Tonight: Brand v Budget

luckys_mum

I too have started to be a smarter shopper thanks to all the great advice on these boards, and have tried to cut out all waste.

Doom_and_Gloom

It was definatly Sainsburys yes (partner works there and I knew from the trolley alone :rolleyes: ). Really can not believe they spent that much on food and were able to have a 44% cut on price from their normal shop to what Martin got :eek: . If people got that kind of a pay rise they would know about it I'm sure of it. It really does show what brand loyalty does to suck your money from you when there are other perfectly fine products out there that can be better :T .

geordie_joe

Doom_and_Gloom wrote: »

It really does show what brand loyalty does to suck your money from you when there are other perfectly fine products out there that can be better :T .

I agree, but there is also some rubbish out there.

I guess the best thing to do is try things, if you like them keep buying them, if you don't then try something else.

SnowyOwl_2

OMG that house the family lived in, it was gorgeous!! Dad must be on superbucks to be able to finance their lifestyle.

Anyway, yes, it was interesting how most of the food that was dished up didn't get any unfavourable comments. The marketeers ploys of shelf placement, advertising, fancy packaging etc work terribly well.

It'd have been interesting to see how they fared if they started using non-brand items such as shampoo, shower gel and so on. I'd also love to have known if their dog turned his nose up at the cheaper food he got. It would be hard to imagine that the children would accept non-brand trainers and so on though.

I expect there was a time v content issue. It's a shame Martin didn't get longer to present his case as there's so much that could have been looked at, other than food.

However it was worth watching - I expect it'll have been a bit of an eye-opener for some.

lil_me

A £16k salary worth of food, wow, would have loved a detailed view of what she bought and what she made from it, for 4 people over £10k a year is huge, even by what was my standards.

SnowyOwl while I agree those aspects would have been interesting, this one was just about groceries.

SnowyOwl_2

lil_me wrote: »

A £16k salary worth of food, wow, would have loved a detailed view of what she bought and what she made from it, for 4 people over £10k a year is huge, even by what was my standards.

SnowyOwl while I agree those aspects would have been interesting, this one was just about groceries.

The programme touched on face creams and tried to convince some women to switch after they had tested some without knowing what brands they were. So it was about more than groceries. I always thought that groceries included toiletries you would get at the supermarket, as well as washing powder, washing up liquid, detergents etc etc. I don't recall anyone stating that the shopping was for food only, though the family only seemed to test food purchased.

frosty

for everyone who missed it


www.itv.com/ITVplayer/video/default.html?viewType=5&Filter=37626

shezza

I watched the programme and thought it was really interesting, especially the bit about moisturisers and alcohol. What would have been nice though was if they actually told you what the budget moisturiser was especially as one of the testers thought it was the premium brand.

fletch3163

I too saw the programme. One thing it hit upon was how if everyone just bought own brand stuff then the supermarkets couldn't sustain the lower prices and they'd have to rise. That might have something to do with the very obvious rise in lots of own brand products I've been hearing about.

I actually don't agree with them not noticing a double drop in standard with mince (ie from extra lean to value):eek: . The smell is very noticeable, even when draining before cooking/serving and the texture is also vastly different IMHO.

I betcha supermarkets just weep when they hear Martin's on the telly:D

Farway

It must be added that Martin is very selective in the families he chooses for TV, my son in law applied to appear on one of the programmes, but when they investigated there was not much more to be saved, so no MSE to turn up & save loads of dosh

Having said that we all need folk who can afford it [as this family could] to just buy whatever they like, which helps supermarkets profits and offsets us Smartprice shopppers