Supermarket prices on staples creeping up

[Stonehead]

We did our weekly grocery shopping last night and I was rather dismayed to find that prices on staples are definitely going up.

I have the rather weird but useful habit of adding the prices up in my head as I go so I can keep on budget, and quickly realised we weren't going to be able to buy all the things we normally get, so I had to reprioritise on the run.

As an example:

Bag of value rolled oats - 48p now, was 38p
Three cartons of juice - £2.25 for three, was £1.80 for three
Dried yeast - 57p, was 52p
Value sultanas - 41p, was 38p
Split peas - 46p, was 42p
Value ketchup - 31p, was 29p
Unsalted butter, 89p, was 81p
And so on, we got hit on pasta, pearl barley, flour, rice and cheese as well.

All up, we would have been £3.18 over budget if we'd bought our normal list. That's a 10.6% rise on last week's shopping!

Meanwhile, the supermarket runs advertising campaigns about it's "low" prices and specials - all on crud, needless to say.

On top of that, some of the value lines appear to have been deleted so you either do without (as we do) or pay more for the slightly more upmarket own brand stuff.

And can someone tell me why salted butter is cheaper than unsalted, when both are in the same packaging and the only difference is that one has salt added?

[Andy Hamilton]

Value ketchup - 31p, was 29p
Unsalted butter, 89p, was 81p

Meanwhile, the supermarket runs advertising campaigns about it's "low" prices and specials - all on crud, needless to say.

And can someone tell me why salted butter is cheaper than unsalted, when both are in the same packaging and the only difference is that one has salt added?

What you want to buy ketchup for in the first place? foul stuff.

It does appear that ready meals and other junk food are the things that are on offer. Probally because they have a higher mark up than other stuff.

The salted /unsalted butter will be a question of supply and demand. More people buy salted so the demand is higher and the price comes down. They can get away with selling unsalted butter for more so they do.

[2steps]

oh poo

I always add up on my way round too

[Shirley]

Stoney - I've started buying through Suma - bulk buys... let me know if you want to join us in our bulk buying - We'll be putting another order in next week.

[Stonehead]

What you want to buy ketchup for in the first place? foul stuff.

I was waiting for that! The value stuff isn't too bad (and is less sweet than most of the others), but it's main use is as a substitute for tomato paste (get more for less).

And don't say we should make our own - we grew enough green tomatoes in our sunporch last year for chutneys but didn't get many fully ripe ones. This year the crop was a total failure.

[Andy Hamilton]

And don't say we should make our own - we grew enough green tomatoes in our sunporch last year for chutneys but didn't get many fully ripe ones. This year the crop was a total failure.

I did actually start to write something along those lines and then remembered where you live and how late the frost can be and decided that you have a good excuse for not growing a glut of tomatoes. You do need loads to make ketchup.

[ina]

T***o only made a billion profit last year - so what do you expect? They have to hike up their prices so that at last they can make a decent living...

Same goes for other supermarkets, of course. But their profit figures weren't in the news quite as much.

[baldowrie]

adding up in your heads as you go round..you lot are geeks

I only estimate the cost as I walk round.

I prefer the value stuff too. I made some of my own ketchup (expensive when you don't grow the toms) and I got a complement from my son 'mummy it tastes just like that stuff you buy from the shop'

I tend to buy the staples in bulk from Dundee Tescos, big store that sells catering packs of stuff like pasta and rice etc.

[Dave]

And can someone tell me why salted butter is cheaper than unsalted

Supply and demand does make some difference but it's also because salted products have a longer shelf life. Just compare salted peanuts to unsalted in cost.
Foods with a long shelf-life are always much cheaper than those that will spoil quickly as there's less risk for the manufacturer and retailer.

[2steps]

adding up in your heads as you go round..you lot are geeks

I only estimate the cost as I walk round.

can't add it up in my head maths not good enough for that. I either do it roughtly or if on a very tight week with a calculator

[Martin]

why don't you lot up in Aberdeenshire get together, and do a bit of "bulk buying"? - you can get terrific savings if you buy several kilos of cheese in a block, and things like oats are really cheap - sort of a restart of the original "co-op".

[ina]

All in progress, Martin...

Only done one so far, courtesy of a lot of effort put in by Shirley, from SUMA (see her earlier post). Of course, they don't do "value" stuff. But to be honest, in bulk even the organics are pretty cheap- you just have to start thinking in different dimensions. (20 kg rolled oats in my spare room - lots of muesli and flapjacks this year! I know what my friends are getting for Christmas - ha, I just hope they all like flapjacks!)

[Martin]

I was thinking more along the "everyday" things line - Stoney's tomato sauce for instance! A bit far for you, but our local Co-op has got gallons of ketchup at real knock-down prices - they have a small section devoted to "catering" sizes!- or the other thing "bargain chasing" - play the supermarkets at their own game! - if they've got "bogoffs" or other offers that are good value, buy a dozen, pass them round your friends - or make a trek to somewhere like Lidl or Asda - they really are loads cheaper (especially if you stick to the "bargain" lines down near floor level!)

[shiney]

It's something I have noticed and more so my mum. She returned to France in January and came back for the wedding in September. She has noticed that alot of staple stuff has gone up big stylie, since she was here.

It's not just you Stoney, it really is happening. We are being duped by the big boys!

I do know that I have a certain amount to spend on our food bill each week. It's now better value to get an organic box of fruit and veg delivered, get some basics from the supermarket and my local ethical supermarket. I am spending the same on local, organic and ethical stuff, as I would if I spent it in one of the bigger stores, which is a very good sign indeed!

[Stonehead]

I was thinking more along the "everyday" things line - Stoney's tomato sauce for instance! A bit far for you, but our local Co-op has got gallons of ketchup at real knock-down prices - they have a small section devoted to "catering" sizes!- or the other thing "bargain chasing" - play the supermarkets at their own game! - if they've got "bogoffs" or other offers that are good value, buy a dozen, pass them round your friends - or make a trek to somewhere like Lidl or Asda - they really are loads cheaper (especially if you stick to the "bargain" lines down near floor level!)

Unfortunately, most of the bogoffs apply to convenience foods and other rubbish. Also, the cost of bogoffs, particuarly on fresh produce, is actually born by the producer - not by the supermarket.

We check prices very carefully - T***o, Morrisons and Asda up here are all within pennies of each other on our shopping list.

In fact, it would make the paranoid suspect they were colluding as so many items have exactly the same prices. They disguise it by using different sized packaging, but but when you look at the price per kilo or litre then you quickly find they're the same.

We also use our local shop a lot (and they have a lot of the pickling and baking stuff the supermarkets don't have), but the prices are generally too high, even allowing for the saving on fuel.

That brings me to one of the irritating things about living the way we do. We'd like to buy more organic ranges, but when our family has a limited budget, a number of people to feed and we have to buy certain things, then we have to buy value, non-organic items.

There really isn't a choice, but so many people who aren't in the same position don't realise this. Yes, bulk buying organic ranges may be cheaper than buying them individually but if it's still more expensive than your budget, then you don't buy it.

Some people have said we should use a credit card - but why get in debt to another corporation when we can, just, afford the food we need if we're careful and don't buy items that cost too much.

If we want organically produced food then we have to grow, rear and prepare it ourselves, and that's what we do. But without more bodies, machinery or more land, we simply cannot produce everything we need - while there are things that cannot grow in Scotland even if we could afford a polytunnel.

So it may be philosophically unacceptable to buy value tomato ketchup from a supermarket, for example, but that attitude is a luxury we don't have. We have to be pragmatic and accept that if we want to make a tomato-based pasta sauce, then we are going to have to use value ketchup and canned tomatoes to do so.

And don't forget, that pasta sauce (made with our own onions, garlic and herbs) plus 300g of lamb mince and a large bag of pasta will feed us for two nights.

Same with a 1.8kg pork joint. Roast it and have it with vegetables for one meal; slice some and use it on sandwiches for two meals; chop it, marinate it, fry it and add it to fried rice (with our own peas, onions, garlic, eggs) for a further three meals (two dinners, one lunch). That's six meals for a family.

But if we opt for organic rice or pasta, no matter how much cheaper it is than normal, then we would have to settle for less in our meals and so that means fewer meals for the same money. Not an option.

It's a bit like some people and clothes. They come home with the new outfit that they picked up at a sale - "Look, it only cost £150, down from £300 so I saved £150". Erm, but you only had £50 cash to spend so you've actually gone £100 over your budget, so you haven't saved money, you've spent too much!

Compounding the problem is the fact that we live in the country. When we lived in London (and indeed Oxfordshire and to a lesser extent North Yorkshire), it was fairly easy to find and get to street markets, greengrocers, butchers and the like. Often, their prices were better than the supermarkets (and even if they were more expensive, we had more money then).

But, it's a different story up here although we're lucky enough to have a butcher in Insch, as well as a fairly good local shop, chemist/newsagent, hardware shop and post office. We always use the latter three in preference to the major supermarkets and DIY chains, but can't afford to have the same policy with food.

Anyway, the boys and I have now had our rest after our four-mile walk to town and back so it's out to do a few jobs.