Tesco.

[Pigeon Shredder.]

So Tesco have decided to open a cut price supermarket because of the competitive trading by Aldi and Lidl, any reason that they could not just drop their exorbitant prices and drop into line with the others.

We stopped using Tesco when Aldi opened locally and it's very rare that we use them for anything but fuel nowadays.

 

[Rewulf]

I used to swear by Asda, occasionally Morrisons , Tesco I always found expensive for similar quality food.

Stopped using Morrisons a few years ago , as they seemed to try to emulate Waitrose, price and quality wise.
So have been using Aldi and Lidl for the most part, but I did pop into a Morrisons the other day to get beer, and noticed they now do a 'plain packaged' range with sensible prices again, quality seems good, so might start using them a bit now.
Like you say, why dont Tesco just have a sensible priced range of food ?

The fact they are even doing what they are doing, shows the bite the German supermarkets have put on them.

[Guest topshot_2k]

They are all rubbish for fresh food, rather buy veg etc from local supplier and meat from the butcher. Aldi is like a jumble sale. Food prices are too cheap imo, its only the producers losing in this relentless price cutting war, yet people seem happy to spend money on booze/eating out/expensive phones etc

[Rewulf]

1 minute ago, topshot_2k said:

Food prices are too cheap imo

I wouldnt go that far 😯

[blackbird]

You only get what you pay for.

Edited September 19, 2018 by blackbird

[Walker570]

We use, Morrisons and Aldi for different items. We buy our bread from a local bakery so it isn't the rubberised pap wrapped in wax paper and we also use our local farm shop for meat, sausages, lamb in particular as it is their own, prepared on site.  I do have a Tesco mobile at the moment because they offered me a good deal, no other reason.  Stop over once a year at the Tesco, Ashby de la Zouch for a breakfast with other guns before a days shooting and they do a fair breakfast.  I beloeve in spreadin my custom where I get good service and what I require is good quality ...eg  I like Morrisons Glen Stag Whisky, also their strength 6 ground coffee and their fish counter is also worth a look.   Aldi do some awesome biscuits and a fantastic range of chocolate bars.  I noticed the jars of pickle in Aldi, Morrisons and Tescos are all the same with their labels and I met someone the other day who works for the company making it. Square jars and recommended ...particularly the Ploughmans Plum.

[Westward]

I'll be interested to see if Jack's applies the Aldi/Lidl business model of minimal staff who actually work as opposed to the mainstream supermarkets where the staff attitude seems very casual most of the time. 

I wouldn't think the typical checkout staff at Tesco, Sainsbury's etc. would last 5 minutes in Aldi or Lidl so we'll have to wait and see how they get on with Jack's.

We've started looking at Aldi because they're building one in our town which already has Tesco, Waitrose, Sainsbury and Co-op and the suggestion that their products are junky  hasn't been our experience. If you shop selectively and take the trouble to find out how to spend less for the same quality purchases you can cut the weekly bill by quite a lot.  Houmous is a case in point and is literally half the price yet indistinguishable from Tesco's offering. 

Edited September 19, 2018 by Westward

[Scully]

Nothing to do with the thread, but I’ve stoppwd shopping at Morrison’s for most things. I find their own brand food ( especially the Street Market branded stuff ) absolutely bland and tasteless. I mostly jump about between Aldi and Sainsbury’s now. 

[Hamster]

1 hour ago, Pigeon Shredder. said:

So Tesco have decided to open a cut price supermarket because of the competitive trading by Aldi and Lidl, any reason that they could not just drop their exorbitant prices and drop into line with the others.

We stopped using Tesco when Aldi opened locally and it's very rare that we use them for anything but fuel nowadays.

 

Exactly, the reason is of course because that would expose the fact they've been ripping us off for decades and plain lying when they kept saying they'd reduced prices as far as they'd go. The only way they can stop the catastrophic loss of the previously loyal customer base is to copy the very business model that's decimated their own obscene profit margins.

I predicted they along with a few others will do exactly this, the halcyon days of counting money with a captive audience are long gone, the high end supermarkets such as Waitrose won't be too badly affected as they cater to a different market. 

[Blackpowder]

Local Morrisons Cafe  has superb fish and chips at about half the price of local fish and chip  shops.   Aldi steaks I find brilliant and some supermarket bread  is vastly improved although I still prefer the multi grain loaf from local craft bakery .   Lots of veg and fruit come from allotment and just eaten ,'shepherds pie' made from pigeon mince.   Previous guests who ate the same thought they were eating genuine beef mince.   Its a hard life when you add in occasional salmon and seatrout , plus rod caught codling and an odd unlucky turbot.

Blackpowder

[Mungler]

I have a client that supplies to a number of supermarkets. When I asked him about the likes of Aldi and Lidl he said "it's a race to the bottom" i.e. the product he supplies in to all the supermarkets is the same save that the packaging and retail pricing varies enormously, all the while however, the price the supermarkets pay him remains the same i.e. as low as they can absolutely get away with.

Anyone who has shopped at Lidl / Aldi will wonder why they ever went to the likes of Tescos or Asda.

That being said, Lidl really could do with smartening up their stores and pushing the boat out to have more people employed to unload and move pallets from out of isles quicker, oh and to enforce a strict "no trackie bottoms with black patent leather slip ons". Whilst Lidl stores are basic, I do like the fact they haven't jumped on the self service tills - I despise those things with a passion.

 

[RockySpears]

1 hour ago, Rewulf said:

I wouldnt go that far 😯

Of course they are, they in no way reflect the cost of production.

Tell you what, tell the UK farmers arable or meat, that they are not getting any subsidies any more, then watch prices reach their ACTUAL cost.  There should be no farming subsidies, end of story, by keeping them, people have become used to cheap food and that has engendered huge waste in the system.  Other than for health and welfare, there should be no Gov. involvement in our food chain.  I know the French and everyone does it, it is still not right.

 

RS

[Westward]

There's a long history to agricultural subsidies. When I was a little kid the prices of things like potatoes, eggs  and milk tended to vary with the seasons. Supply and demand and all that. So the government created "Marketing Boards", the point of which was to to stabilise shop prices for these foods by guaranteeing farm gate prices. In other words selective subsidies. The Egg Marketing Board for example bought all the eggs produced, graded them, stamped them with a "lion" mark and sold them on to the shops at predetermined prices. Potatoes and milk were handled similarly. Gradually though, the government worked out that all that was really needed was to give farmers money according to what they produced.

Every country in the western world subsidises agriculture because it would be political suicide to let food prices reach their natural level.

[JohnfromUK]

2 hours ago, Westward said:

Every country in the western world subsidises agriculture because it would be political suicide to let food prices reach their natural level.

Whilst true, it is a bit silly to tax people, and pay a lot of administrators to give a bit of it back in subsidised food.  Apart from keeping civil servants in employment, it is just wasted money and effort ..... but as you say, they all do it.

4 hours ago, Rewulf said:

Stopped using Morrisons a few years ago , as they seemed to try to emulate Waitrose, price and quality wise.

Agree price wise, but although a few Morrisons items (especially the 'Best' range) are not bad, much is bland rubbish.

[Vince Green]

My nearest Supermarket, within walking distance, is Sainsburys. I struggle to believe they are still in business. Aldi and Lidl although less refined hit the right spot and quality is often better.

The interesting thing is their own brand stuff is often patently obviously made by the primary supplier. A key example is Weetabix, the biscuit is trademarked and patented. Nobody else can make it,  but Aldi/ Lidl Wheat Bix is half the price. Boxes are the same just different print, internal packaging is exactly the same. Why pay more?

[hambone]

3 hours ago, Mungler said:

I have a client that supplies to a number of supermarkets. When I asked him about the likes of Aldi and Lidl he said "it's a race to the bottom" i.e. the product he supplies in to all the supermarkets is the same save that the packaging and retail pricing varies enormously, all the while however, the price the supermarkets pay him remains the same i.e. as low as they can absolutely get away with.

Anyone who has shopped at Lidl / Aldi will wonder why they ever went to the likes of Tescos or Asda.

That being said, Lidl really could do with smartening up their stores and pushing the boat out to have more people employed to unload and move pallets from out of isles quicker, oh and to enforce a strict "no trackie bottoms with black patent leather slip ons". Whilst Lidl stores are basic, I do like the fact they haven't jumped on the self service tills - I despise those things with a passion.

 

Yep

[scobydog]

I use Waitrose for some things, morrisons for others, bread from the bakers and meat from the butcher who has just set up in town and is well priced, we have an Aldi but I won't use it at all as I don't see the point in making Germanys wealthiest person even wealthier, just my view.

 

scobydog

[oldypigeonpopper]

hello, is that right they call it JACKS ??????  maybe the tesco chiefs think, i am all right jack **** the shoppers,   i have noticed a lot of prices in tesco are going up daily maybe to subsidize this cheap jacks ????  Trip to Oxford next week ALDIs👍

Edited September 20, 2018 by oldypigeonpopper

[JohnfromUK]

12 minutes ago, scobydog said:

I use Waitrose for some things, morrisons for others, bread from the bakers and meat from the butcher who has just set up in town and is well priced, we have an Aldi but I won't use it at all as I don't see the point in making Germanys wealthiest person even wealthier, just my view.

 

scobydog

I can see your point, however, Aldi's owner got rich through running a highly efficient and competitive business.  I won't criticise Waitrose other than to say it is good - and you pay for that.

Tesco (locally) is a dump.  Morrison's (again locally) is grossly inefficient.  Staff standing around chatting, baskets of cheap rubbish clogging up the aisles, no bags for loose vegetables, often no stock - even milk and eggs have run out sometimes!  Some items (usually from 'The Best' range) are fine, some of the other (notably 'Market Street') is absolute rubbish.  The floor is grubby, the freezers often have pools of water coming from underneath, the self service checkouts are hopelessly delayed due to continual errors.

Aldi sells mostly decent stuff at a competitive price.  The staff are always 'busy', and the whole set up is designed for fast operation.  But ultimately - the record shows that is what many people want.  A supermarket needs to be clean, fast, competitively priced and stock decent goods.  Aldi is the best fit for that for me.

3 minutes ago, oldypigeonpopper said:

hello, is that right they call it JACKS ??????  maybe the tesco chiefs think, i am all right jack **** the shoppers,   i have noticed a lot of prices in tesco are going up daily maybe to subsidize this cheap jacks ????

Tesco was founded by Jack Cohen.

Edited September 20, 2018 by JohnfromUK

[scobydog]

Just checked and both the original Albrecht brothers are now dead so I will change that to Germanys wealthiest family, John above pointed out the state of his local morrisons, whereas my local one is spotless, no rubbish in aisles no pallets in aisles (unlike Aldi/Lidl), staff are friendly and courteous and always smart, outside of the store is regularly cleaned and kept very smart. Still prefer Waitrose above all the others though, did once try a Lidl and it was genuinely the worst shopping experience of my life, never ever again will I go into one of their stores.

 

scobydog

[JohnfromUK]

I think local factors often come in; I have been in good Morrison's and good Tescos, but my local ones are not good, whereas my local Aldi is good.  My local Morrison's used to be pretty good (for stocks and service), but I suspect has had a change of (local) management and has gone steeply downhill in the last year.  It is an ex Safeway store - and has always had poor freezers/chillers, and floor has lots of rust stains as a result.  Morrison's have only done very minor cosmetic work since they took over Safeway.

[hambone]

I use (and like) both my local Aldi and Lidl stores but what lets them down is that the staff are kept busy stocking shelves/cleaning etc to the detriment of the tills. Big que's seem to build up before the checkout staff call for another till to open and as soon as the situation eases a till shuts and the whole cycle starts again within minutes. This happens so often that it must be down to deliberate staffing levels (more staff required).

[Rewulf]

57 minutes ago, scobydog said:

I use Waitrose for some things, morrisons for others, bread from the bakers and meat from the butcher who has just set up in town and is well priced, we have an Aldi but I won't use it at all as I don't see the point in making Germanys wealthiest person even wealthier, just my view.

Who 'owns' Waitrose and Morrisons ? They might not be British ?
Plus I tend to not concern myself with who I may, or may not make richer by buying from them.
As long as the deal potentially makes me richer.

 

19 minutes ago, JohnfromUK said:

I think local factors often come in; I have been in good Morrison's and good Tescos, but my local ones are not good, whereas my local Aldi is good.  My local Morrison's used to be pretty good (for stocks and service), but I suspect has had a change of (local) management and has gone steeply downhill in the last year.  It is an ex Safeway store - and has always had poor freezers/chillers, and floor has lots of rust stains as a result.  Morrison's have only done very minor cosmetic work since they took over Safeway.

Very true, there are loads of different supermarkets where I live , with multiples of each, I use a variety of Aldis and Lidls, and lately a couple of Morrisons , all are different in their levels of organisation and cleanliness/ stock.
The fact that the bigger British supermarkets are less busy than the Germans speaks volumes though.

[scobydog]

Where I live the older folk tend to use Waitrose and Morrisons, younger folk the Aldi and it is quite noticeable that this happens, as John said different areas different standards maybe with respect the cleanliness etc of the stores. Never use Tesco other than for fuel, the nearest is a massive store and the car park is always very busy. The Sainsbury's is about 5 miles away and seems to be busy only at weekends. My only wish is that we had a good green grocers locally that would be great.

scobydog

[scobydog]

Hi Rewulf , 

Waitrose is owned by an employee partnership, so every employee gets a dividend if profits allow it, morrisons is part owned by the Morrison family and rest is shares I believe.

scobydog