Loose potatos not so cheap

onlyroz

I've usually gone under the assumption, when buying fruit and veg, that it's usually cheaper to buy them lose rather than "pre-packed". However, in the case of potatos, it's usually quite a bit cheaper to buy them pre-packed than loose. Anybody got any ideas why this is the case?

punkpink

I'll second that, i bought 3 potatoes in Co-Op the other week and they came to £2.64 :eek:

Ok they were large ish - i wanted to make jacket potaoes - but stil extortionate!

Enterprise_1701C

No idea why, but I do know that I tend to buy the value packs of bananas because, if you sort through them, you can mostly get a pack that goes well over the advertised weight.

judeee

I don't know, but I found that out when I only needed two large potatoes in Asda and they came to £1.14!! If I'd had time to work it all out I'd have been much better off buying a pack of four baking pots for 70p. Don't buy loose!!

onlyroz

Exactly - you can normally get a 2.5 kg sack for around £1-£1.50, whereas regular loose potatos are often around £1 a kilo, which is ridiculous. At that price it becomes unecomomical to do things like make your own chips or roasties...

Microwave_Dinner

In the case of baking spuds, maybe the loose ones are bigger than the prepacked ones? Hence average price of 4 of them would be higher if loose.

tiff

Saw sacks of 25kg potatoes today for £4. I usually buy a sack in the winter and keep it in the shed. I would just use several small potatoes if there are no larger ones in the sack. Never knew they were that expensive loose though!

Dazi

It could be cos when you get to the check out they are not sure what the items in the bag are, (although potatoes look like potatoes and everyone should know what they are). I once had a bag with turnips in and the checkout lad asked errrrr what are these. So prepacked are cheaper cos it takes less time at the checkout!

Bogof_Babe

Also the baking spuds have to be sorted into pretty evenly sized (large) and attractive lookers. In bags they can just shove any old shapes and sizes in.

I still think it's a rip-off though. But I'm not surprised at the Co-op, they rip you off on most things.

DCFC79

Dazi wrote: »

It could be cos when you get to the check out they are not sure what the items in the bag are, (although potatoes look like potatoes and everyone should know what they are). I once had a bag with turnips in and the checkout lad asked errrrr what are these. So prepacked are cheaper cos it takes less time at the checkout!

i dont think its a reason why pre packed are cheaper

onlyroz

OK, just looking at Tesco website.

2.5kg bag of Maris Pipers, £1.74 (70p/kg)
2.5kg "white potatoes", £1.35 (54p/kg)
5kg "market value" potatoes, £1.69 (34p/kg)
2kg organic potatoes, £1.75 (83p/kg)
7.5kg "farm selected" potatoes, £3.99 (53p/kg)
2.5kg king Edward, £1.78 (71p/kg)
1.5kg Tesco finest jacket potatoes, £2 (1.34/kg)

And finally:

Baking potatos loose, £1.25/kg

I know what I'll be buying...