Praise: The Co-operative

Pupnik

I went to UKC too and I agree, that co op was hugely overpriced! Luckily I did not live on site so hardly ever had to go in there. It is a very unusual co op though, the larger stores have much better prices. I wonder whether the UKC one thought 'well they're students, they have loans so they don't care as it isn't their money' and sadly they were probably right judging by the amount of food my classmates would get from there (and there's me with my packed lunch...) It is worth noting though that UKC did regularly have fruit and veg markets which had much better prices for produce.

asbokid

It seems to be Co-operative policy to move in to captive markets. Derelict town centres, windswept housing estates, out of town university campuses, isolated rural villages and the like.

In 2008, Co-op paid a sizeable sum (£1.57bn) to buy all 900 stores in the Somerfield chain. At the time, Somerfield was in private equity hands. The Teheran-born gangster, Robert Tchenguiz, held a 30% stake, bought using gold that his father Victor, a Mossad agent, looted from the Iranian royal mint on the fall of the Shah. Somerfield has had a sordid past! The Co-op was a knight in shining armour?

Co-op's £2.2bn debt-funded buyout of Somerfield was underwritten by Barclays, Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets, Royal Bank of Scotland, Bank of Ireland and the Co-operative Bank. After the buyout, the Co-Op became our fifth largest grocery retailer after Tesco, Asda, Sainsburys and Morrisons.

At the time of the buy-out the Co-op's chief executive, Peter Marks, said that the Co-op planned to create "significant" economies of scale through the deal, in areas including buying, IT and distribution. He denied that the timing of the deal - at a time when the economy is slowing - will work against the Co-op. "This is a long-term plan. We ignore the ups and downs of the economy," he said.

There are few signs yet that the Co-op is passing on any savings to the consumer from these new economies of scale. Perhaps the cost of servicing its vast debt are prohibiting the chain from engaging in any radical price-cutting. The Somerfield buyout was clearly good news for City bankers, but not so good for everyone else, not least the shoppers.

There are press rumours that the Co-op would now like to devour the Iceland frozen food chain which has been provisionally put up for sale by Landsbankii, its bankrupt Icelandic owners. If the Co-op is successful with these plans, it could spell further bad news for the consumer. Competition in the grocery sector would shrink even more. Food prices would go even higher, and there would be a possible store disposal programme, for both regulatory and rationalisation reasons.

Mrcrimbo

For throwing out loads of perfectly good cakes, rolls, bread, posh pizzas, posh you name it in their disposal bins for people like me to enjoy direct from the bin :beer:

Estimate I have saved atleast £800 on groceries. I've still got bags of milkybars and maltesers from Christmas that I'm still eating throw as I type.

asbokid

Mrcrimbo wrote: »

For throwing out loads of perfectly good cakes, rolls, bread, posh pizzas, posh you name it in their disposal bins for people like me to enjoy direct from the bin :beer:

Estimate I have saved atleast £800 on groceries. I've still got bags of milkybars and maltesers from Christmas that I'm still eating throw as I type.

i hope you get diarrhoea you filthy old bin-diving scrooge.

Timalay

asbokid wrote: »

i hope you get diarrhoea you filthy old bin-diving scrooge.

It's perfectly fine, alot of supermarkets throw out stuff way before they really go off (regardless of the best before date). Also the chocolate is a wrapper soo it's not touched anything else. It was in the Great British Waste Menu, they made a whole three course feast out if food that would of been thrown away by the supplier (the entries where made out of food scavenged from supermarkets bins).

B00

Timalay wrote: »

It's perfectly fine, alot of supermarkets throw out stuff way before they really go off (regardless of the best before date). Also the chocolate is a wrapper soo it's not touched anything else. It was in the Great British Waste Menu, they made a whole three course feast out if food that would of been thrown away by the supplier (the entries where made out of food scavenged from supermarkets bins).

Oh great, are you one of those people who I regularly have to clear up after? These delightful people, rummage in the bins, discarding all that they dont want out the bin, and leaving them scattered around the car park for us the staff to pick up- thanks a lot.

Alter_ego

Guud with fuud!

nomoneytoday

happyinflorida wrote: »

Just be glad you're not students at University of Kent - they only have a Co-op store there on campus, so it's the main shop for an enormous number of students and all the one's who start there and live on site. It is so over priced as to be unbelievable! The prices are the highest that I have seen in any small shop for years and years and I was utterly disgusted that a company such as the Co-op should so openly rip off students - who are getting into the most debt ever now as having to borrow money for course fees. Why they are doing this? They are meant to be an ethical company! Obviously they are defininately not!

Maybe their overheads are higher?

bcl999

B00 wrote: »

Oh great, are you one of those people who I regularly have to clear up after? These delightful people, rummage in the bins, discarding all that they dont want out the bin, and leaving them scattered around the car park for us the staff to pick up- thanks a lot.

And here's me blaming the "urban" foxes!

Timalay

B00 wrote: »

Oh great, are you one of those people who I regularly have to clear up after? These delightful people, rummage in the bins, discarding all that they dont want out the bin, and leaving them scattered around the car park for us the staff to pick up- thanks a lot.

Did I say I do it. I was just giving you the facts of what this program said.

bcl999 wrote: »

And here's me blaming the "urban" foxes!

Shhhh :P