ASDA -fresh meat no longer as good

RachelD

We had a new ASDA open in our town last November. I tried it and was converted from a Sainsburys regular; this was mainly due to the high quality of the fresh meat. I marvelled at tender roasts, chicken that tasted as good as the farm ones I had as a child - no mean feat considering how bland chicken is these days.- and steak you could cut with a butter knife.
It is now about 3 months since it opened and I 've noticed the quality is no longer as good, in fact nothing special.

It might be just me but has anyone else noticed this ? Maybe I'm being a bit cynical but is this what new supermarkets do as an opening ploy. Sell really good stuff to snare a regular clientele and then drop back the quality.

Rachel

frizz_head

I have noticed in recent months that Asdas food (particularly meat and poultry) quality has really gone downhill. I am really spoilt for choice where I live, with a 10 mile radius I have Asda, Tesco, Tesco Express, Sainsburys, Savacentre, 4 x Waitrose. So I used to have a habit of rotating where I did my shopping. I tended to stick with Asda as they are so cheap. But just lately, things like individually wrapped chicken breasts (8 for £6.79) have been awful. The last pack I bought, six of them contained bones. Also, the Braising Beef 500g for £2.99, has been terrible quality - really fatty. I have now been buying a lot of my meat in Waitrose, where the quality is so much better. The braising steak in Waitrose is exactly the same price as Asda, and is so much leaner.

I have also noticed that fruit and veg in Asda does not last very long, as say Sainsburys or Waitrose. It is more expensive in those stores, but I think it is a case of getting what you pay for.

Galtizz

Yep, I think Asda have really gone downhill since Wallmart took over a couple of years ago. The potatoes then the rest of the fruit and veg was the first to go and everything else has followed suit.

I get everything from Lidl now and hardly ever go to Asda or Tesco's or any of the others.

I don't get my meat from Lidl but from a butchers at a market in the town centre. He does big packs of stuff really cheap (40 chicken breasts for £10! and other similar offers) I find the quality is better too. I go two or three times a year and fill the freezer.

Getting friendly with your local butcher is even better because you can buy stuff as you need it and s/he will make sure you get the really good cuts.

Xbigman

As someone who currently works in a major supermarkets warehouse and used to work in a bakery supplying same supermarket.

All new stores get special treatment. Suppliers have what they supply double checked. Warehouses get their order picking checked. Transport has that store as priority delivery. Shall I go on...

In short. Your new ASDA had good quality rubbish but now its only average quality rubbish.
Regards



X

needmoney

Nice reply Xbigman now would you please tell us which supermarkets are still selling the good quality rubbish ta:D

Xbigman

Who sells the better stuff? No one. All supermarkets compete on price now. M&S and Sainsburys try to convince us otherwise, but its all either 'cheap and nasty' or 'dear and ok'. Every supplier I've dealt with in 16 years just supplies whats ordered. The supermarket wants 3 organic pigs and you got 2, you supply 3 pigs in organic labelling. Xmas time the supermarket wants to double its order of bread, then you work through the weekend before Xmas week and make everything 2 or 3 days earlier. Won't it go off? No, you put in vinegar (to kill mould) and double fat (to keep it soft).

I'm so disgusted with the quality of some organic veg I invested a few hours in digging the garden over last week, about a 10' by 8' plot, and bought 4 packets of seeds for £3.46. I'm growing my own.
Regards


X

needmoney

Xbigman wrote:

Who sells the better stuff? No one. All supermarkets compete on price now. M&S and Sainsburys try to convince us otherwise, but its all either 'cheap and nasty' or 'dear and ok'. Every supplier I've dealt with in 16 years just supplies whats ordered. The supermarket wants 3 organic pigs and you got 2, you supply 3 pigs in organic labelling. Xmas time the supermarket wants to double its order of bread, then you work through the weekend before Xmas week and make everything 2 or 3 days earlier. Won't it go off? No, you put in vinegar (to kill mould) and double fat (to keep it soft).

I'm so disgusted with the quality of some organic veg I invested a few hours in digging the garden over last week, about a 10' by 8' plot, and bought 4 packets of seeds for £3.46. I'm growing my own.
Regards


X

Thanks for that Xbigman but I am sitting here with my mouth open in shock, didn't realise things were quite as bad as
The supermarket wants 3 organic pigs and you got 2, you supply 3 pigs in organic labelling

or

Won't it go off? No, you put in vinegar (to kill mould) and double fat (to keep it soft).

So it seems we are all sitting ducks for bad practices and can trust nobody.
Nice to know these things from the inside though. I have never felt quite the same way about meat since that horrid chicken scandal Ugggggggghhh!!!!

Debt_Free_Chick

Buy meat from a butcher - every time. It will be British Meat, tracked all the way back to the producer. Your butcher should be able to tell you the breed of the beast, how it was reared, when it was slaughtered and how long it was hung for. Hanging produces a much superior texture and flavour. If your butcher can't tell you this, he's not a butcher. He's buying meat from the wholesaler instead.

Shop around until you find a decent butcher. Or try some of the excellent online/mail order suppliers. If it's not cheap, ask yourself why not? In my experience, it's not cheap because it's better quality.

Supermarkets screw the British Farmer and in their quest for "value" will source meat from overseas where the standards of farming and husbandry are far below what we demand of our farmers.

Veg - buy from the market, farm shop or barrow boy. Better still, grow your own.

DFC
Who NEVER buys meat or veg in ANY supermarket.

aeuerby

Debt_Free_Chick wrote:

Or try some of the excellent online/mail order suppliers.

Can you suggest any?

Angela.

mink35

aeuerby wrote:

Can you suggest any?

Angela.

Just what I was gonna ask :rolleyes:

tryin2bms

this is my first post after lurking for a few months
but i felt that i had to respond to this thread -my other half is a butcher and you wouldn't belive some of the things that happen there as the previous persom said about organic pork its the same in butchers shop
as with all this hype over scotish beef they will tell you its from scotland and may even show you a ticket but you don't know which piece of beef its from and i have even known the butchers get there hands on these tickets
i the butchers were he works pride themselves on quality goods but no better than cheaper butchers else where but they charge double there money.some of the things that my other half tells me is enough to put you off eating meat alltogether