Seabass Aldi vs Sainsbury’s

[MusicLife80]

So, I know let’s say with Baked Beans at Aldi will be different to Baked Beans at Sainsbury or Heinz, hence cheaper. But why is seabass £2.89 at Aldi for 2 fillets (180g) and then at Sainsburys £4.25. I don’t know why it’s such a difference.

Different sources, different quality guidelines different standards on sustainability maybe. Not saying it's right, but they'll have different priorities when sourcing their fish.

Oh ok. I am going to look at Aldi’s and then Sainburys - how do we know this?

Aldi farmed in Turkey

Sainsbury’s also farmed in Turkey!

Packed in United Kingdom, for Sainsbury’s Supermarket’s Ltd, London EC1N 2HT and Sainsbury’s Supermarkets Ltd, Upper Galwally, Belfast, BT8 6FX using farmed sea bass from Turkey.

Bigger mark up at Sainsbury.

Ridiculous difference in price though, I feel like there needs to be something else behind it other than mark up?

Is the price difference not similar with other meats / fish ? Eg salmon, chicken? I don't think it's just the sea bass.

I imagine Sainsbury's pay out more of their stores - more space, probably more staff etc

Why on earth do we not have fresh fish counters in our supermarkets anyway? It's unbelievable. Where I live all fresh fish counters within supermarkets have closed. You shouldn't need to buy seabass from Turkey.

I do think Aldi have stronger relationships with British fisheries.

aldi pay well! Their store managers used to get like £60k 8-9 years ago!

I’m not sure @ShinyAppleDreamingOfTheSea i generally shop in Sainsbury’s but an Aldi has opened near my kids school so I’ve started going there on my day off straight after school run and I’m trying to figure prices vs quality, DH has said he prefers satsumas from Sainsburys. Sea bass is a very occasional treat but I saw these and I thought wow good price!!

Aldi and Lidl have different cost bases and on some products it's quite a marked difference. It's not everything but I think we save around 20% using Lidl rather than Sainsbury's

Aldi have the highest starting wage I believe, but yes Sainsbury's probably has more staff.

Aldi only have UK fresh meat and have higher welfare standards than most other supermarkets.

I've completely moved over to Aldi, their beans were voted top in a recent taste test over Heinz and other supermarkets

It's probably also cut and packed in the same factory. Aldi run on lower margins, plus they are a privately-held company and don't have as many shareholders to pay as a plc like Sainsbury's.

You will often notice that the innermost packaging of any packaged food, whether it's processed like a lasagne or just cut up like meat, is very neutral and gives no indication of a brand. That's because it's made by XYZ Lasagne Limited who just add the Aldi or Sainsbury's outer cardboard wrapping. But on that outer wrapping you will find a code saying where it was packaged. You can see examples of those codes here (that says "EU" but not much has changed since Brexit) and if you have a nerd available, they can dig into the structure of the codes and identify the exact factory where the food was packed.

It may not be the same producer in Turkey. They may have more stringent requirements over treatment and quality or environmental impacts that makes the price higher. They may pay more for guaranteed production - so the farmer fills their quotas first and guarantee produce for their customers. Perhaps they pay for better quality haulage, fast track through customs so produce is on the road for less time. Perhaps their packaging costs more for similar reasons above. Perhaps there is risk of more loss as they stock higher to ensure availability of stock for their customers. Then their stores are more pleasant environments etc which costs more.

Aldi only have UK fresh meat

Eh, we've just been told their sea-bass is farmed in Turkey!

Yes, not fish sorry, was failing at multitasking.

Was trying to point out that I don't think Aldi does sell crap, there are other reasons why it is cheap not relating to the product.

The fish probably is the same - but they only buy it at a good price, they don't worry about not stocking it in the same way Sainsbury's does.

There was a huge price variation in figs recently (also from Turkey) - £2.20 for 4 in Waitrose, 83p in Aldi. I put it down to seasonal gluts, and supermarkets being locked into contracts.

Thanks this is all very interesting there are a lot
of factors to consider. Yes I have noticed Aldi in my recent trips don’t always have stock of the same products. I’ll try the baked beans!

BUT Sainsbury’s never have organic milk in stock and if they do it’s £2 whereas Aldi do and it’s £1.79!

It happens every year. I make a fig chutney and look around lidl and aldi this time of year to spot when they have them at a low price. I always manage to get them.

Brilliant - I will be on the look out for them next year then - I made jam.😋

It's a combination of bigger mark up, additional costs, and lower volumes at Sainsbury's.

Aldi have limited lines so say 10 types of fish whereas Sainsbury's would have e.g. 30 types. So volume per store per line is higher at Aldi.

Aldi have a much lower cost base and lower overheads - those fast checkout operators, no frills stores, no customer toilets, and more than that, a very flat hierarchy at HQ keeping costs down further.

Aldi have fab relationships with suppliers, they pay on time and they have the aforementioned high volumes, plus a real focus on long term contracts.

Welfare wise, I know when I worked there many moons ago that the fish standards were market leading. They tend to benchmark M&S for what they "should" be doing.

Is it a long time since you’ve been to ALDI- they do have toilets, well ours does.
They no longer whisk you through checkout at a rate of knots. They seem relaxed and don’t mind waiting until you’ve unloaded your trolley.
They’ve also just won an award for their Christmas food. The range is amazing, and it looks fantastic!
I’ve seen a thread on here with some snobby, uninformed comments about Aldi and Lidl. They don’t know what they’re talk about!

Some of the newer stores do have toilets, true, but none near me! I remember when they opened the Tamworth "store of the future" and we had a sort of field trip to go see it

I love their ranges, still shop there years after working there. Especially Christmas food!