Costco and Farmfoods - worth it?

[liveeverysecond]

Hi all. Debating a visit to Costco this weekend although 25 mins drive away plus c.£30 for membership I believe so trying to work out if it's worth it? I know petrol/diesel is cheap so would utilise that.

Also I've heard Farmfoods is supposed to be good. Looking at their website it looking a predominantly frozen foods, do they do other stuff? Is it worth a visit?

Thanks!

I don't particularly rate Costco, it's mostly name brand stuff in bulk, so it didn't suit me because I'm not bothered about name brands. And I don't like their cakes.

Farmfoods might be OK for basics like frozen veg, but they sell a lot of highly processed foods too.

There’s a farmfood near us, we only go for a few specific things but they do everything from biscuits & crisps to branded frozen foods and have their own frozen foods as well. Their fruit and veg section is about the size of a crisp box, it really is a lot of processed stuff as pp said.

If you are the type to go into home bargains for one thing and come out having spent £30 then you may find you over spend on stuff in Farmfoods just because you see the label and think it’s cheap so you will get it whilst you’re there.

I love Costco but it isn't particularly cheap, so if it's money saving I probably wouldn't bother

Costco is expensive. It has a few good deals every now and then but a lot of the time you can get it cheaper at the supermarket. It’s convenient if you like to buy in bulk and their stuff is good quality the vast majority of the time but I don’t think you’ll save money shopping there…..possibly even spend more even.

Costco is bulk brands - so if you eat Heinz beans then buying a 24 tin pack is much cheaper but not as cheap as buying own brand beans.

They have own brand loo roll, kitchen roll, bottled water, but not much else

Alcohol is cheaper.

electronics can be cheaper (apple products, tv's but often big ticket items).

So I wouldn't go unless you are looking to save money on branded goods. Its not going to make things "cheap" it maker them cheaper.

farmfoods is like iceland. cheap frozen goods.

We tend to use Costco for buying in bulk for meat which is pretty good quality and things like nappies, tinned tomatoes, nuts etc but often you find it cheaper at the supermarket and depends on whether you have storage space. Good for petrol though.
Don't tend to shop in farmfoods much but when I do tends to be frozen veg and fruit to stock up, the rest of it is processed stuff as PP's mentioned.

Thank you everyone. It doesn't really sound very suited to us. Part of me is tempted to buy in bulk with prices increasing weekly but think I'll just stick with my online Tesco shop 😂

Not farm foods but what I find with iceland which is similar is that fresh stuff is more expensive.

It's great for frozen basics however not so much for anything else.

I also think they seem to be moving even more towards branded processed meals stuff and away from just simple frozen food. E.g. it's all new ranges from TGI Fridays, Chiquitos etc
when I just want frozen basics.

We like Costco for certain things in bulk -

Fizzy drinks (cans)
Squash
Loo roll
Kitchen roll
Fabric softener
Washing powder
Dishwasher tablets

And their rotisserie chickens as delish

There is a cost saving from buying in bulk but for us it's more the convenience of not having to buy these things every week

Farm foods is brilliant for some stuff, especially if you are watching your money. They currently have glass jars of Napoli a passata for 19p each. Amazing value! They do lots of cheap stuff but they also stick a huge amount of branded food as well. I am a huge fan of the own brand frozen veg. They do a casserole bag and I throw a £3 gammon joint or a packet of trimmed bacon into the instant pot with a bag of frozen casserole veg, a cup of yellow split peas and a cup red lentils and cover it with chicken stock. After 30 minutes on high, the soup is absolutely amazing. I use the mixed veg to pad out mince in a cottage pie. The battered/ breaded fish is great value. The Chinese duck is a huge hit in our house. The new rectangular giant pizzas are delicious too and my kids and their friends rave about them. I really do love farm foods. Last week I even got two kg of heroes for £9. I Especially love the £10 off £100 voucher for my big monthly shop.