Never been to Iceland

[Doggymummar]

This is going to sound like an advert. But I promise it's not.

There was a thread a couple of days ago where a lady was talking about cooking Duck for ten. We are having Duck, for two , so I read with interest. Someone mentioned that Iceland had them for £10 so I thought that's a good price, I'll get some and we can practice for Christmas.

Oh my. I had never been and the range of stuff they have is incredible! I had to get some Greggs steak bakes and Christmas bakes, of course. Joints of meat the perfect size for us with left overs. Party food, slimming world ready meals, my protein which is great for me being on Mounjaro. Fancy desserts, charcuterie platters, hors douvres everything you could want good brands too.

They didn't have the ducks, that's big stores only apparently but when I have room in the freezer I'm gonna be stocking up with a delivery from there. Pleasantly surprised, I was also the only customer which was really nice.

Yes I loved Iceland, you could easily be one of few customers in there, probably why they all closed here in Ireland! I miss them, some very good value to be got if you shopped carefully.

really ruddy useful,cheap cheerful so is farmfoods.I usually buy a bunch of party food for easy food round christmas .Like the days after christmas after i cooked my heart out ,the kids can survive on left overs and party food =p

Cheap and cheerful. And in the horse meat furore some years ago, one of the few supermarkets whose products were not contaminated.

I do a bi-weekly shop there now after hearing the owner explain the £1 meals are actually running at a loss for the company but he feels he has to offer affordable food to the loyal customers. He struck me as a genuinely decent guy so I decided to try it to support that and haven't looked back. I do freezer fillers there (chopped veg, pizzas, beef/fish) then the more "luxury" items like sourdough bread from the other shop on the 2nd week feels super special and can do a mix and match.

I wouldn't even class it as particularly cheap anymore... although some items are obviously.

Agree with you op...it's actually quite nice and you can find some really good things. My dc used to love their chocolate fondant puddings!

@Comedycook tbf it's at least 7 years since I've set foot in one!

@NordicwithTeen I remember watching a documentary about the company and its founder some years ago and I was also struck by how he came across as such a decent man.

Food warehouse is Iceland under another name.

Asda has fresh duck for £7.50 currently! https://groceries.asda.com/product/duck-game-venison/gressingham-whole-duck/1000244837572?&cmpid=ppc--pmax_google----google---_-dskwid-_dc&s_kwcid=AL!11432!3!!!!x!!&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiA3sq6BhD2ARIsAJ8MRwXvGT22xtbKXhcmDnafdI6D2km-70wEsAKjKReikBCJyOISTzIAUZYaAmJREALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

I rarely use iceland now as I don't live near one anyone. I also find lots of their stuff is highly processed, high in fat and salt.

They are also palm oil free, delivery is free over £40? and if you get an iceland card they give you extra to spend (£2 every 10? It’s been a while). The site has only a few alternatives for products like toothpaste so it’s a fast online shop.

I get an Iceland delivery every year when I go to our timeshare and the delivery is always at the start of the time slot with nice delivery guys.
Their fruit and veg packs are a bit small, but for a week they’re fine. Plenty of fresh ingredients like Warburton’s bread or eggs and bacon for our Full English on holiday.
I love their strawberry cheesecake and the stuffed chicken breast in a roasting tray. I’ve even ordered a full Christmas dinner, some frozen some fresh, in November.
The lowest of the low, like budget cottage pie, isn’t great but the price reflects it.

I’m a fan.

It's all a load of muck. Lol. I started using it for fish at one point, but the quality was dire. I'm never going there again. You have to spend so much to get free delivery. Like how much frozen junk could one family need in a month?
My mate loves it though. Says it's 'convenient'. But frozen foods from other retailers are better value and quality.

I don't know if the stores differ, but mine was all proper brands, Birds Eye, Crosta Mollica and Pizza Express, McCain's chips etc. there were discount freezers but I was looking for Christmas treats so didn't investigate those. There was a big fresh meat section with lamb shoulders, steaks organic chicken I didn't look at the fresh fish as not a fan.

Thanks for the heads us, we have Sainsbury's Waitrose and Iceland plus a bid M and S food hall in our little town but I will check online nearest store is about ten miles so they might deliver. Thank you

I would never buy fresh fruit / veg / meat there. It can be very cheap for basic beige freezer food. In a lot of cases though you can tell it's cheap - eg party sausage rolls seem to be mostly pastry.

I do get a bit annoyed that so much is branded ranges and more expensive now.

@Doggymummar I'm sure there's a bunch of good stuff. It was the frozen fish I had a bad relationship with, lol. 🤣

You have to spend so much to get free delivery.

What do you mean? I thought all supermarkets had a minimum spend for delivery of £40, and they charge for delivery on top.... You don't have to get 'frozen junk' they sell fresh stuff/cupboard stuff as well!

How different can a frozen pizza or frozen chips or bottle of squash be in quality? Besides which, as the pp said lots of it is the same brands as any other supermarket.

I don't shop there often but do a freezer top up every few months, it's seems the same quality as any other supermarket.

I would say that some cupboard basics are higher priced - they seem to round everything up to the nearest pound or 50p, so whereas you can get cheap stock cubes for 39p or whatever in Lidl, the cheapest in Iceland were £1, same with a pack of biscuits that would be 80p in tescos or whatever...

@another1bitestheduck I'm saying there's never £40 worth of stuff I want/need. And I got really disappointed with the frozen fish. I tried them a few times but it's just not worth it for me.
I was being tongue in cheek by calling all of it 'muck'. Of course some stuff is perfectly fine. I wasn't trying to seem superior. I hope? Lol

I guess I don't have a big freezer. That's another reason why I'm probably not their target market.

It's not all cheaper I agree Bailey's was 15.00 for 750ml and it's 12 quid in Waitrose and Marks for a litre! You can see where my priorities are. Lol.

It's a No from me.

I bought a pile of fish there recently as it was a good price (3 bags of 4ish fillets for £10) but won't be back, the quality was really very poor, it was thin and dry. I fear the meat would be the same.

Other than that, it's mostly beige food which I don't buy being fortunate to have plenty of time to cook from scratch.

I think some people are really snobby about Iceland but I do quite like it. I tend to pop in every couple of months or so, I’ve actually been in today! it’s good to buy bits for pizza night(I have teen boys who can eat a lot of pizza!), things like fish fingers are often cheaper or included on an offer and their fresh fruit/veg is usually better than Aldi(in our local one anyway) although less variety. Randomly I’ve noticed the staff are always helpful and seem happy there which is a big change from surly staff in other shops.

Farm Foods is also a good one to go in from time to time.

I go every other week.

We get the chicken dippers , fish fingers, waffles, hash browns, frozen sausages, frozen veg, cheese and bean bakes.

And its £8.50 in Morrisons, but you need to spend I think £40. 😉

A high percentage of the meat, dairy and veg are British produced.

@Doggymummar my local Nisa are doing Bailey's for £11 😊😊 hopefully it's a national offer?

No NisA, OR Morrisons unfortunately we have Sainsbury's Waitrose and Iceland in town and a Tesco in the next town. Plus M and S. I alternate shops round all 4