Yet Another Cycling Forum
Off Topic => The Pub => Food & Drink => Topic started by: hellymedic on 28 April, 2018, 02:05:10 pm
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-43933517 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-43933517)
I don't like ASDA (or should I say Walmart?). There's a BIG ASDA about half a mile away. It's open '24 hours'. I don't think I've been inside it more than half a dozen times in the 18 years I've lived here.
Most of my food shopping is from Sainsbury's online.
I really don't want cheap'n'NASTY groceries. Safeway lost my custom when they merged with Morrison's. There's a new Morrison's almost next door to ASDA.
Hmmm...
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Morrisons is fine, it's just a bit Northern. Safeway lost my custom when they had to sell the branch to Waitrose because there was already a Morrisons close by. There's a giant ASDA nearby that I'd probably use more often if the convenient flat cyclepath that goes there (rather than a circuitous and somewhat hilly road route) wasn't up to the usual Sustrans accessibility standards. I'd rather roll down the hill from the Sainsburys or more distant Tescos than have to hoik a loaded bike through mud and silly slalom gates.
TBH, they've all got far more in common than they have differences, and they're all going to end up owned by the same company at some point.
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I think Kim's last sentence (first part of it) sums it all up.
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It might be a middle class thing for me but some supermarkets seem to have loads of biscuits and booze and sell stale and uninspiring fruit & veg. My memories of ASDA are tainted by the aroma of old cabbage, reminiscent of school dinners.
In general, I found Sainsbury's wares appetising and affordable. Waitrose is nice but too pricy.
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Quality of veg (well, fresh stuff generally) seems to vary with the individual branch, thanks to the vagaries of JIT supply chains. It's the little Tesco that seems best for veg around here, with Sainsbury's doing well for quality but not so good for randomly having empty shelves. Aldi are interesting, because they're good at meat but rather underwhelming for veg. Nearly all of them are terrible for fresh bread in their own unique ways.
I've never known a supermarket that didn't sell large amounts of biscuits or booze. (If we're going to be snobby about junk food snacks can we add crisps? I know they're not very space-efficient, but still...) TBH, as a non-drinker I find the sheer amount of space typically allocated to alcohol baffling[1]. I suppose it has a long shelf life and high margins.
I do reckon Sainsbury's (and Waitrose, obviously) own-brand stuff is generally better than the competition, but the made-up brands of Aldi/Lidl are often pretty good.
[1] Except not really, because you used to get entire shops dedicated to the stuff. Well, you still do, but they're either crap local shops whose main product is booze, or specialist wine merchants.
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(Edit: X-posted with Kim saying much the same thing)
I've seen as much variation in freshness/quality between branches of the major supermarkets as between the different supermarkets per se. Locally the Morrison's sells possibly the best variety of fruit and veg, but the closest one seems to be a bit variable with actually having stuff on the shelves, and the big one is round the ring road, so I don't tend to go. Annoyingly for my middle-class tastes we seem to be at the epicentre of a Waitrose exclusion zone - there are four branches pretty much equidistant, but they're all about six or seven miles away.
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Income groups come into this as well. Waitrose don't do much up'tnorth. Asda and Sainsburys seems an unlikely match but will keep their own branding. Tesco is ok but boring boring boring and they don't keep their shelves stocked, which seems barmy in the case of their 24 hour stores.
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Our big Tesco, which used to be one of the better ones in the country, let alone the area, has definitely gone down hill in terms of range. I can understand that they may have been stocking more lines than made sense, but if they're getting rid of the ones I want, then I will have to go elsewhere.
Our local Morrison's is better for fresh stuff (meat as well as fruit and veg) but MrsC likes to have stuff delivered.
The nearest Sainsbury's are about 20 miles away, the nearest Waitrose (and that is small) is about 12 miles away.
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Morrisons is fine, it's just a bit Northern.
That's because it is. Best range of pies of all the supermarkets. Better meat than a lot of others. Not so hot if you want ingredient for that Yotam Ottolengh recipe from today's Guardian.
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Tesco ¼ mile hence closed two weeks ago. Awful place used only for distress purchases by me but missed by Old Man Next Door.
Both Sainsbury's shops are around 1.5 miles from her but I shop online.
Waitrose is around 3 miles away.
Morrison's stores are ½ and 1 mile away.
Will see how things pan out.
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If every Asda in Bristol closed I wouldn't notice. There's one in Bedminster, not far away (and used to live very close to it circa 1990) but involves getting through the centre and across a time-consuming roundabout to get there, and another up in the Stokes and Bradleys northern outskirts, perilously close to the Cribbs vortex. I'm not aware of any others, which seems a bit sparse for a population of almost half a million. Both are huge though (well, the one in Bedminster is huge, I assume the other is too because of its location).
We've got three Sainsburyses close by, a small one and two larger ones. The small one is a bit useless.
Can't see any of them closing down as a result of this merger, if it goes through.
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It might be a middle class thing for me
Yes it is. As Kim has pointed out, the goods in store tend to reflect the population who shop there. When I was working in Cardiff, the local mini-Tesco stocked 5 litre drums of cooking oil and 10kg bags of rice, indicative of the 'ethnic' cooking of the area. Two Asdas local(ish) to me stock very different ranges, indicative of the populations of the 2 different towns. It strikes me that the association of middle class Sainsbury's with working class Asda is the problem for some.
Income groups come into this as well. Waitrose don't do much up'tnorth.
Because people in the north are all poor and working class? It's got a lot more to do with regional distribution as a reflection of where the chains originated. Sainsbury's has higher concentration in the south, as it was founded in London and spread. Morrisons was founded in Bradford; Asda in Leeds, hence their increased in the north. Waitrose, founded in Berkshire, didn't have any shops north of Nottingham until 2003.
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I suppose I've mostly been loyal to Sainsbury's since a branch opened in Sheffield when I was a student. I was unimpressed with stores closer to my Greystones home and loaded up the panniers in the city centre and brought them home uphill.
I think Waitrose originated in London but then had HQ in Bracknell later.
I think I used Waitrose in Salisbury but almost nowhere else.
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Since the demise of pretty much all local fishmongers apart from those in Bury Market, my local Morrisons has the best fish counter of the supermarkets near me.
I have zero loyalty to any of the supermakets, however. Judicious use of the My Supermarket (http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/) site for price comparisons, plus keeping an eye on local variations, we source our shopping accordingly. It helps that Nick is essentially retired and has made shopping into a game - the only way he can stand it!
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If every Asda in Bristol closed I wouldn't notice. There's one in Bedminster, not far away (and used to live very close to it circa 1990) but involves getting through the centre and across a time-consuming roundabout to get there, and another up in the Stokes and Bradleys northern outskirts, perilously close to the Cribbs vortex. I'm not aware of any others, which seems a bit sparse for a population of almost half a million. Both are huge though (well, the one in Bedminster is huge, I assume the other is too because of its location).
We've got three Sainsburyses close by, a small one and two larger ones. The small one is a bit useless.
Can't see any of them closing down as a result of this merger, if it goes through.
There’s a huge one at Cribbs. Which, of course, isn’t Bristol. But it is quite close.
I remember going in there soon after the Walwart merger. It was how I imagined a Russian supermarket, except it had stock and choice.
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I'm glad they're keeping the branding. IME Asda fruit & veg is shite. Great if you want to buy junk food cheap.
I did used to buy clothes there though in the days when I had more outgoings than incomings....
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I'm glad they're keeping the branding. IME Asda fruit & veg is shite. Great if you want to buy junk food cheap.
I did used to buy clothes there though in the days when I had more outgoings than incomings....
Not just me then!
I have to do my shopping online and I've usually been satisfied with Sainsbury's produce. I don't have an account with the other supermarkets (and my Delivery Pass means I'm unlikely to shop elsewhere).
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I used to online shop with Tesco (they were the 1st to do it up here) until they pissed me off once too often and I flounced.
My occasional forays into Lidl for a nosey have left me impressed with their veg.
I'd love to see a Waitrose here for novelty porpoises but that's probably unlikely since the arse fell out of the oil price....
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I've enjoyed my visits to Lidl and Aldi but I really need to shop online and get home delivery.
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I've enjoyed my visits to Lidl and Aldi but I really need to shop online and get home delivery.
At which point an awful lot of it comes down to whether or not the website is shit, and how reliable the deliveries are.
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I've enjoyed my visits to Lidl and Aldi but I really need to shop online and get home delivery.
At which point an awful lot of it comes down to whether or not the website is shit, and how reliable the deliveries are.
A shit website can be worked/learned around.
I seem to get reliable deliveries.
I usually have preferences set to reject substitutes.
I don't want shite groceries and though I've had a few disappointing tomatoes, most of the produce I get is fine. If I had crap delivered, I would complain. If things didn't improve I would take my custom elsewhere. There is no shortage of competing supermarkets round here.
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I used to online shop with Tesco (they were the 1st to do it up here) until they pissed me off once too often and I flounced.
My occasional forays into Lidl for a nosey have left me impressed with their veg.
I'd love to see a Waitrose here for novelty porpoises but that's probably unlikely since the arse fell out of the oil price....
If Aylesbury can get a Waitrose (albeit as part of a Traveloge development) Aberdeen certainly could. But I don’t think Waitrose “does” Scotland much. A google shows the furthest north they go is Stirling.
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Aberdeen has a John Lewis IIRC.
Other John Lewis stores have a Waitrose Food Hall don't they?
Or am I living in the past?
My aged memories of supermarkets in Scotland are mostly not happy.
(You'll be depressed at Presto...)
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No food hall in our JLP, dunno about elsewhere.
Oh gods, Presto. But Fine Fare was a million times worse, and our store smelled funny.
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I've enjoyed my visits to Lidl and Aldi but I really need to shop online and get home delivery.
At which point an awful lot of it comes down to whether or not the website is shit, and how reliable the deliveries are.
A shit website can be worked/learned around.
It gets rapidly tedious if it doesn't tell you whether things suit your dietary requirements, thobut, even if rejecting unsuitable items when they're delivered isn't actually a problem.
It's been a while since I used online shopping myself, though, so I don't know if any of them have developed the ability to filter search results by ingredients, which would seem like an obvious and extremely useful feature.
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I suppose I don't buy much 'manufactured' food and have no dietary needs, so this isn't an issue for me.
I read a lot about things when it's needed. Found food that was vegan, kosher and gluten free for our last house party...
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Our local coop used to be quite good although they do not seem able to do good veg logistics it always looks a bit tired. It has now been taken over by central Coop and has become quite pricey. The Coop does however have track record with ethical sourcing and has always good quality meats. Be interesting to see the impact of the farms having been sold off over time. Their advertising positioning last year seemed to be targeted at ad hoc shopping.
I used to quite like Somerfield but they were squeezed out by Tesco and yes stores are targeted to serve various socio economic groupings.
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Because people in the north are all poor and working class? It's got a lot more to do with regional distribution as a reflection of where the chains originated. Sainsbury's has higher concentration in the south, as it was founded in London and spread. Morrisons was founded in Bradford; Asda in Leeds, hence their increased in the north. Waitrose, founded in Berkshire, didn't have any shops north of Nottingham until 2003.
Quite. I used to shop in Morrisons when I lived in Leeds but then I moved back down south and Morrisons didn’t follow me for several years.
The north also has Booths, which is similar to Waitrose. I believe they have some kind of distribution/buying alliance that probably stops them encroaching on each other’s territory.
My understanding of the Sainsbury’s/Asda deal is that part of the reason behind it is Walmart wanting to reduce their stake. It might end up with Asda becoming more like Sainsbury’s rather than vice versa. But then again, these deals are always more about serving the interests of the shareholders rather than the customers.
Discussing it with my wife, I made the same observation as Kim, that they’ll all end up under the same ownership eventually. And it won’t be for the customers’ benefit.
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No food hall in our JLP, dunno about elsewhere.
Oh gods, Presto. But Fine Fare was a million times worse, and our store smelled funny.
We had a Fine Fare in Stroud, which is a long way from Scotland, in the '70s. It took over from Key Markets and then became Gateway which in turn became Sommerfield. I guess it's probably a Co-op now. Each iteration was slightly less crap than the previous one, but they were all depressing. (Mind you, traipsing round any supermarket with your Mum is depressing.)
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The Summerfield here became a Morrisons. It has all sorts of exotic things, that you don’t find in a standard Morrisons. I think it has reacted to demand.
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If every Asda in Bristol closed I wouldn't notice. There's one in Bedminster, not far away (and used to live very close to it circa 1990) but involves getting through the centre and across a time-consuming roundabout to get there, and another up in the Stokes and Bradleys northern outskirts, perilously close to the Cribbs vortex. I'm not aware of any others, which seems a bit sparse for a population of almost half a million. Both are huge though (well, the one in Bedminster is huge, I assume the other is too because of its location).
We've got three Sainsburyses close by, a small one and two larger ones. The small one is a bit useless.
Can't see any of them closing down as a result of this merger, if it goes through.
There’s a huge one at Cribbs. Which, of course, isn’t Bristol. But it is quite close.
Yes, I mentioned that one. :D
I remember going in there soon after the Walwart merger. It was how I imagined a Russian supermarket, except it had stock and choice.
Every Russian (Soviet) supermarket I ever went in was tiny in comparison. About the size of a small Co-op. Bigger than a Spar or Happy Shopper, and also less depressing. Better lighting – windows!
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The Summerfield here became a Morrisons. It has all sorts of exotic things, that you don’t find in a standard Morrisons. I think it has reacted to demand.
All the Morrisons in Bristol seem to have become Co-ops. Perhaps they really are all one mega-holding already and just switch the names around to keep shoppers "interested"!
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The north also has Booths, which is similar to Waitrose. I believe they have some kind of distribution/buying alliance that probably stops them encroaching on each other’s territory.
Booths are like Waitrose but better. There are only about 25 shops though and most of them are in North Lancashire or Cumbria, there is one in Manchester and a couiple in Cheshire. they aren't exactly prevalent throughout the North with only three in Yorkshire and non anywhere else.
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The Summerfield here became a Morrisons. It has all sorts of exotic things, that you don’t find in a standard Morrisons. I think it has reacted to demand.
All the Morrisons in Bristol seem to have become Co-ops. Perhaps they really are all one mega-holding already and just switch the names around to keep shoppers "interested"!
The Co-op up the road in Chingford became a Morrisons :)
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My occasional forays into Lidl for a nosey have left me impressed with their veg.
I too am impressed with Lidl; round here it is the clear leader for fresh and tasty fruit and veg.
I think so too. Fruit and veg is cheaper and better at Lidl than any other supermarket in my area. Tesco onions are particularly poor. And sometimes Lidl do loose lychees at a couple of quid for a kilo. Turns out I can eat A LOT of lychees.
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Lidl bakery is good too. :thumbsup:
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Lidl bakery is good too. :thumbsup:
It is but it loaves are too small. Not really any good for toast or sandwiches. Fantastic with soup or a stew or whatever though.
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The north also has Booths, which is similar to Waitrose. I believe they have some kind of distribution/buying alliance that probably stops them encroaching on each other’s territory.
Booths are like Waitrose but better. There are only about 25 shops though and most of them are in North Lancashire or Cumbria, there is one in Manchester and a couiple in Cheshire. they aren't exactly prevalent throughout the North with only three in Yorkshire and non anywhere else.
The one at Media City seems to feed the entire population of the site, so it's probably their most profitable store!
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they had a big reshuffle the other week, closing their first floor/cafe/butcher/fishmonger and moving to one floor. They do a huge turnover (not apple ;D) in take away food/hot pies etc and customers didn't want artisan cheese etc. they still have some of that stuff but a lot less. veg is expensive. I'm told the store in South mcr is 'another level of posh' so they do cater to the clientele. 2 x asdas nr. me, one has a bigger range of Indian food products/yogurt etc to cater for the local population. Lately we have had a Polish shop open in our town centre that is packed with excellent Polish produce at v.cheap prices.they shift some pork products out of the deli counter and there are always free samples of cheesecake and salami :thumbsup:
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Rumours that Amazon is looking at buying Morrisons now.