Approved Foods thread

singledaddy

have to been tempted to order from AF for some time, but have to admit there are too many stories of smashed deliveries etc. think I will give them a miss. shame really cos their prices look good.

sb44

miggy wrote: »

Oh dear, I'm now being tempted to go down to M&S and buy a tin of their beans to try out on the family to see if they will accept them as a substitute for Heinz! This is getting out of hand!

Are you talking about the beans from Big Brands?

I read that the beans were from Sainsburys and the Bacon and Lentil soup from M&S.

chalkysoil

Still no reply from A F. Husband is just dumping the boxes of broken glass and crushed sticky packets etc in to the wheeelie bin, then I get to wash the floor :mad:

sillywilly

chalkysoil wrote: »

still no reply from A F . :mad: Husband is doing his nut about sticky runny mess all over front porch and door will only open a foot. Visitors & 2 dogs coming to stay tomorrow too.

At least the dogs will have some food!!

Had my first order today and heard the driver struggling outside and dropping the box. When he got to the door he complained about the weight and said "What have you got in there?!" Seeing that the box was open at the top I assumed he must have seen so replied "I can't remember".

I could only remember the soup which could have made a mess and my bags of cashews. If his weakness had caused my carrot soup and nut bags to be opened and drying out I wouldn't have been happy.

Luckily the only damage seemed to be a couple of dented tins and one huge packet of cous cous, why did I buy so much of the stuff, to be opened. Nay bother.

I have to say I am very impressed with this first order. I am also impressed with the communication and how easy it was to get a delivery for a more convienent day - simply reply to a text.

Well done Dan and my packer Barry - I like the concept and it worked very well for me.

sillywilly

The main reason is because I usually don't want a big bowl of soup that I know will fill me up if I am going to have a main after.

The other reason is because in general soup is very cheap to make. 50 - 90% of soups main ingredient is water.

I will demonstrate an example of the mark ups possible on a bowl of soup bought from Approved Food. They are selling the Loyd Grossman carrot and coriander soup in 2 KG tubs for 99p. That is 8 250ml servings.

You buy 14 of them and add postage of £5.25 for a total cost of £19.25. That is 112 portions. If you say that on average a restaurant will charge £4 for a soup starter that means a turnover of £448 on a £20 investment!!!

To jazz it up the restaurant adds a crusty roll, butter, tiny swirl of cream and coriander leaf - They are still going to get £400 back on that!!! If I had a restaurant that is what I would be doing.

BTW - The soup is absolutely gorgeous, just needed a bit more black pepper and the date on mine was SEP 2010 so only just out of.

Anyway - one reason to never buy soup as a starter and for a restaurant to sell it as one!!

Red_Doe

Can`t find the Big Brands thread, sorry! I order regularly from Approved Foods and have only once had smashed jars (more down to the courier than anything else) and got a refund, am happy with their service to date.
I did a first order from Big Brands...the bags of pizza dough mix are terrific and should last ages! Bit iffy on the tins of beans though as most are bashed and rusted...will sort through them later and see if any should be discarded, but apart from that happy with them too. Would definately use them again, maybe being a bit more cautious with the tins.

sparkle03

Hi all, new to this thread, I made an order with approved foods last week and just had it delivered. Im soooo angry, It looks as if the soup has exploded in the box. Its all over my hallway - walls and floor, not to mention everything thats in the box!
So does anyone have a current telephone number for them? I tried the one on the page before but was unsure if this was for the new office as no answer.
I have emailed them but hey Im an impatient sort of person

Right I had better get back to the hallway with my gloves and binbags and mop!

ETA, It gets better, there goes the baby on the baby monitor! Oh what fun

chalkysoil

my 3rd email sent has had an auto reply with this number on it
If your query is urgent, please call us on 0114 3600061.

My parcel last week was perfectly packed, flawless, but the one on monday which wasn't for me anyway had been bodged and was slapdash and ruined. I had a reply by pm on here this morning, a reply to my emails after 24 hours, and no one answered their phone or telephoned me yesterday. I gather they had some server issues yesterday.

hermum

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

i am very tempted to put an order in with that bigbrands for less,

anyone else going to order, or have put an order in?

I must admit i do feel a bit quilty:cool: as i do believe in loyality when it comes to supporting local or independant retailers etc, as its tough enough as it is without a recession going on..

I put in an order a couple of weeks ago when there was 200% free, figured I couldn't go wrong.
You don't get a delivery slot but mine came I think within 2 days. I ordered from them what I couldn't get from AF, I think that if you use both you should be able to eat pretty well & for little money.
I'm not keen on the scone mix, 3 bags of 3.5kg as I had 2 free, I can never get scones to rise & thought maybe a packet mix would, alas not, or not for me anyway. I may have to offer them as biscuits.:rotfl:

Foxy

miggy wrote: »

Foxy, is the Big Brands doughnut mix okay? I noticed it's further past its sell-by than most items. Same for pizza mix - if they still taste good (and AF don't get some newer ones in before I order!) I would like these, but I don't want the waste of ordering something we won't eat.

Oh dear, I'm now being tempted to go down to M&S and buy a tin of their beans to try out on the family to see if they will accept them as a substitute for Heinz! This is getting out of hand!

just arrived it bbe july not jan 2010dunno bout pizza one as didnt order