£195 for a beef wellington!

[Blueskybird]

Just that really, are supermarkets now taking the absolute Micky?? I know I don’t have to buy it. I know no one is forcing me to. But seriously how can they actually think it’s ok to demand that price for a Beef wellington that serves 6. Granted it’s in the celebrity chef Christmas range and I’m well aware that we all have different budgets and I absolutely expect to pay for quality but come on, that’s a scandalous price. AIBU to think we have lost the plot with food pricing or would you pay it?

It is but if someone is hosting dinner for 6 people and is working right up until Christmas Eve, they want to buy it and they can afford it, I don't see the problem.

If people are putting it on a credit card and they're also spending £1k on Christmas presents that they're also putting on credit cards, then they probably.cant afford it.

If someone decides it looks nice and they won't have the time to make one but can afford to buy it, I still don't see the problem.

or maybe someone hasn't gone away or hasn't booked a restaurant, and is happy to pay extra so they don't have to cook the pie?

Who has time to make a pie?

I wouldn't buy one, I don't like pies 😂 but the outrage for absolute basic stuff is ridiculous.

It's if £50 for one adult, sounds expensive, but if it feeds several people, who cares.

Do you have to be personally impacted by something to have a valid opinion or observation?

It would cost me nothing to clean my own windows, and my own rubbish bins.

And yet, I pay for a window cleaner, and for a company to wash my bins.

Each to their own, if people want to spend extra on something, who cares, as long as they earn their own money, it's not on credit card to be into bad debts and their kids are not starving. Really, who cares.

if it was valid, you wouldn't ask in AIBU

and many people don't agree that's it s valid!

Then you should have said markies do a beef wellington for 60 quid and a massive high end fresh one with truffles for 195, I object to the fact they have a high end one. As that’s what this is.

A fifty-pound turkey pie is not basic!

I think there are people who like to get value for money and there are those who don't care about that or pay no attention to it. And never the twain shall meet, as shown on this thread!

And the two attitudes often don't match up with how much money someone actually has.

Don't be so silly. It exists for people with money.

You said M&S were misleading with their portion sizes hence the question.

No one stated one couldn't hold an opinion about price. I hold lots of them. I go shopping and see something and decide if I want it and whether I can justify the price. What I don't do is then head to Mumsnet and create a post stating that a supermarket was out of order for "demanding" not offering, food for a certain price.

Honestly I’ve done it a few times. You sear the beef and let it cool. Make thin pancakes and spread on supermarket pate. The mushroom duxelle is just chopped mushrooms fried in butter and seasoned with salt and pepper, cooled and spread on top the of the pate. Then you wrap up the cooled seared beef in the pancake, brush with egg and wrap closely in the puff pastry. A couple of criss cross slashes in the pastry and a brushing with egg, and bung in the oven for anyting up to an hour depending on the weight of the beef and how rare you like it does the trick.

What about the chicken and truffles in this ine, and the red wine gravy.

Oh and irs hot water pastry not wrapped in pancakes.

Well you've brought in the cost of living crisis and state pensions - both of which are irrelevant because the people it's aimed at won't be either struggling financially or relaint on the state pension.

If people want to pay for it, it's irrelevant.

If it were the only thing on the market or all Christmas food were suddenly this expensive, then you'd have a point.

If it were just your observation, why the emotive stuff about the cost of living and pensions?

Agreed that compared weight for weight the M&S one is within 10% of F&M, but I think the F&M one is probably more like a beef wellington should be. Actually I find that if you ignore the twee tins of biscuits and other overtly branded products F&M foods isn’t particularly expensive when compared to equivalent prepared / semi prepared food, or mid/high end delis. Though you’ll get better choice at a butcher / cheesmonger / fish shop you’ll often pay more. Even on wine they can be cheaper than Waitrose cellar…and for ‘name’ vinyards sometimes cheaper than the cellar door as a drive-in customer.

I suggested my husband make a beef wellington for Christmas this year and he said ingredients would cost at least £100. Admittedly that would be for 6 adults and 2 kids.

And yes we're in a cost of living crisis, but I know loads of people who still seem to have plenty of money to splash out on luxuries, particularly around Christmas time (sadly I'm not one of them!)

I don't think it's an objection, at least it's not for me. If I was queen for a day, I wouldn't make Marks stop selling it! The interesting part of the discussion is whether it's value for money, not the absolute price. And that's where the psychology of shopping comes in. For me, personally, I could never spend that much on a ready meal. Others may think it's excellent value - which would blow my mind - but there you go.

I’m not sure anyone would think it’s “excellent value” I am not sure when someone buys a luxury item they are looking for “excellent value” they are looking for other things, the quality, size, convenience etc.

That looks amazing! You are spot on saying relying on cash rich skill poor

Hmmm. Having now perused the whole range, I’d skip the beef wellington entirely and go for the fish one.

The attraction to Fortnum and Masons frozen version as the appropriate standard is a bit bemusing. It's not like they've got the patent on beef wellington.

Brilliant! And I bet yours tastes better than the fancy-pants-yet-factory-produced Marks one!

Pre-prepared food is always going to have a very large mark-up.

you can make a delicious pasta dish with great ingredients for about £1 per serve, but if you buy the equivalent “gourmet” read meal version it’s going to cost a lot more - e.g. £6 per serve.

i don’t eat meat anymore but i used to and if i was going to buy a beef fillet to feed 6 people i would expect to pay £60 minimum + extra ingredients.

But they aren’t, as there is one for 60 quid. Something you keep trying to ignore.

Yes. I mean some people buy brand-new Mercedes or BMWs. There’s lots of them on the road. Does that mean they shouldn’t buy them in a “cost of living“ crisis? By the same logic, rich people shouldonly go 2* star in Benidorm?

Most M&S food is fairly reasonable., For the quality. I can’t speak for the beef Wellington, but other people have said it’s an expensive dish, both as far as the raw materials are concerned and the effort involved to make.

I’m often a just make it yourself person, and for a beef wellington it’s not that hard or that time consuming. But when we used to have it at Christmas I would always buy it, because I didn’t want to spend any more time than necessary in the kitchen while entertaining. Now one can make a beef wellington the day before and keep it in the fridge…but that takes more time as you have to make sure the fillet is completely cool after searing, and dry. Or eventually some blood will seep through and give you a soggy welly! Easier to rely on F&M or whoever, and accept you are paying £30 or so more than it might cost you to cook from scratch (possibly £50 for this M&S monster). In the cost of Christmas entertaining I think that’s a fair trade - but completely accept others have a different view. Though if £30 makes or breaks Christmas then I’m not sure beef wellington is good choice :)