£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?

Want and need are to very different things. I will pay for something if I really want it even if I know im being ripped of. If its something I need but don't particularly want i will find the cheapest practical option.

Any reason why I shouldn't attempt to prove my point?

And did Tom tell me what? That his doesn't taste as good or that his is made in a factory? It has to be made in a factory by law for it to be commercially sold.

the dish is part of the "package", when I comment over something, I do check what the product actually is

The Wagyu Beef Pie for the same price doesn't include pigs in the blankets 😂

Oh, well I wouldn't pay extra for a dish, since I already have those, like most people.

Don't get me started on that 350-pound product!!!

Oh yes, I completely agree. It’s interesting how some people are unable to understand that value means different things to different people. And sometimes it means different things at things at different times, or places :)

I might be way off the mark here, but presumably these are part of the to order range?

So its unlikely that they will be mass produced, the production team will know how many need to be made, based on orders received and will "craft(?)" them individually, from that perspective its probably not a high waste product, and on a par with restaurant quality (you'd hope)

Its not like its a Fray Bentos pie, which is probably made with minimal human intervention. This beef Wellington won't be made en masse.

I'd think about it as an option if it served two though.

I am not the one looking down at people who have cash but don't cook, I am saying that there's nothing wrong with being cash rich and skill poor. I could not care less that I can't or have no interest in making a beef wellington ever.

Would I buy the M&S for £200? depends, if I taste it first, I would be able to decide if it's worth it or not. A blind buy? Probably not, I am actually fussy about food.

Do I have an issue because they sell food that's on the higher end of prices? Absolutely not.

Hence why they said useless to them instead of just useless. Don't change their words to make out like they did something wrong.

Ha ha ha it’s not a cows tail, but oxtail is good too if cooked long and slow.

the fillet has an end when butchered which goes to a thin point, which is the tail end, at least that’s what I call it. Once the whole fillet has been splliced into pieces people often only see a slice in the supermarket.

to be fair , it does look a bit unsightly!

It's a crazy amount but then I know many women who spend more than that every month between nails, hair removal, eyebrows, fake tan etc all of which are 100% unnecessary.

Almost everyone eating in an expensive restaurant doesn't need to be there.

It's extremely easy to bake a cake or biscuits and people spend a lot of money on them so they don't have to. Same with pre made food in general, people value time more than money.

It's just another thing that seems extortionate to one person but perfectly reasonable to another.

Well yeah presumably the meat would be slaughtered in an abbatoir or slaughterhouse facility. One would hope!

But I mean, caterers are able to cook you something from scratch. If I wanted to pay a caterer to prepare a beef wellington for a function I'm hosting, ready for me to heat it up, that would be a commercial transaction. They could do that using beef, fresh mushrooms, flour for the pastry and so on. And they could use their premises, which wouldn't have to be a factory as long as they've got the proper food business registration. Are you saying that if a supermarket is involved, it isn't legal for them to contract anything out to a supplier who would make it from scratch in approved premises if they're not a factory?

I’m not objecting to the fact they have a high end choice, it’s about value

I didn’t realise there was a requirement for food to be made in a factory to be commercially sold. I know it has to be made in a business that’s registered and meets food safety regs, but I’m not sure it goes much further than that. I know several high-end butchers that offer ‘ready meals’ and I’m pretty sure they’re not factory produced, but prepared in a room on the premises. Though perhaps that counts as a factory for the purposes of the law?

I will pay a lot for something if it's good value. For instance, there's currently a necklace on sale by a really famous - and famously overpriced - jeweller. It was 3,200 pounds, which I wouldn't pay because I don't think it represents value, but I would pay the sale price of 1,025. In absolute terms, over 1k is a lot for a necklace, considering that there are countless necklaces cheaper than that, and no one needs to pay over 1k for a necklace, but I know I'm not getting ripped off at that price. I would be getting ripped off at the full price. So I'll pay a lot, but if I was getting ripped off, I just wouldn't enjoy the product.

Including in-store bakeries and fresh produce?

Which law is this?

And why doesn't it apply to food made in store or takeaways or restaurants?

Ever had a Starbucks?

If anyone is planning to place an order with M&S, things are already marked as sold out. Not the TK Wellington, obviously!

Thank you OP for reminding me to book my slot.

It's not immediately obvious how you consider yourself qualified to assess value, even if everyone agreed for the sake of argument that there's an objective standard. The test of this will be how many people buy it.

You can google it if you like.

That is just the price of top quality prime beef, though. We ate at Mooo in Boston a couple of months ago and some of their fillet steaks were upwards of $150 (much to DH's horror). We're also eating out on Christmas Day and won't be getting much change from £550 for the 4 of us. So £195 of prime fillet to feed 6 is actually pretty decent.

Yes, it's expensive but there is absolutely still a market for this sort of thing, otherwise M&S wouldn't have bothered to develop the dish and market it etc.

F&M don't list their ingredients by %. But all the ones I have just looked at are only around 1/3 beef, so the 1.4 kg serves 6-8 is only about 50-80 g of fillet per person. Even stingier.

And we could also Google the paragraphs you've typed.

I can't see the law on Google. Could you name the law?

I can't see reference to any law that states any food that is sold must be made in a factory. If it exists then I'll be expecting Deliveroo to be out of business in a day.

And also clean up😂

Yes you’re right I don’t have to buy it and I’m not going to. But I’m also free to comment that it’s overpriced for what it is. Which I have.