Supermarkets are taking the pi$$

[ButterflyTable]

I can’t believe how expensive food is now especially in the likes of Sainsbury’s for the same product. Total P-take, e.g. Organic Milk Sainsbury’s £2 Aldi £1.79.

Why give us ‘nectar’ prices when they are inflated prices in the first place? £5.50 for a Pizza Express Margherita and £2.75 on Nectar. I think actually it’s the fakery with making us think we are getting a good deal that’s pissing me off.

I went to Aldi today (we don’t have one near us) as I was doing a drop off nearby and the price difference is huge!!

I’m sick of the tricks re labelling and having to constantly work everything out, the dual pricing for those with loyalty cards and in the case of Sainsbury the vast quantity of ridiculous coupons.

If you want to save us money cut prices. But they don’t they make us work for it and cause us to have to be constantly on the alert re not overpaying. If you go to Aldi what you see is what you get at a far lower price at checkout for a weekly shop.

I do a shop with Ocado every week or so for branded goods. Aldi for the rest, and tesco in an emergency.
The 'clubcard' price thing really annoys me irrationally as its just the normal price anyway.

I like Aldi as its cheap, quality is generally good on most things, and I can be in and out very quickly. I also like the challenge of packing my bags when at the till 🙃

@Sw33tR3d
Well I have been involved in blind taste tests and competitor shops, been in test kitchens literally taking apart product to see what's in there.

Anything that contains meat, poultry, fish, dairy and eggs (even as ingredients) is high welfare at Waitrose. Anything else with Waitrose on it, the farmers are paid fairly.

I don’t give a shit about what farmers are paid or high welfare. I have a budget to keep to and a mortgage to pay. My only concession to that is environmentally friendly cleaning products I try to limit and shops around for and free range eggs. I try not to eat too much meat.

I do my own taste testing,Waitrose essentials is definitely not superior and going by the packaging is clearly coming from the same factories as other supermarkets.

@Sw33tR3d

Which is fair enough. Price and remaining within a budget is your number one priority.

It annoys me that people often say they want farmers to be paid fairly and animals to have happy lives and then baulk at the prices in Waitrose which is essentially the price you should pay if you want those things.

Just on the 'same factory' comment - yes lots of retailers use the same factories, however, it doesn't mean that they use the same manufacturing line or the same ingredients

Some people prefer certain shops for various reasons

Some people think certain shops are cheaper for them. This might depend what products you buy.

Some people have slightly more money than others for their grocery budget.

Some people will prioritise higher welfare meat and fair prices paid to producers. Some will prefer organic and free range. Some will buy environmentally friendly products.

Some people will have dietary requirements and find a certain supermarket has a better range.

Some people will shop at the supermarket closest to them for convenience.

Some people will stay loyal to certain brands or a particular supermarket for various reasons and some will be happy to shop around.

At the end of the day, we will all only pay what we can afford, what we think a product is worth and we will prioritise the things that we personally like.

Most people will be prioritising budget as are not only wrestling with food bills but high mortgages and col hikes in everything. We shouldn’t be eating so much meat. It’s bad for the environment and animals. If people care so much they should cut meat consumption and go to their local farm shop.

Aside from that Waitrose charging insane amounts for the same products( branded or otherwise) is not something I wish to throw away money on. Customers need to be able to do a whole weekly shop and not be fleeced at the checkout.

@RainbowZebraWarrior
Yep lots of factors when choosing grocery retailers. These are the top factors
Location
Range
Price
Availability

Location usually stays top. The next 3 can change in order depending on your personal circumstances.

Maybe I should do a AMA on grocery retail

No. Sainsbury's is the same price. You must've looked at a different size pack.

@Pipsquiggle I really appreciate your posts here and the knowledge you are bringing. Thank you.

@Sw33tR3d
Genuinely I don't think any grocery retailer is fleecing their customers.

I would urge people to watch the select committee when they hauled in all the bosses to grill them over food inflation. They make £1 profit for every £100 spent in shops.

Retailers employ a lot of people, it's one of the biggest employers in the UK.

Food costs have gone up hugely and then with Brexit as well it's a cluster fuck.

Unfortunately, the COL / mortgage fiasco are impacting some groups more than others - it is not affecting everyone in society

@Pipsquiggle you should. I'd be interested. I know a little bit about shopping habits myself, having previously worked for Sainsbury's. I've also been a supermarket mystery shopper for the last 5 years. I find it all quite fascinating.

For what it's worth, I'm personally a Waitrose shopper. Mainly for the higher welfare standards. I've found things I really like there over the years, and stuck to them. I still manage to stay in budget, have it all delivered for £2 on a saver slot, get tailored money off vouchers every week, and a free magazine. The best bit, though is that they still substitute with higher value products, but don't charge the higher price. Their customer service has always been faultless, too. So all in all, I perceive my experience with them to be excellent.

Sainsbury's is a million times better than Aldi.

Can't get half the items we want in Aldi such as lentils, chickpeas, cumin seeds - lots of other things. Their fruit and veg is so awful I can't believe they have the cheek to sell it.

If you like ultra processed food and not much fresh food then Aldi is fine

Ok so I raise you 1 litre extra virgin olive oil

Aldi £5.99
Sainsbury £8.40😱

Aldi sell chickpeas. I buy 2/3 of my fruit/ veg there. Not potatoes, apples or oranges. Tomatoes are really lovely, and everything is fine to good . If I’m cooking I’m not bothered but eating fruit I want it to be really good. Soft fruit is fine. They don’t do individual lemons which is annoying.

I do the Aldi shop first and try to get as much as I can there. Then top up at Sainsbury. Getting less and less at Sainsbury.

That really isn't true for my local Aldi. The percentage of the store dedicated to fresh unprocessed produce is exactly the same as in the local Waitrose and the local Tesco - and it is a lot.

They sell lentils too but in weird places .

Yes not seen cumin seeds but don’t tend to consume high quantities of those. A pot lasts a looong time.

Mine do sell both chickpeas and lentils - but only one type of lentil and only tinned chickpeas. If you want dried chickpeas or a variety of lentils you have to go elsewhere. I also do my main shop at Aldi and then got the other stuff that I can't get there from Tesco, and tend to get meat from Waitrose once in a while and put it in the freezer.

I shop at:
Tesco
Sainsbury's
Aldi
Lidl
Waitrose
M&S

They all have something to offer. Things I notice:

Tesco is great for international food stuff
I buy chicken thighs a lot. The free range ones in Aldi are pretty good BUT they weight of the pack varies within a range but the price is the same so obviously I look for the heavier packs. Also soooo much water comes out of Aldi thighs compared to other shops.

I don't notice much difference in things like onions, garlic, peppers. All stores seems reasonable quality.

Shopping experience in all is fine except Tesco has huge queues.

Wine in Aldi and Lidl is more interesting.

Fruit I think is better in Waitrose and am happy to spend a bit extra cos I know it will be eaten.

Kerrys Fresh is my favourite.

Riverford, Abel & Cole are also good.

Have also used Gousto and Hello Fresh in the past but novelty wore off.

Prep Kitchen, Modern Persian Kitchen, AllPlants, Wonky Veg Boxes.

If I really have to use a supermarket I order from Morrisons via Amazon so no extra cost like Deliveroo, and it's still arriving within a few hours.

Our local Aldi doesn't sell lentils - I asked. I don't want tinned chickpeas as they work out far more expensive.

Me and DH are vegetarian so want to be able to buy chickpeas, red lentils, black lentils, green lentils, black beans (Aldi only do tins of black bean) and good quality veg. We use lots of cumin seeds and coriander seeds and they don't sell either of those.

Sainsbury's, Tesco, Waitrose and M&S sell all those things so we can do one shop in any of them.

Our Aldi and Lidl are full of ultra processed foods. Look at the long list of ingredients on so many of their items. Plus far too many of the products contain palm oil

Same suppliers but they’ll have different standards/quality/specifications written into the contracts. The supplier may also be sourcing from different farms which will feed into differing standards.

I’m still happy to spend on Waitrose. The food is good quality, flowers, fruit and vegetables stay fresh for ages, there is always a great selection and my local branch has a sushi bar for a lazy meal when I get home!

And Fiona Cairns chocolate birthday cupcakes are always my go to too for when I don’t have time to bake.

Interesting, thank you.
What surprised me were some of the examples of what they do:

A privacy campaign group found that Sainsbury's and Tesco sell customers' information to other companies including Sky, which creates targeted ads when watching their shows.

As it turned out, the shop knew she was pregnant before she did. It assigned customers a “pregnancy score”, based on certain shopping habits, such as buying vitamin supplements, and could even accurately predict somebody’s due date.

Admiral, the insurance firm, tried in 2016 to introduce a scheme which would have analysed young drivers’ Facebook data to determine how much to charge them. Short sentences, lists, and using set times and places to meet would all mark somebody as organised and in line for a cheaper quote. Exclamation marks and language like “always” counted against the first-time drivers.

The British supermarket industry runs on some of the tightest margins of any industry, anywhere in the world. The discounters have different business models hence they can offer even lower prices but there are downsides - less consistent stock, worse store experience etc.

Unfortunately the rises in prices we are seeing are not supermarkets fleecing us. Their margins have not gone up ie they are not making more money off us. Rather, their costs have gone up. And they can either pass those costs onto the end consumer, or go out of business.