. The agreements they've set up with other countries. Again this has a massive impact. Brexit, anyone? Then there's things like speculative trading and market investment. Well we've had a number done on us with that starting from the point in 2008 when we began to print currency and continuing till now. All of that takes us up to the actual supply/demand point which is now wobbly to the point of distortion and so you have the situation where a woman on a talkboard bemoans the price of biscuits and is told that it's her fault for living where she lives. Just as people living in staple food scarce countries are told it's because they live where they live and it's all down to almighty market forces that seemingly operate outside the whim of power/money.

Show quote history

I didn't say it was "the whole picture".

I was merely pointing out that if you live in a village with one small supermarket you will usually pay more for a given product than in the next town over which has 3 large supermarkets.

girlfriend44 · 12/04/2023 15:45

The Co op is generally dear. They have cereals for £4.

MadisonAvenue · 12/04/2023 16:22

girlfriend44 · 12/04/2023 15:45

The Co op is generally dear. They have cereals for £4.

So do Tesco!
I was doing our order last week and searched for their own brand version of Shreddies, they didn’t have them but a 1kg box of Nestle Shreddies (the only size they had listed) was £4.50.

I went to Aldi instead and got a 625g box for 75p.

Ffsmakeitstop · 12/04/2023 16:25

InTheFutilityRoomEatingBiscuits · 11/04/2023 16:25

They are more expensive because they are the only supermarkets in small towns with all the attendant issues with more expensive suppliers and longer, more difficult delivery routes, more issues with staffing and staff retention, and usually long opening hours.

Big supermarkets do not set up in tiny villages for obvious reasons and so there is far less economy of scale.

You pay more if you want a freshly baked croissant at 7am in the arse end of the backroads of the west coast of Cumbria than if you want the same thing in central Manchester. For example.

Precisely this. Also the quality of the meat is superior to Asda, Morrisons etc.

DowntownKingston · 12/04/2023 16:29

Tesco & Lidl do a 300g packet for 65p. Lidl Chocolate Oaties are 85p, you’ll never want for another biscuit after trying them :-)’’

BCBird · 12/04/2023 16:31

It getting absolutely ridiculous.

FormerlyPathologicallyHappy · 12/04/2023 16:45

Thing is I now take it as a bad sign if I see them popping up, I went back to Sutton Coldfield/Mere Green after Christmas and there was loads of them plus a Lidl & Waitrose had shut down.

So basically it’s going down the shitter.

Original poster
Lilifer · 12/04/2023 17:34

Devoutspoken · 12/04/2023 14:11

It depends how much you like chocolate covered biscuits. They're not very good for you so maybe it's a good thing

Would u like some help with taking that poker out of your arse? 🙂

OP posts:
Original poster
Lilifer · 12/04/2023 17:35

DowntownKingston · 12/04/2023 16:29

Tesco & Lidl do a 300g packet for 65p. Lidl Chocolate Oaties are 85p, you’ll never want for another biscuit after trying them :-)’’

Thanks! I will check those out 😀🙌🏻

OP posts:
Poppyblush · 15/04/2023 07:41

Tesco brand digestives are awful, don’t bother.