To think M & S are taking the absolute p... with Dine in

[petitfromage]

Popped into M & S to buy the usual Dine in £12 for two. Lovely food and a great option that we use regularly.

It's now £15 for what is basically EXACTLY the same thing in slightly different packaging with Tom Kerridge's name on it. That's a 25% price increase. Are you kidding me M & S?? I don't seem to remember inflation suddenly jumping up overnight...

A few years ago it was £10 for 3 courses including a bottle of wine. Then they took the wine away. Then they increased it to £12 but no wine added back in. I felt £12 was a lot but the food quality was good... I just feel this is a complete p-take putting the food in different packaging with a celeb chef name on and thinking we will pay 25% more for the privilege. Well I didn't and I won't.

I presume a chunk of this has been paid to Tom Kerridge for his branding. I'm sorry but I'm not bank rolling your lifestyle.

Am I just being a stingy northerner or have M & S completely effed up one of the best things they did and will find that there is a barrier to how much we will spend on a ready meal we have to cook ourselves and they have just hit it??

Why is it that whenever anyone on MN complains about the cost of something they always have to point out that they “can afford it.” I can’t imagine feeling compelled to say that in real life, let alone to strangers on an anonymous forum. Are you that afraid that people will think you’re poor??

No the point I was making was that the target market for this is people that can afford to spend a bit more on food and treat nights but don’t want to pay the ridiculous takeaway prices all the time. If I couldn’t afford £30 for a takeaway I’m not likely to spend £15 on a supermarket meal, I’d be saving the money instead.

I’m pretty sure some people on here could do it with any thread. Your mother-in-law bothering you? She’s probably a TRA. Kid misbehaving? Must be because his school is letting kids use the pronouns they choose.

The thread title starts “m+s are taking the absolute piss…..”

this is another way they are taking the absolute piss.

Someone made the latter point on a thread today!! Apparently pronouns are the reason that there is an increased number of teens struggling to stay in education due to MH issues since Covid lockdowns..

It’s not about you.

The current £10 meal deal at the Co Op is going to be very short lived; I think they’re just trying to drum up new custom. I’ve been top-up shopping with them for years and they’re really bloody expensive - even the ‘deals’ - in comparison to the big, cheaper supermarkets. Some things are almost Waitrose pricing.

Out of the current meal deal the mushroom risotto and the beef pappardelle are delicious, as is the mash and the triple cooked chips. Both the rosé wine and the Rioja are really nice. Slightly peeved because I’ve been buying that particular rosé for about a year as it seemed nobody else liked it, and now it’s never in stock!

That TK £15 dine in seems a good deal. According to a link upthread you get starter, main, side and dessert? That’s really good value, I think. That said, I went into an M&S Food to Go today and it was eye-wateringly expensive.

Don’t shop there then.

Indeed it isn’t. It’s about 51% of the population, who happen to be M+S’s target market, food or otherwise.

You going to play Thread Police with all the other posters here too, or did the stars only align for me tonight?

Haven’t for at least 5 years.

Each time I’ve seen it, I have thought or said out loud, where is the wine. I mean people edge away from me, but I am right..

Tesco is lovely, and you either choose beer, wine, coke or sparking juice

It would be, yes. But if you did it £30 deliveroo fortnightly instead of a weekly £15 M&S then it would still be £60p/m, just less meals but of a higher quality.

Higher quality is debatable for that price, especially when you add on delivery fees etc. Realistically £15 for 3 courses for 2 people isn't bad (especially as it's good quality), but it's much worse than it used to be so it seems bad.

£15 for a 2 course meal deal is obscene. Its 2 courses not 3. A main, a side and either a starter or dessert.

I can get zizzi 2 meals and 1 side for under £25 delivered or 2 wagamama main dishes. And I wouldn't have to heat it myself.

Grab a vianetta from tesco and I've got leftovers.

Do that then.£27 compared to £15. Absolute steal. @GreatMistakes .

A generic takeaway on deliveroo is unlikely to be higher quality than an M&S meal.

And they're scrummy biscuits! We gobble a packet a night unless they're hidden away

Fortnightly restaurant food delivered to my house instead of a weekly ready meal, with a £3 saving? I would!

They aren't going to increase the price of something like this by 2p one week, because of an increase in the price of one ingredient, and then 7p the next week, because their electricity bill has gone up.

They will try to hold the price at a price point for as long as possible, even as increases in their costs erode their profit margin, and then when they do increase the price they will want to do it as few times as possible, so that you then have time to get used to the new price.

I can however confirm that the Boeuf Borguignon was absolutely delicious!
I added a bit of water for extra sauce and it was restaurant quality.
I'm going to try the custard creams!

To those who say, don't shop there, it's the indignation/disappointment of a 25% overnight price hike that's the issue ( as opposed to a smaller % creep over time)

That's exactly my point. I totally understand they will need to factor in increased costs at some point resulting in a price increase but it just feels to me they were totally testing the price elasticity and pushing it as far as they could (rather than a smaller inflation linked increase) - which personally is too far and will stop me buying it. They have introduced a couple of new dishes (most are the same) added a celeb chef's name and new packaging and bumped the price up hugely which I think is an insult.

I suppose I'm just curious as to whether it's just me or not... will there be enough of us that stop buying that they are forced to revert to a lower price point....??

I bought the £12 one occasionally but did get annoyed that it was a starter OR dessert and I had to choose a stingy side of potatoes or something similar when I really wanted the prawn cocktail AND profiteroles 🤣

£12 was the very maximum it was worth so no way would I buy it now it’s increased.

Agree the Tesco one is very good value (not as nice as M&S however the wine alone is about £7 so cracking deal) but you need your Clubcard to get it for the £12.

Every time I go in I expect it to have increased in price and I’m always chuffed that it hasn’t!

Do that then. I'd do neither but that's me. I definitely treat myself in the M&S food hall occasionally. It's expensive but I think it is so good that I don't mind.

Sneering at a ready meal (not just any ready meal but an M&S one) when you view a Vienetta as a treat has made me chuckle.

I'm a diehard M&S food shopper but have to say I'm not impressed with the dine in anymore.

Had the Tom Kerridge treacle tart last night. Over £5 for 2 tiny portions. Nothing special and certainly wouldn't buy again.