£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?

Yes, I’ve just seen this is their restaurant quality one. There is also a £60 beef wellington available too. It’s fine as it would cost even more in a restaurant and people are allowed to choose how much to spend.

Assuming you are bringing genuine, what would you rather they did? Nothing but gruel for Christmas dinner options?

I think a lot of folk on this thread are absolutely clueless when it comes to the true cost of meat/produce production in the UK.

Yes, a £195 Beef Wellington isn’t an every day meal, however, society have became far too used to “cheap” meat and produce prices which just aren’t realistic anymore.

Subsidies paid to farmers for years have kept goods cheap, however subsidies are declining and prices will continue to rise. The era of the cheap fairytale is coming to an end.

Consumers need to open their eyes to this. Especially considering Inheritance Tax changes and other (poorly researched) climate based legislation which ultimately will end the production of good quality meat and produce for the UK. The farming sector will be dead and buried within 20 years.

And for those thinking “great, we can just import in cheaper goods” - nope. Imported meat is only cheaper to undercut British and Irish offerings. Once those are gone the prices will be higher than what they even are now, for poorer quality meat which is raised in substandard conditions with absolutely no accountability over hormone and antibiotic usage.

A £195 beef wellington honestly won’t look so bad in a few years time.

We will all be eating grass at that stage.

Or locusts if Mr Gates has his way.

And do other things as well….😉

The winky face implies we see Tom very very differently😂

There’s always been a huge divide, it shouldn’t be new information for the poster

my sis was buying this. A kilo of meat for £90 quid. She agreed to cancel. Getting a rib roast instead

90 Quid a kilo 🤣

I agree OP. What a disgusting rip off. There are children starving. And, M&S pretends to be ethical. Makes me sick to my socialist stomach 🤮

It's almost like... M&S is a business... 🤦🏻‍♀️

Because lots of people are well paid and

If DH didn't hate mushrooms then I think I could be tempted to try this. It's roughly twice the price of making your own. Which seems a fairly standard mark up for ready made food where you are paying for the convenience of someone else doing all of the hard work.

Lots of people go out for lunch on Christmas Day. Our local Hungry Horse style pub is charging £75 a head for a bog standard Christmas Dinner. Go somewhere decent and you will be paying a lot more. If the £200 Wellington is good, then it's going to be at least two thirds cheaper than six people going out for a meal on Christmas Day. That doesn't seem too bad to me.

People place value on different things. My friend spends £120 at the hairdressers every six weeks, another spends £40 a month on her nails, another has a new car on a PCP loan that costs her a few hundred quid a month. Personally I don't spend on any of that but I'm happy to spend money on nice food and pay for convenience.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPtVYitiGm_/?igsh=MTlrd2N4bzBoZGRqMA==
this guy sums it up perfectly!

I do @Algen nothing ridiculous about a social conscience.

That's just silly @WonderfulSmith but not as silly as nearly £200 for meat for one meal, for 6 people.

Yes. Do you think we might actually, possibly, maybe be living in a capitalist society.......?

Where would you even find six people who liked beef cooked to the same temperature? In my family of four we all like it different from rare (DD) to incinerated (DH).

Just eat the pastry and give the rest to the dog like everyone else does.

"Cheap fairytale"? @roundsquares . I'm talking about poverty & survival. Which clearly most people on this thread know very little about. Mumsnet hey. Inheritance tax only affects those that are fortunate enough to have something to inherit btw, and sure, if you've got money... go ahead spend on whatever you want, of course, its your money. And as is my right, I will continue to find the level of ignorant indulgence I believe is needed to buy this from M&S offensive. Tom Kerridge is off my card list too.

Yes @Arraminta & @BlueSlate. As I said, I'm a Socialist, so I guess that's my point

Whether you’ve got the money or not, all I can say is the world has gone mad!

You’re talking about poverty and survival on a thread regarding made to order, entirely optional, “luxury” meal options from what is one of the more expensive supermarkets in the UK. It’s just not relevant in any shape or form. Of course, you’d have a point if this beef wellington was the only food option for the entirety of the UK for Christmas Day and everyone was forced to purchase, but it isn’t. And as pointed out by many posters, the price point isn’t that ridiculous when you break down the cost of raw ingredients and effort/time spent on making it.

Inheritance tax on farms is nowhere near the same as inheritance tax on a family home. It is a generational job where they never see a penny of the farm’s worth in their lifetime as they inherit it, work the farm, and then die and pass it down to their children who repeat the cycle. Excluding those who purchased large farms as tax write offs, the vast majority of farmers are not rich. But I don’t expect you to understand the reality as it doesn’t fit your socialism for all narrative which is naive at best.

You seem to be the kind of person who is perpetually offended, to be honest. I don’t think M&S will lose much sleep over you not ordering a beef wellington.

However, that aside- what do you propose we all do this Christmas, seeing as anything deemed luxurious is an exorbitant show of greed?

I do hope you aren’t having turkey or similar, with all the trimmings. Or gift giving. Or wrapping presents. Or going to any Christmas activities during December? All of it is really unnecessary when you think about it. No one needs a fancy meal, gifts or trips out.

And, to clarify, I am a fairly average earner. I don’t go on holiday every year. I donate to charity every month directly out of my wage, and then additional donations throughout the year (twice this month so far to two very good causes). I also do charity work through my job raising funds for a new charity each month.

I am very aware of poverty in the UK and those who are going through crisis. But I also am not going to be continually offended every time something happens in the world that I don’t agree with. Which appears to be a stance you often take.

That's a horrendous price! Luckily I can resist it since spending weeks listening to the Mushroom Cook trial. I'm rather off Beef Wellingtons!

Let's imagine M&S pulled the range tomorrow. Some children are still going to be hungry.

I share your despair at the poverty in some people's lives - my family all work in professions that in some way support these families and children so we see it daily - but, realistically, most of the people who will spend £195 on a beef wellington this Christmas are going to be people who work hard, probably long hours and will have little time in the main, who have their own families and children. Not the super wealthy, who will, also realistically, be spending far more.

Not people who could end or even have a smal impact on child poverty but people who want a little indulgence/convenience in their own lives.

On that basis, I can't get too worked up about it. I said at the start of this thread, I could comfortably afford to buy one. I won't for many reasons but if I decided I wanted to, I could. Could I have any impact at all on child poverty? Not at all, no.

As many have said, M&S also sell a BW for £60. Everyone who is going to buy a £195 BW could buy one of those instead. But they would all just have an extra £135 in their pockets.

There are many injustices I could get worked up about but this is not one of them.