Supermarkets discussion

[Peter Sarf]

I bet you'll find Aldi to be better quality and significantly cheaper for a shop.
Plus it'll take half the time

Now this time thing is something that became obvious to me quite a while ago. I was brought up on Boots the chemist HOWEVER I found Superdrug far easier to negotiate in a "lunch hour" from work. Slightly better prices as well but so much easier to find things.

As for Morrisons. My local branch had to waste a lot of chiiled stock when overnight they discovered the display fridge temperatures had not been maintained low enough. This possibly explains why it is so damn cold in the store now - I think the display fridges are now set to a lower temperature OR perhaps the heating is set lower. This became noticeable before Summer really went. I did get told new display fridges were on the way - in the meantime I guess their energy bill is higher (or lower if it is the heating eased off).

Compare with Lidl and/or Aldi where the display fridges have clear plastic doors on them. So one group of supermarkets are investing in energy saving while another is not.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 26 Nov 2025 ==

Aldi may be cheapest out of all stores, however in my opinion quality is worst of all them, some of their frozen food especially ready meals are vile. Also had some awful tasting nan bread too from Aldi. Iceland best for frozen food.

I remember having a Macaroni cheese ready meal from Iceland - cheap TOO CHEAP nauseating !.

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The thing with any new supermarket (or other entitiy) is that they will not be burdened with old equipment or ideas etc. They will have already failed very early on if their model did not work. Given time they too will be running the risk of not being flexible.

As @Hadders points out. It seems to me that Morrison's USPs are being lost in the name of simplification. I always felt their vegetables were good - a strong point of Safeways they might have inherited.

 

[Silver Cobra]

Compare with Lidl and/or Aldi where the display fridges have clear plastic doors on them. So one group of supermarkets are investing in energy saving while another is not.

I guess this must be a regional thing. The nearest Aldi to where I live (located in Biggleswade) still has exposed fridges, while the nearest Morrisons (in Shefford) does have doors on their fridges. Granted the Morrisons did only get them about 2-3 months ago.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Compare with Lidl and/or Aldi where the display fridges have clear plastic doors on them. So one group of supermarkets are investing in energy saving while another is not.

There is a disability access angle to this, though - doors can make it impossible for some disabled people to access items in fridges/freezers. So it might be deliberate.

 

[Harpo]

Compare with Lidl and/or Aldi where the display fridges have clear plastic doors on them. So one group of supermarkets are investing in energy saving

However, Aldi has loads of fruit and veg behind those doors that Tesco and Sainsburys display on open unrefrigerated shelves.

 

[jon81uk]

There is a disability access angle to this, though - doors can make it impossible for some disabled people to access items in fridges/freezers. So it might be deliberate.

Although a large number of retailers are moving towards having doors for energy conservation, Tesco Express I used has sliding doors on all fridges. I expect the sliding ones are easier for those with access needs compared to pulling open a door.

 

[Bletchleyite]

However, Aldi has loads of fruit and veg behind those doors that Tesco and Sainsburys display on open unrefrigerated shelves.

Indeed. This is presumably to save cost by making it last longer.

Although a large number of retailers are moving towards having doors for energy conservation, Tesco Express I used has sliding doors on all fridges. I expect the sliding ones are easier for those with access needs compared to pulling open a door.

Yes, this is the issue - it's easy for an able bodied person to step back while pulling a hinged door open, whereas if you're in a wheelchair it's near enough impossible to do both at once because you need both hands to wheel the chair straight back.

 

[SuspectUsual]

The biggest single thing that any of the supermarkets would love to do in order to save money in the fruit and veg department is to stop selling bananas

 

[Bletchleyite]

The biggest single thing that any of the supermarkets would love to do in order to save money in the fruit and veg department is to stop selling bananas

They probably shouldn't (unless it's a deliberate loss leader) be selling anything that doesn't make a profit, so what's the specific issue with bananas?

 

[SuspectUsual]

They probably shouldn't (unless it's a deliberate loss leader) be selling anything that doesn't make a profit, so what's the specific issue with bananas?

Temperature, basically, and it makes banana logistics a real faff

They need to be kept in a temperature controlled environment, but the temperature is around 14C, therefore they can't be kept with ambient stuff because there's no real control, but they're too sensitive to be kept in chill either like all the rest of the fruit and veg. You can spot bananas that have got too cold because they go a weird greyish yellow

At Coop we had separate little banana rooms next to the main chill chambers, and the bananas were picked into separate roll cages which then had thermal shrouds (like giant sleeping bags) put over them for transport to stores. That in turn meant that whilst every other item going to a store was picked into cages just for that store, the banana cage(s) had multiple stores' stock in them so the driver had to undo the shroud and depick each store's stuff, then put the shroud back on.

So a separate room; IT mods to allow picking more than one store into a single cage; different procedures in warehouse and transport; expensive shrouds that had a habit of going missing

 

[The exile]

They probably shouldn't (unless it's a deliberate loss leader) be selling anything that doesn't make a profit, so what's the specific issue with bananas?

Bananas emit a gas that makes other fruit go off quicker - so really ought to be in a separate section. Don’t put bananas in your fruit bowl!

 

[Bletchleyite]

Temperature, basically, and it makes banana logistics a real faff

A faff yes, but as they're not required to sell them surely if they're not profitable they would just stop?

Most businesses essentially make money by doing stuff that would be a faff (or impossible) to do yourself.

 

[SuspectUsual]

A faff yes, but as they're not required to sell them surely if they're not profitable they would just stop?

It's the halo effect - if someone packed in selling them unilaterally then they'd likely haemorrhage customers to a competitor and lose loads of sales. So its a necessary evil.

Same as selling cigs - the gross margin on a packet of cigs is less than 1% because so much of the selling price is duty, and they also have complicated logistics (made worse by the senseless track and trace requirements introduced by the last Conservative government), and are a massive security risk. But as a convenience retailer, Coop know cigs are in a relatively high proportion of baskets so daren't stop selling them because customers will walk

 

[Harpo]

Don’t put bananas in your fruit bowl!

Except to ripen other stuff. UK retailers seem unable to sell ripe peaches so leaving a green banana with them is essential to avoid breaking my teeth.

 

[Russel]

There is a disability access angle to this, though - doors can make it impossible for some disabled people to access items in fridges/freezers. So it might be deliberate.

Presumably disabled people have fridges at home too, that also have doors?

I'm not convinced on this one.

 

[Peter Sarf]

I guess this must be a regional thing. The nearest Aldi to where I live (located in Biggleswade) still has exposed fridges, while the nearest Morrisons (in Shefford) does have doors on their fridges. Granted the Morrisons did only get them about 2-3 months ago.

It occurs to me that the Morrisons that have doors on the fridges (did I say that !) are the branches most likely to survive any cutbacks. More investment, or the lack of it, was an indicator to me of an employer going under.

There is a disability access angle to this, though - doors can make it impossible for some disabled people to access items in fridges/freezers. So it might be deliberate.

I had not thought about the disability angle. Have to say I find the sliding doors in my Tesco local can be very hard to slide but of ourse occupy less space in the isle.

Also with a swing door I tend to position myself to the side of the opening (non hinged side) so the door swings past me and the hand that I pulled it open with reaches in.

Bananas emit a gas that makes other fruit go off quicker - so really ought to be in a separate section. Don’t put bananas in your fruit bowl!

Indeed. I have left a banana to accelerate ripening of other fruits including tomatoes but woe betide you if you do not need to do it !.

Presumably disabled people have fridges at home too, that also have doors?

I'm not convinced on this one.

I can only imagine that their home fridge is hinged the most convenient way. Most fridges can have the door hung either way - I have reversed a few.

The only example/idea that springs to mind is if the person is one handed then the relevant hand needs to be between the body and the door so they can pull the door past themselves. But that is a limited example of disability.

One thing is the swing doors I have seen on store fridges are rather light and easy to open.

 

[Hadders]

The biggest single thing that any of the supermarkets would love to do in order to save money in the fruit and veg department is to stop selling bananas

I doubt it! Bananas are one of the top selling items in the entire store. Back in the day, when I managed a Co-op stores they were usually my largest selling item by sales value.

Froma money point of view the logistics of bananas in a depot environment is trivial compared to frozen food. I used to work with a very large frozen food depot that was based in north London. The electricity bill was £60k per week - and that was before the energy price rises we've seen in recent years.

They need to be kept in a temperature controlled environment, but the temperature is around 14C, therefore they can't be kept with ambient stuff because there's no real control, but they're too sensitive to be kept in chill either like all the rest of the fruit and veg. You can spot bananas that have got too cold because they go a weird greyish yellow

In winter you need to keep bananas warm so there's normally bubble wrap lining the boxes. In summer they need to be kept cool so the lining inside the box is thin tissue like paper.

At Coop we had separate little banana rooms next to the main chill chambers

That's a depot environment, stores won't have separate banana rooms although some large stores might have fruite and veg rooms that have a temperature of about 8C.

Keeping bananas in good condition in a shop environment is a skill. They need to be kept away from draughts. In summer you need to open the boxes to vent the bananas, in winter you keep them wrapped up as much as possible, depending on how warm or cool the store room area is.

Co-op do a good job of getting bananas to stores with the shrouds being used around the cages.

Same as selling cigs - the gross margin on a packet of cigs is less than 1% because so much of the selling price is duty, and they also have complicated logistics (made worse by the senseless track and trace requirements introduced by the last Conservative government), and are a massive security risk. But as a convenience retailer, Coop know cigs are in a relatively high proportion of baskets so daren't stop selling them because customers will walk

The margin on cigarettes has improved in recent years but the category is in big decline. I agree about track and trace, I'm not sure what it's actually achieved other than adding cost to the supply chain.

 

[johntea]

My local Morrisons is a small store and fairly quiet but I visited the other week to find they've ripped out all but 1 of the checkouts for a self service area, they previously had 4 self service checkouts near the fag counter but they were virtually always out of service!

 

[styles]

I doubt it! Bananas are one of the top selling items in the entire store. Back in the day, when I managed a Co-op stores they were usually my largest selling item by sales value.

I used to work in a wholesalers and we intentionally sold bananas as a loss-leader. I'm not sure if it worked but someone at head office certainly seemed to think so and I imagine they had some sort of data to back that up! We used to sell absolutely loads of them.

 

[Belperpete]

I guess this must be a regional thing. The nearest Aldi to where I live (located in Biggleswade) still has exposed fridges, while the nearest Morrisons (in Shefford) does have doors on their fridges. Granted the Morrisons did only get them about 2-3 months ago.

Don't think it is regional, but more to do with when individual stores were fitted out or refurbished. When my local Aldi was refurbished a year or two ago, the traditional open chiller cabinets were all replaced with ones with doors. They proudly display that they use less electricity a year than a lighthouse. But as lighthouse lamps use very little power, that is not as impressive as it sounds.

 

[SuspectUsual]

The margin on cigarettes has improved in recent years but the category is in big decline. I agree about track and trace, I'm not sure what it's actually achieved other than adding cost to the supply chain.

Yes, it was as low as about 0.5%, now I gather its a whopping 1%!

Track and trace is a hugely expensive means by which people who aren't involved in the tobacco black market can prove their innocence at their own cost. At least that's the theory - the reality is often that the system fails on the HMRC side

 

[Benters]

Asda have become really mean of late, just like the Grinch in their Christmas adverts. The chance to build your cashpot via the Asda Rewards app is becoming more difficult, and prices of staples such as yogurts, pasta sauces and margarine are up and down like a yo-yo. I can see why their market share is declining. To top that the cafe in the Stafford branch which used to do excellent cooked breakfasts and a soup and roll plus hot drink deal for £1 for the over-60s has closed and re-opened as a pricey Costa Coffee franchise .The new café has a much smaller seating capacity and no over-60s concessions.
Talk about shooting yourself in the foot!

 

[Hadders]

Yes, it was as low as about 0.5%, now I gather its a whopping 1%!

More like 5% these days.

 

[johntea]

Asda have become really mean of late, just like the Grinch in their Christmas adverts. The chance to build your cashpot via the Asda Rewards app is becoming more difficult, and prices of staples such as yogurts, pasta sauces and margarine are up and down like a yo-yo. I can see why their market share is declining. To top that the cafe in the Stafford branch which used to do excellent cooked breakfasts and a soup and roll plus hot drink deal for £1 for the over-60s has closed and re-opened as a pricey Costa Coffee franchise .The new café has a much smaller seating capacity and no over-60s concessions.
Talk about shooting yourself in the foot!

My shopping at Asda swiftly ended when they decided to axe the Blue Light discount - which had already been fairly watered down previously!

 

[Trackman]

Asda have become really mean of late, just like the Grinch in their Christmas adverts. The chance to build your cashpot via the Asda Rewards app is becoming more difficult, and prices of staples such as yogurts, pasta sauces and margarine are up and down like a yo-yo. I can see why their market share is declining. To top that the cafe in the Stafford branch which used to do excellent cooked breakfasts and a soup and roll plus hot drink deal for £1 for the over-60s has closed and re-opened as a pricey Costa Coffee franchise .The new café has a much smaller seating capacity and no over-60s concessions.
Talk about shooting yourself in the foot!

Funny you should mention Asda awards app, I'd given up with it, it's stuck on 20p for a few months. Logged in today, gave me a free fiver for being a loyal customer, redeemed straight away.

 

[Bald Rick]

They proudly display that they use less electricity a year than a lighthouse. But as lighthouse lamps use very little power, that is not as impressive as it sounds.

surely if lighthouses use very little power, then it’s more impressive than it sounds?

 

[Russel]

My shopping at Asda swiftly ended when they decided to axe the Blue Light discount - which had already been fairly watered down previously!

We stopped using Asda a while ago when the rewards app stopped being worth using, then as you say, the Blue Light discount went too, so even less incentive!

 

[styles]

My shopping at Asda swiftly ended when they decided to axe the Blue Light discount - which had already been fairly watered down previously!

The eligibility for Blue Light Cards has been extended too wide to be sustainable in my view. The offering just isn't as good as it once was.

 

[davehsug]

Morrisons selling Roses & Quality Street tubs at £3.95 today with a More card!

 

[Russel]

Morrisons selling Roses & Quality Street tubs at £3.95 today with a More card!

Maybe they realized selling them at £7 the last couple of years was a bit of a joke?

 

[Peter Sarf]

Morrisons selling Roses & Quality Street tubs at £3.95 today with a More card!

Maybe they realized selling them at £7 the last couple of years was a bit of a joke?

Sainsburys doing various of those tins/tubs for £4 with a nectar card vs £7 normal.

Baileys Irish Cream 1litre
£11 Morrisons with a more card who have just reduced from a More card price of £14.
£11 Sainsburys Nectar price for a while so Morrisons must have noticed.
£10 Tescos Club Card price - I only visited, so noticed, today.

For Sainsbury and Morrisons the Punters price is £22 iirc.
I have often wondered does the normal price mean the Punters are subsidising me ?.
How many Punters are there ?.
I know some people who are "cannot be bothered as it is only pennies" types.