Food prices

[Butts]

Tesco-

McIntosh of Strathmore Ready Meals - Stovies, HNT et al were on offer at Clubcard Price £1.25 (normally £1.40) have now come back at a new normal price of £1.60. Even got the cheek to wish you a Merry Christmas on the packaging !!

Pukka Pies on offer with Clubcard at £1.50 ( now £2 normal price) The Clubcard Price was the normal price a couple of weeks ago !!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Pukka Pies on offer with Clubcard at £1.50 ( now £2 normal price) The Clubcard Price was the normal price a couple of weeks ago !!

They're also the same £1.50 price at Asda, Morrison's and Sainsbury's just now.

P.S. Does anyone ever pay the non-Clubcard discounted price at Tesco?

 

[malc-c]

I'm wondering if supermarkets are using the current problem to inflate prices rather than the prices representing a true increase. Heinz soups...£1.40 per tin. But if you buy any 5 it cost £5, that's a saving of £2 which seems rather a lot considering the shop must still make a profit.

I've also noticed that ASDA have limited the quantity of a lot of products, especially their on "essentials" range

Seasonal joints of meat were on offer last week, turkey crowns £14 to £22, legs of lamb from £18, plus hams from £10

 

[1D54]

They're also the same £1.50 price at Asda, Morrison's and Sainsbury's just now.

P.S. Does anyone ever pay the non-Clubcard discounted price at Tesco?

Only last Saturday i let a lady in front of me use my Clubcard to get a 50p discount on a meal deal. It was at a staffed cash till and i thought they might not allow the transaction to be done but it was fine.

 

[Butts]

Perhaps we need to bring back a version of RPM on some items ?

 

[DannyMich2018]

They're also the same £1.50 price at Asda, Morrison's and Sainsbury's just now.

P.S. Does anyone ever pay the non-Clubcard discounted price at Tesco?

I'd never shop inside Tesco without my Clubcard!! Beware though as some deals with Clubcard are similar prices elsewhere. 1 litre Bailey is only 10 pounds at Tesco at the minute which is a great deal however!!

 

[takno]

P.S. Does anyone ever pay the non-Clubcard discounted price at Tesco?

No. I try to minimize Tesco's benefit from the whole clubcard deal by making a point of no longer using my clubcard if I'm not buying anything on a deal, and if for any reason I don't have my card with me I shop elsewhere.

In general the clubcard price is competitive and the non-clubcard price is just artificially inflated, so it's difficult to call any of the "deals" a deal anyway.

 

[Red Onion]

No. I try to minimize Tesco's benefit from the whole clubcard deal by making a point of no longer using my clubcard if I'm not buying anything on a deal, and if for any reason I don't have my card with me I shop elsewhere.

In general the clubcard price is competitive and the non-clubcard price is just artificially inflated, so it's difficult to call any of the "deals" a deal anyway.

I saw one for that classic stocking filler Lynx Africa gift set (one deodorant and one shower gel) which was £7.50 regular price but £3 on the clubcard, which is less than half price. I assume they still make a profit on the clubcard price which shows how absurdly inflated it is.

The same logic would apply to various food offers.

 

[Bald Rick]

I try to minimize Tesco's benefit from the whole clubcard deal by making a point of no longer using my clubcard if I'm not buying anything on a deal,

I don’t understand this approach. My cousin does the same. It’s just making your Tesco shop 1% more expensive!

 

[All Line Rover]

Tesco is now one of the most expensive supermarkets and the quality of their products certainly does not match the prices!

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Tesco is now one of the most expensive supermarkets and the quality of their products certainly does not match the prices!

That's as may be, but surely a branded (i.e. not own brand) product bought at Tesco is essentially the same as that bought at Sainsbury's, Asda, Morrisons or wherever, (for example, the Pukka pie mentioned upthread) otherwise you're not comparing like with like.

 

[GusB]

Tesco-

McIntosh of Strathmore Ready Meals - Stovies, HNT et al were on offer at Clubcard Price £1.25 (normally £1.40) have now come back at a new normal price of £1.60. Even got the cheek to wish you a Merry Christmas on the packaging !!

Pukka Pies on offer with Clubcard at £1.50 ( now £2 normal price) The Clubcard Price was the normal price a couple of weeks ago !!

I bought McIntosh's haggis, neeps and tatties earlier because it was reduced to clear in the Scotmid that I visited earlier. It was half-price at £1.25, which seemed to me to be an okay price for something that I was going to eat the same day. If they're charging £1.60 full price in other supermarkets, there's little wonder that Scotmid is having to RTC them from the £2.50 that would normally be charged!

I only bought it because I really couldn't be arsed cooking tonight; if I had been so inclined, I'd have bought the ingredients separately and I'd have had several portions for the same amount per portion.

 

[kristiang85]

Did a big shop for the first time in three weeks or so last night, and I was shocked by the prices. Meals for five days for two of us came to £40. And this is with fresh ingredients, no ready meals or anything like that.

Particularly depressing was a bag of 500g Morrisons own brand tagliatelle pasta, which is now £1.15. Not so long ago it was 55p....

Worst of all was the paucity of goods available. No chicken breasts or pork loins - all those shelves were empty.

A couple of months back I moaned about the 4 pack of muffins going up to £1.40 - they are now £1.75! I just don't bother now.

 

[takno]

I don’t understand this approach. My cousin does the same. It’s just making your Tesco shop 1% more expensive!

I do well under half of my shopping at Tesco, and it's probably less than half the time that there aren't "deals" in the basket anyway. Even in these straitened times, <0.25% of my food bill is well worth it to mildly indicate my mild displeasure. FWIW I don't have a Nectar card at all, so the big shop is even more wasteful.

 

[Tetchytyke]

Tesco is now one of the most expensive supermarkets and the quality of their products certainly does not match the prices!

I'd agree with this.

We're a bit more limited for choice here- Tesco, Co-Op, M&S, and Shoprite (Manx owned, stocks Sainsbury's stuff). But I'm increasingly doing my shopping in M&S; it's barely any more expensive than Tesco, but the quality is streets ahead.

 

[DelayRepay]

Particularly depressing was a bag of 500g Morrisons own brand tagliatelle pasta, which is now £1.15. Not so long ago it was 55p....

The word in bold is the source of your problem. Since they were taken over by the hedge fund, they've really gone downhill. Prices up, staffing levels down, availability down. In my opinion they're the worse supermarket chain now.

 

[Typhoon]

The word in bold is the source of your problem. Since they were taken over by the hedge fund, they've really gone downhill. Prices up, staffing levels down, availability down. In my opinion they're the worse supermarket chain now.

Agree! They used to be our 'main shop' destination, now it is about once every three or four weeks and I don't get much. It has still got deli and fish counters, but it is now less organised. Agree on availability down (but some items appear overstocked, bread twice recently); staffing levels: at the self-checkout* machines need resetting, paper roll/ ink need replacing, 'Please wait, an assistant is coming' - not yet awhile they are serving at the cigarette counter, some clearly are going through the motions, even the ones who are very good and will always go out of the way to help are rushed off their feet, I've also noticed the number of offers is down - the very thing that entices me into the store.. Following changes to public transport, I think my visits will become fewer and fewer. The only regulars I know who shop their are elderly locals and even they are talking about going to the discounters from time to time.

* - use those rather than a painful wait at the traditional checkouts because of the queues, caused by too few being open and hold-ups when there is a problem with pricing (down to no-one able to check the shelf labels).

 

[Busaholic]

I visited an M&S this week for the first time since falling down their escalator in June (not their fault) so it was the first time since last December I was aiming to buy a fair amount of food, including 'special' food for the Big Occasion. I left after a short while with a tiny amount of purchases, feeling depressed about their whole operation. None of the usual trolleys were in evidence, either inside or outside the store, only the 'old type' deep trolleys, which I can't use as I can't reach into them, and how I'm meant to use a basket while shuffling round with a stick I can't imagine. So I decided to put what little I could into my bag, but very soon realised I'd been priced out of the supermarket. One example: their Indian food range offered main dishes in the £3.95 to £4.50 range last December, with a '3 for 2' for Sparks Card holders: now they're £7.50 each, no further discount! Also, at this time of year almost every customer got a '£5 off when you spend £35' coupon or similar, valid for a week, when they completed their purchases. I had time to observe several customers at manned and self-service tills, and saw no coupons issued. Oh, and the four 'basket only' tills had gone, and one of the four manned tills! One flustered elderly male assistant wearing a tabard (!) was attempting to placate those who'd opted for the self-service tills, all of whom appeared to be having problems, and at least one of these appeared to be insoluble! It wasn't even busy in there and I'll save myself the extra journey from now on.

 

[Butts]

Interestingly, Which has just released a table of Supermarket Inflation over the last year.

The Top 2 are Aldi and Lidl at around 19%

 

[Jamesrob637]

I visited an M&S this week for the first time since falling down their escalator in June (not their fault) so it was the first time since last December I was aiming to buy a fair amount of food, including 'special' food for the Big Occasion. I left after a short while with a tiny amount of purchases, feeling depressed about their whole operation. None of the usual trolleys were in evidence, either inside or outside the store, only the 'old type' deep trolleys, which I can't use as I can't reach into them, and how I'm meant to use a basket while shuffling round with a stick I can't imagine. So I decided to put what little I could into my bag, but very soon realised I'd been priced out of the supermarket. One example: their Indian food range offered main dishes in the £3.95 to £4.50 range last December, with a '3 for 2' for Sparks Card holders: now they're £7.50 each, no further discount! Also, at this time of year almost every customer got a '£5 off when you spend £35' coupon or similar, valid for a week, when they completed their purchases. I had time to observe several customers at manned and self-service tills, and saw no coupons issued. Oh, and the four 'basket only' tills had gone, and one of the four manned tills! One flustered elderly male assistant wearing a tabard (!) was attempting to placate those who'd opted for the self-service tills, all of whom appeared to be having problems, and at least one of these appeared to be insoluble! It wasn't even busy in there and I'll save myself the extra journey from now on.

You make a very valid point there: it's ok raising the prices but offers such as the £5 off on £35+ spend enticed shoppers last year, particularly after the dismal year and Christmas that was 2020. Now there's no reason to buy anything but the cheapest you can find really.

 

[Typhoon]

Interestingly, Which has just released a table of Supermarket Inflation over the last year.

The Top 2 are Aldi and Lidl at around 19%

I assume this is the shop of 48 popular groceries (not listed as far as I can see - sensibly) - updated 5th Dec? If so, there is a fair chance that at least some of these feature in the items other supermarkets price-match. At least some of these will have cost more before price matching kicked in (for instance, I know milk did) so inflation in those products by the other supermarkets will be lower. As Aldi and Lidl only sell a restricted range of goods (except in the centre aisles), Asda-Morrisons-Sainsburys-Tesco have the wider market to themselves (especially with branded goods) and can jack up the prices without fear of the discounters.
Although Which? do a survey of a larger number of products, Aldi and Lidl are not included.

 

[david1212]

Interestingly, Which has just released a table of Supermarket Inflation over the last year.

The Top 2 are Aldi and Lidl at around 19%

For Aldi a few examples from my regular items
4 Pints Milk £1.09 > £1.65
2 Chicken Breast Fillets 300g £1.59 > £2.25
800g Seeded Loaf £0.75 > £1.15
800g While Hovis Loaf £0.99 > £1.40
500g Olive spread £0.79 > £1.19
1.1kg Muesli £1.69 > £1.99
1 litre orange juice £0.59 > £0.85
6 apples £0.99 to £1.29

I visited an M&S this week for the first time since falling down their escalator in June (not their fault) so it was the first time since last December I was aiming to buy a fair amount of food, including 'special' food for the Big Occasion. I left after a short while with a tiny amount of purchases, feeling depressed about their whole operation. None of the usual trolleys were in evidence, either inside or outside the store, only the 'old type' deep trolleys, which I can't use as I can't reach into them, and how I'm meant to use a basket while shuffling round with a stick I can't imagine. So I decided to put what little I could into my bag, but very soon realised I'd been priced out of the supermarket. One example: their Indian food range offered main dishes in the £3.95 to £4.50 range last December, with a '3 for 2' for Sparks Card holders: now they're £7.50 each, no further discount! Also, at this time of year almost every customer got a '£5 off when you spend £35' coupon or similar, valid for a week, when they completed their purchases. I had time to observe several customers at manned and self-service tills, and saw no coupons issued. Oh, and the four 'basket only' tills had gone, and one of the four manned tills! One flustered elderly male assistant wearing a tabard (!) was attempting to placate those who'd opted for the self-service tills, all of whom appeared to be having problems, and at least one of these appeared to be insoluble! It wasn't even busy in there and I'll save myself the extra journey from now on.

Hence why based on prices AKA 'Sharks & Spendmore'

It is not always easy to make comparisons but several years ago I increasingly debated if the items I bought from their food range justified the higher price e.g. Gammon Steaks and Italian ready meals even at 3 for £x.xx compared to Tesco or Iceland. With no voucher to use probably 5 years since I bought any food item.
This year I have not even been in to look at e.g. boxes of biscuits when Tesco had Victoria at £3 Clubcard price.

...
Excluding Aldi and Lidl it is Tesco and Sainsbury who come out cheapest for a sample basket.

The source which refers to Trolley.co.uk

Tesco is now one of the most expensive supermarkets and the quality of their products certainly does not match the prices!

Of course it depends what you buy and own brand quality varies between Tesco, Sainsburys, ASDA, Morrisons etc.

My basic weekly shop is now Aldi then Tesco and ASDA for items Aldi don't stock. I now buy less from Iceland due to their price increases.

 

[GusB]

I had a bit of a price shock when I went to the Co-op last week. It was really just a top-up shop, but some of the prices they were charging were eye-watering. A pound of sausages that would have cost me £1 to £1.50 this time three years ago is now nearer the £3 mark.

There are two Co-ops in the town, one of which is relatively new and replaced a smaller "convenience" store. Despite being bigger than the store it replaced, they have a restricted range and don't stock Co-op brand lines for some items. I'll be sticking with Aldi as much as I can from here on.

 

[johntea]

Booze offers still somehow manage to reverse the increasing price trend I've noticed

A bottle of Glayva in Morrisons usually sells for £18 for 50cl (I'm sure it used to be the same price for 70cl!)

But at the moment they have a promotion on where you can buy 2 bottles for £20 as in a tenner each! Which is even better than the common reduction to £12 a bottle they do pretty much every other week

 

[Bald Rick]

Booze offers still somehow manage to reverse the increasing price trend I've noticed

A bottle of Glayva in Morrisons usually sells for £18 for 50cl (I'm sure it used to be the same price for 70cl!)

But at the moment they have a promotion on where you can buy 2 bottles for £20 as in a tenner each! Which is even better than the common reduction to £12 a bottle they do pretty much every other week

Trouble with that offer is that you’re then stuck with two bottles of Glayva…

 

[Trackman]

£1.25 at Asda at the mo, sometimes they would be £1 if on offer, but that's pre-covid.
£2.79 .. no thank you.

update: re: 2 Birds Eye Sticky BBQ Chargrills - From £1.80 to £2.79.

Fancied getting some in for Christmas.
Shock horror.. jumped from £1.25 to £2.75.
No thank you Asda... tarrah.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Elsewhere it's £2.25 for a 2 pack of the Birds Eye BBQ chargrills at Sainsbury's or just £1.50 at Tesco in conjunction with their Clubcard offer.

Sainsbury's also charging £2.75 for a 4 pack.

Clearly prices are edging generally upwards, but if you can shop around, some places are decidedly cheaper than others.

 

[DannyMich2018]

Elsewhere it's £2.25 for a 2 pack of the Birds Eye BBQ chargrills at Sainsbury's or just £1.50 at Tesco in conjunction with their Clubcard offer.

Sainsbury's also charging £2.75 for a 4 pack.

Clearly prices are edging generally upwards, but if you can shop around, some places are decidedly cheaper than others.

Its also worth buying larger/bulk if you can do. Also don't waste money on expensive brands, for example McCoy's 6 pack crisps Asda 2.25 but Aldi ones only 95p, they taste the same, in fact I think better! We've also stopped buying branded toilet rolls, tissue cubes and toilet rolls.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Its also worth buying larger/bulk if you can do. Also don't waste money on expensive brands, for example McCoy's 6 pack crisps Asda 2.25 but Aldi ones only 95p, they taste the same, in fact I think better! We've also stopped buying branded toilet rolls, tissue cubes and toilet rolls.

Comparing branded products with supermarket own label equivalents is, of course, a lot more subjective, but if you are happy with the available unbranded alternative offerings, then, yes, good savings can usually be made.

 

[takno]

Its also worth buying larger/bulk if you can do. Also don't waste money on expensive brands, for example McCoy's 6 pack crisps Asda 2.25 but Aldi ones only 95p, they taste the same, in fact I think better! We've also stopped buying branded toilet rolls, tissue cubes and toilet rolls.

I definitely prefer the McCoy's, where I've never seen any real difference with the paper products. As it happens I've just completely given up crisps, but if I hadn't then I'd be hard pushed to pay double for McCoy's even if I do prefer them. I've always bought whichever crisps were currently on deep discount, and increasingly that's none of them.