I checked online and Sainsbury's basics jam costs 29p a jar. That's pretty cheap! Though I suspect it might be more in a physical shop, and not all stock it. More to the point, did you manage to make something that tastes equally nasty? That would be harder to do... ![Wink ;)](/forum/Smileys/classic/wink.gif)
It's that price in physical shops.
My jam does NOT taste equally nasty. Like fboab & Cudzo, I like fruit in my jam, so mine consists of fruit, plus sugar. And that is it.
I think my point about the price has been missed. I wasn't really trying to match the basics jam on price. I was commenting on what I think is an insane pricing structure.
My fruit cost me work, but no money. I paid about 2p per jar for tops & labels, & paid for plain sugar. Everything else was free or recycled, & not costed. And even so, it cost about the same as Sainsburys sell a jar, with a screw top, containing a lot of sugar (some as fructose syrup) & a significant proportion of fruit. Each of those ingredients alone would cost more to buy retail than the entire Sainsburys product. It makes me wonder about the retail markups & how they differ.
How can Sainsburys get a single jar of jam (with screw top & label) on a shelf for less than the price of one jar, or screw top, in a multi-pack? Or the price of 300 grams of sugar in a kilo bag? It's a more complex product, sold in a smaller size, in far more expensive & complicated packaging than the sugar. Why isn't it more expensive?
Basics fruit & vegetables are often good, in my experience. They're more variable in size, appearance, & flavour than the standard stuff. The risk of a duff carrot, or whatever, is greater, but so is the chance of two or three superb tasting but misshapen apples or oranges in a bag.
Ruthie - I left the cheap jam on the shelf in the shop.
![Wink ;)](/forum/Smileys/classic/wink.gif)