Are you a victim of deceptive pricing? - Shrinking Groceries

[gyzmo]

Never mind shrinking groceries, what about teh wrong groceries?

Have you ever picked up a product only to find you have the wrong brand? There are a lot of complaints from leading brand manufacturers (and research carried out last year) that their packaging is being copied and is confusing people.

[suzieblooz]

Fairy non bio liqigel tabs - instead of being a pack of 10 or 20 is now 9 & 18.

[skbuncks]

How about this for a rip off, spotted in our Big Tescos a few weeks ago

Saffron (located in the usual herbs and spices section) - £2.70/0.4g (£6750/Kg)
On the other side of the aisle there is a section which does imported spices, rice etc which usually comes in much bigger pack sizes for a fraction of the price they have Saffron selling at £1.99/2.5g (£796/kg) saving you a massive £5954/kg. Is sadly discontinued now


skb

[Bookworm]

Iceland, easy cook rice, only £1.... for 500g pack, used to be 1 Kg bags.

Iceland, used to sell packs of 15 eggs for £1. Changed packaking, 10 (or was it 12? can't remember now) for £1. Then upped price to £1.25, now back to packs of 15... for £1.50. All within the space of 6 months.

Tip for things like saffron, vanilla essence, and other "exotic" staple goods...: Go to your local Asian/West Indian shop. They will be as a rule a lot cheaper than the big supermarkets.

[semyaza]

Originally Posted by Bookworm

Tip for things like saffron, vanilla essence, and other "exotic" staple goods...: Go to your local Asian/West Indian shop. They will be as a rule a lot cheaper than the big supermarkets.

Yeah that is definitely a good tip. If you like prawn crackers you can a huge bag for very little. Same as rice. Mind you'd have to really like rice. But other things like chilli sauce, frozen prawns, some vegetables too. Do you like frozen chicken feet For cheap deserts have a look at lotus buns, mmm mm and jellied fruits. I could go on. They do offer much better value for money.

Here's one from recent news.....Gas/Electric. I think that's everyone included.

edit: When I say prawn crackers I mean you have to deep fry them yourself

[bottomburp]

And strangely, in Tesco, Heinz Organic Baked Beans and Own Brand Organic Corn Oil are cheaper than "normal" versions (or perhaps this has changed, I noticed this a couple of weeks ago that). Bizarre.

[Bookworm]

Oh, and low-fat versions of yoghurt, cream etc... tend to be cheaper than full-fat, thereby forcing those of us who don't fall for the LF hype to pay more for natural, non-messed with products.

[bottomburp]

The low fat stuff is cheaper because it's packed with cheap bulking agents etc and water.

[Bookworm]

I know that, it just annoys the hell out of me that if you want your stuff as untouched as possible, you're expected to pay more.

[bottomburp]

I don't think you are. If you buy the most natural stuff you can then add your own water and get a low fat version in bigger quantities than if you'd bought the low fat stuff - so the normal stuff is, in fact, cheaper.

My father used to be in food retail. When "diet" products started tocome out he said the manufactures were laughing all the way to the bank because it cost them so much less to produce than the normal stuff but it cost the punter the same to buy. Things haven't changed.

[Bookworm]

Originally Posted by bottomburp

I don't think you are. If you buy the most natural stuff you can then add your own water and get a low fat version in bigger quantities than if you'd bought the low fat stuff - so the normal stuff is, in fact, cheaper.

Only if you want low-fat stuff, though and some (many) of us don't. The fact is if you want the stuff as is meant to be (full fat), you are expected to pay more than for the low-fat stuff.

When "diet" products started tocome out he said the manufactures were laughing all the way to the bank because it cost them so much less to produce than the normal stuff but it cost the punter the same to buy. Things haven't changed

Don't I know it. From hydrogenated fats and margarine (*spits*) to stuff filled up with sugar to thicken it and give it substance and binding... Disgusting... But that would be a whole new thread to itself...

[bottomburp]

Yes, bookie, you are paying (cost per unit when you buy) more for the full fat stuff than the low fat stuff because the low fat stuff is packed with cheap fillers and water. Therefore the normal stuff is, in fact, a better buy though, on the face of it, it may seem more expensive.

I don't understand why you have a problem with this.

If you buy the "natural" stuff you don't get the cheap additives. Yes, on the face of it is is more expensive. But check how much is filler in the low fat stuff and the fact is the low fat stuff is extremely expensive bearing in mind the cheap fillers.

[Bookworm]

My problem with it is that people who are on a tight budget are being forced to make dietary choices which are unhealthier (even though packaged as healthier ). Don't get me wrong, it's not just the LF stuff I have problems with, I have the same issue with fast food, and many other things.

[bottomburp]

I don't agree.

If you're on a tight budget then why not buy a 500ml pot of "normal" natural yogurt. It's cheaper than the individual low fat pots, can be "stretched" by adding fruit (fresh or tinned) and is generally far nicer than the so-called fruit yogurts.

Mayonnaise - buy the expensive sort and add water.

Steak mince (low fat) is more expensive than cheap mince (high fat). You have a choice - do you want to eat less (but better) meat or more (but fatty) meat.

Double cream - more expensive than single cream. Add milk of you want thinner cream. I had "top of milk" when I was growing up.

I still don't see why, in your opinion, this is deceptive pricing. Better quality may seem to cost more per unit it but actually it costs less because it is "whole" and not packed with fillers; you can "stretch" it if you want/need to - but generally the better the quality of the food you buy the less you want to eat.

[gyzmo]

Originally Posted by bottomburp

but generally the better the quality of the food you buy the less you want to eat.

Well I bought a pack of Tomatoes on the vine the other day - "finest" or whatever it is, and they're simply scrummy. Nearly as good as the ones I used to get from a local farm shop.

My flatmate however decided that they make a rather nice snack and polished them off on the day I bought them .