Supermarket Fury!!

[Helsbells]

HATE ASDA!!!!!

Just been there and it makes me so mad.
Let me tell you why:

It seems to me that supermarkets deliberately make things hard for ishers. I realise that this is because they make more of a profit from making things themselves that from letting us make things, but at least give us the choice!!

Take for example breadmaking, there are about 4 differant types of breadmaking flour, and how many differant loaves of bread!! Loads!
Gelatine, they had one type - sheet gelatine (I needed granulated for my recipe) but flavoured jellys and readymade jelly they have loads!
I wanted spring water so I could make some soap, they had half an isle of flavoured water, and the other half was differant types of non flavoured water, there was sparkling, mineral, tap, you name it, but could I find one single bottle of spring water? No. I could have bought 6 2 litre bottles or 8 500ml bottles.
Grrrrrr

They are the most useless supermarket I have ever had the misfortune to enter. They do he most obscure ready made items for example Summer fruit pie filling, wheat free jaffa cakes and ready made mashed potato, but very little in the way of basic ingredients.

It makes me very angry and convinced that its all a conspiracy against us.

[Rosendula]

I know what you mean. We have a few different stupormarkers all about the same distance from our house but in different directions. They're all as bad. Even those that have a slightly less bad reputation just don't satisfy my needs.

[Flo]

Ladies, ladies please - draw breath and remember that you are the minority oddballs

Supermarkets are stocked with cheap items for the big majority of sheep who buy there not the requirements of the minority self sufficient minority goats.

There's no profit in minorities and if there is no profit there will be do dividends for the shareholders. That is the way of big business.

[eccentric_emma]

I know what you mean Helen. At Christmas it took me 10 minutes to track down icing sugar. And even then, only one choice of brand and box size!!

And organic pizza flour? Not a chance.

[Helsbells]

At Christmas it took me 10 minutes to track down icing sugar. And even then, only one choice of brand and box size!!

I know!! I asked for organic icing sugar and was given the strangest look!!
He went and asked someone "do we have such a thing as organic icing sugar" as if its some kind of alien food!!

There's no profit in minorities and if there is no profit there will be do dividends for the shareholders. That is the way of big business.

I know but that doesnt stop me being MAD!!!

[pumpy]

Ladies, ladies please - draw breath and remember that you are the minority oddballs

Supermarkets are stocked with cheap items for the big majority of sheep who buy there not the requirements of the minority self sufficient minority goats.

There's no profit in minorities and if there is no profit there will be do dividends for the shareholders. That is the way of big business.

Absolutely spot-on Flo. We have also found that certain items, which might only be used in home baking/brewing, etc, are only available on a very limited basis, unless you pre-arrange collection from "customer service", in which case they will fall-over backwards to accomodate you, 'cos they assume that you will then rush back to buy the more everyday stuff. ( patronising b******s!).

[Annpan]

I asked for cous cous in an ASDA once, the member of staff asked me "What's that?" I said "It's a bit like rice" he said "It'll be next to the rice"

[pumpy]

Ahh, Annpan, why didn't you think of that! But i s'pose that if someone doesn't know what cous cous is, then is it their fault? I didn't know what Foo-foo was 'til my mum married a guy from Ghana

[invisiblepiper]

My local Morrisons told me " Oh - no-one bakes any more you know" - when I was looking for cake ingredients (nothing very strange)
Its true - the mark up on prepared food is far higher - so greater profit.

[Helsbells]

But what do they think? That if they dont supply us with the ingredients we need to make what we want then we will just go ahead and buy it ready made?
Well sorry but NO!!
I would rather go without than buy their ready made, chemical ridden cr@p.

(Sorry if I am sounding agressive, just angry at the Supermarkets, not anyone here)

[Annpan]

But there is a demand for the chemically ridden crap - they wouldn't sell it otherwise. You could always use your purchase power and go somewhere else.... sadly I think we will remain in the minority, Joe Bloggs will still be happy to buy his Microchips and chicago town pizza

Ahh, Annpan, why didn't you think of that! But i s'pose that if someone doesn't know what cous cous is, then is it their fault? I didn't know what Foo-foo was 'til my mum married a guy from Ghana

Ah yes but, is the customer the right person to ask? and I consider that if you work in a shop you should understand the vast majority of your produce, and know a little about each item, AND be able to ask a knowledgeable collegue if you must. I use to work in a shop, there were certainly times when I was asked about items I didn't know but I always knew who to ask...

Not the fault of the member of staff, but his attitude and lack of assistance to the customer was certainly down to poor staff training.

I bought custard powder from T***o recently and the till lady said "wow, didn't know you could still get this".... Custard powder????

I have never had the same problem at Sainsburgs - in fact I have to tell the staff to just tell me where stuff is, they don't need to take me to the shelf - obviously part of their staff training. They also seem to have the biggest range of organic and fairtrade of all the supermarkets.

[pumpy]

Hi Helsbells, i agree with you 100%.........especially when you see the constant price increases in these bloody super-(rip-off)markets. Why should we be penalised for wanting to make our own food-stuffs,etc.? Lets all have a good rant

[Green Aura]

I want a Sainsburys instead of bloody T***o!!!!!!!!

[mrsflibble]

i hate supermarkets, but basildon being the cultural desert it is i am buggered to find stuff anywhere else.

mind you, T***o pitsea has huge indian range including massive bags of besan flour, something i couldnt find in asda or sainsburys in this town.

[JulieSherris]

One of the biggest problems in todays society, is that folks are looking for cheaper & cheaper all the time... which, of course, is fair enough.
However, when it comes to food, WE know that cheaper really isn't better at all.... Cheaper usually means poor quality & over processed foods become the norm. And the march of time also means that many of the 'old ways' have been lost. Remember when Jamie Oliver first did the school meals programme on TV & went into a school asking the kids to 'name that veg'..... and the teenagers couldn't?

And do you know who I blame for these situations? My generation, & even people slightly older again..... OK, my kids are sort of lucky in that they DO know what veggies are, they know where meat comes from - altho for years my youngest believed that chicken nuggets were chicken 'tentacles' - it was one way of putting her off them

But I know plenty of girls who are my daughters friends who CANNOT cook, knit, sew etc, because they've never been taught - they think they're being so clever by producing frozen, microwave meals, then announcing proudly that they 'cooked' dinner

In the early '90's, one young girl of 12 who came for tea whispered to her mum on the way out the door, that we 'must be poor, because Gail's mummy had to MAKE burgers & they didn't have a microwave!'

It's a catch 22 situation, Hels - supply & demand, but demand & consume what's available at the cheapest price...... just thank your lucky stars that you've jumped off the wagon early enough to appreciate a healthy life.