money-grabbing, profit-hungry, greedy, capitalist... (angry)

[StripyPixieSocks]

What happens is that a product, for example, bread or fish, is sold for a few months in packaging labelled 500g. After a while the same product is sold in the same packaging, AT THE SAME PRICE, but now, mysteriously, there is only 450g inside.

My Dad commented on that same thing recently in Tescos and Sainsbury's... I can't remember what it was he was buying at the time but it was quite a blatant difference in weight for the same price!

I know people often down realise businesses have overheads, I quite regularly get asked why such and such on Etsy sells things for 99p when I am selling them for £8 or so but then the people on Etsy are doing it for a hobby and simply don't charge for their time and overheads so I get the brunt of people complaining that we are ripping people off when we are not!

The supermarkets that are ruling the roost in the UK at the moment are however artificially price fixing and it is being uncovered more and more and that is what I really don't like at all!

The £50 we spend on food for two weeks really isn't going very far anymore I can tell you

Luckily we do our best to support at least one independent Greengrocers who sell some really remarkably decent priced produce that actually tastes of what it is supposed to taste of. Ever had a banana from a Supermarket? tastes like cotton wool... blech!

[LBR]

Items I've noticed being sold in smaller quantities for the same price: yarn, ice cream, romaine lettuce hearts, potatoes.

The prices do seem to rise every week or two.

[contadino]

I buy a lot of tomato puree and noticed a while back that the tubes (which were cheaper) had gone up in price, whereas the tins hadn't, making the tins now cheaper at 17p each. Now, today, the tins have gone up to 27p each!!! And the tubes are on a 'roll back' at 24p, which is more than they were before they went up.

Putting aside the morality of supermarket ethics, and the utter stupidity of nations who let themselves get hooked on supermarkets, do you really think that 17p is a reasonable price for a tube of tomato puree, or 27p to be a reasonable price for tinned tomatoes?

I mean, this forum surely has a better understanding than others about the effort, costs & resources involved in growing tomatoes. Add the shipping, packaging, and shop overheads and you should consider yourself lucky they don't cost a couple of quid each.

Having said that, I'm fairly confident they will reach that price in a decade or so - and it won't all be increased profit for the supermarkets.

[Rosendula]

I buy a lot of tomato puree and noticed a while back that the tubes (which were cheaper) had gone up in price, whereas the tins hadn't, making the tins now cheaper at 17p each. Now, today, the tins have gone up to 27p each!!! And the tubes are on a 'roll back' at 24p, which is more than they were before they went up.

Putting aside the morality of supermarket ethics, and the utter stupidity of nations who let themselves get hooked on supermarkets, do you really think that 17p is a reasonable price for a tube of tomato puree, or 27p to be a reasonable price for tinned tomatoes?

I mean, this forum surely has a better understanding than others about the effort, costs & resources involved in growing tomatoes. Add the shipping, packaging, and shop overheads and you should consider yourself lucky they don't cost a couple of quid each.

Having said that, I'm fairly confident they will reach that price in a decade or so - and it won't all be increased profit for the supermarkets.

To answer your question, no, I do actually think that 27p is pretty cheap. It's not so much about the cost of the products - it's the methods by which the prices are increased that I have a problem with. The way they try to make us think we are getting a special offer, that they are being really kind to customers and looking after us, when it's quite obvious this is not the case. I also do not believe that the huge increase is all to cover the increase in costs - I believe the supermarkets use such circumstances as an excuse to bump the prices up more than they need to. I've seen such things happen in other industries. For example, as a student I worked p/t in a pub. The brewery increased the prices every single year, just a day or two before the budget. So when the prices went up again because of the budget, everyone complained about the government, not the brewery. If there is a good cover for increasing profits, these organizations will jump on it.

As for

the utter stupidity of nations who let themselves get hooked on supermarkets

well, forgive me for being born here! For growing up in such a stupid nation. For doing the social norm and getting a full-time job when I left school and so not having time to grow my own or wander around a string of specialist local shops, and for having to choose between looking after my children on a limited income, or trusting them to the care of a stranger so that I could have more money. I am doing my best!

[contadino]

If it annoys you so much, why continue to shop there?

Time and time again, UK newspapers run price comparisons between supermarkets and 'normal' markets and the supermarkets come out at anywhere between 10 and 40% more expensive. So you're paying for the convenience, just like you can pay for the convenience of carrier bags to carry your shopping between the till and the car.

I think you're just being indignant, because you believed it when the supermarkets claimed to be cheaper than anywhere else, and now you realise you've been had.

[Rosendula]

If it annoys you so much, why continue to shop there?

As I said in my original post, I have managed to cut down from 3-4 visits to the supermarket per week, to just once a week maximum. Having been caught up in the money cycle for most of my life, I decided to take steps to become a little more self-sufficient just over a year ago. Then, when my partner was forced to reduce his work hours for health reasons earlier this year, we had to decide between becoming much more self-sufficient, or me going back into paid work (to earn money to buy the food I wouldn't have time to grow/make). We opted for greater self-sufficiency. However, this takes time. I can't just suddenly have lots of food ready to harvest, as you know. I have to prepare the land, sow the seeds and wait. I'm on the waiting list for a second (half-sized) allotment, but don't hold out much hope of getting one soon and so I'm overhauling my tiny garden to allow me to grow more food, but I won't get to harvest that food until next year. I now do all my own baking and cook most meals from scratch, I have started making my own preserves, I make a lot of my own cleaning products, shampoo, etc., and I'm learning to knit. So when I go to the supermarket it's only for the few things I haven't yet been able to make or grow enough of, and I buy as much as I can store of the products I buy so that I can avoid going again any time soon.

Time and time again, UK newspapers run price comparisons between supermarkets and 'normal' markets and the supermarkets come out at anywhere between 10 and 40% more expensive. So you're paying for the convenience, just like you can pay for the convenience of carrier bags to carry your shopping between the till and the car.

Don't believe everything you read. My nearest 'shops' include a Web Academy, a photocopy shop, a cafe, a hairdresser and a newsagent, so you can see that they are not much use when it comes to eating. As far as I know, there has never been a green grocers or a butchers, so it's not like they were there and closed down due to people not using them. I walk to the edge of the next village to use a green grocers there, but to buy meat from a 'local' shop I would have to drive to the centre of that village, and as I have said, I can't afford the prices. I've been there, I know. Thankfully, my family don't eat much meat, and I don't eat it at all.

I do believe that supermarkets should charge separately for carrier bags, to encourage more people to use cloth bags, something I have been doing for quite a while now. And yes, I do go to the supermarket in the car. It's about the same distance away as my nearest decent 'local' shops, but in the other direction. As I have said, we have cut down how often we go (in fact, despite recent price increases in diesel, we have cut down our expenditure on this by half), so I don't feel bad about using the car to go there.

I think you're just being indignant, because you believed it when the supermarkets claimed to be cheaper than anywhere else, and now you realise you've been had.

On the few things I buy there, they are cheaper than other places. I know this because I have checked. But as I have said, it's not all about the price we pay, it's the way in which they increase the prices that gets me angry.

[Bluemoon]

My main beef with ASDA is that our local one - so probably all of them - has a huge sign outside saying 'A member of the Wal-Mart family'. Yey!!!! So we're supposed to go go in, get ripped off buying imported goods and know that the end profits are going to the US, meaning that the UK is just the cash cow in the middle for the rest of the world.........and that's supposed to make us feel good and want to shop there is it? If I were ASDA I'd want to keep that little piece of information really quiet, but no-one seems to worry about it so I don't suppose there's any point.

[JulieSherris]

I agree with you Rosendula.

The main supermarkets over here are the franchised Super Valu - and while some things are more expensive, it's nice to know that most veggies are local & in season - the meats are mostly irish, labelled & a lot of the meat counters have the farm name highlighted where the meat is from.

Since being here, I have shopped a lot differently than I used to in the UK & it shows in the amount of refuse we now have! I hardly throw anything out, because I buy loose & not prepackaged - I buy bread mix because it's more readily available, or make my own bread from scratch, because I've learnt that it's not as hard as I thought it was!

If we eat out, it's rare to see chips on the menu.... and when my youngest came out to visit, we had to wait a little longer while they made the chips for her that she asked for!
I usually have a half portion when ordering & it's more than enough & no-one cares whether you are 4, 44 or 84! Plus it's half the price, with fresh seasonal veg, local meats & not a microwaved dish in sight! So-called 'kids menus' are usually non-existent - the little ones choose a half portion of proper food - just as it should be!

I'm a lot luckier than most, because hubby has a top rate canteen at work - for the equivalent of about £2.50, he gets a proper meal at work with fresh veg - then we have something snacky for tea - helps with the shopping bills & I don't feel ripped off every week when I'm at the checkout!!

But it's a tricky position for everyone - you can't afford to vote on your feet, because the small local shops are dearer - a catch 22... and not likely to get any better with time either.
Julie.

[ellie12022]

I do most of my shopping in the village where I live, but what makes me cross is that the nearest other bigger supermarket (on the bus route) which is not too big, but handy now & again for a change, is probably going to close down because the chain wants to build a huge super size store just outside the town centre, which I am sure will be too big for comfort & not as accessible (there is already a supersize store of the same chain within half an hour's drive/bus journey)..

GRRR..

And I do agree that the 'special offers' can be misleading, I always look very carefully at what I'm spending & I still get caught out now & again