Be cautious with value lines

gailey_2

I never buy value meat, poultry or eggs do buy sainsburys basic salmon.

I think its matter of trying see what you like.

value spread not as good as brand name on offer at 89p or £1.

Tiglath

I_luv_cats wrote: »

What's going to happen if too many people downshift to value/basic brands?

I guess prices would have to go up to protect overall margins!


Some prices are shooting up already.

Value peppers were 89p to £1.10 now £1.25
Value Mushrooms were 97p now £1.25
Value Fresh tomatoes were 75p now 90p
Value UHT skimmed milk was 49p now 53p
Savers eggs (6) 85p to 99p

How much of that is seasonal though? I'd expect those veg to go up in winter anyway as it's not their natural growing season and there's the additional cost of growing them under cover, providing light and heat etc.

geordie_joe

Tiglath wrote: »

How much of that is seasonal though?

Probably none of it. For one thing we don't know where they come from, so it could be summer where they are grown. It can't be transport costs either, because f&v that has only traveled a few miles is always more expensive than ones that have come a few thousand miles.

Tiglath wrote: »

I'd expect those veg to go up in winter anyway as it's not their natural growing season

You are assuming they are British, they could come from anywhere in the world.

Tiglath wrote: »

and there's the additional cost of growing them under cover, providing light and heat etc.

Yes, but i would expect a pepper, or tomato that is ripe this week to have been grown much the same way as one that was ripe last week, so cost the same.

As for mushrooms, I don't think they need much heat or light. I once rang the local mushroom producer about a job picking mushrooms, one of the questions i asked was "is the work seasonal" The lady laughed and said "No, there are no seasons for mushrooms, we produce the same amount 365 days a year".

I expect there may be seasons for wild mushrooms, but I doubt value mushrooms are wild.

Edwardia

Value mushrooms would never be wild. Wild mushrooms are being overpicked by commercial foragers who sell them for up to £30 a kilo. They do have to know what they are doing though so they don't sell poisonous stuff.

pleasedelete

Haffiana wrote: »

Good lord, whoever told you that?! Of course they make a profit - they cost less to buy because the quality is not fixed like an own-label or branded item. Value items use up cheaper ingredients or they are repackaged end of production runs or sourced from different factories - it varies. Because it varies it is badged as a value item. Supermarkets buy them for less and sell them for less. They still make a handsome profit. Yes of course raw ingredient prices go up, but that is costed in, and if necessary the value item will also go up in price same as everything else.

Not always. I worked for the MD of one of big supermarkets a few years ago. Then a number of the lines including own brand baked beans were sold at a loss (it was a company joke that every time someone bought a can we were paying them to take them away). They were loss leaders basically.

naganalf

This is completely scurrilous behaviour and is another example of Tesco duping the consumer to earn greater margin.
Their current long list of price increases are an example of anything but....."Every Little Helps..."yes.....helps Tesco who really are scandalously uncaring about their customers.

Boycott them!:mad:

joeyboy

pleasedelete wrote: »

They were loss leaders basically.

Yeah I imagine a reasonable amount of value lines are loss leaders, but you can tell by some of their pricing compared to the standard own brand or branded products which are probably still fairly profitable.

I don't know if this has changed, but I work at Iceland and was told a few years ago that selling the 4 pinters of milk for £1 means we make a small loss, but because a lot of people come in to buy it at £1 each, they'll buy other things while they're in there. I mean you do often here "I only came in for milk and eggs" and they've got a basket full, so it works.

Also what I find weird is places like ASDA which have their value range of half a dozen eggs from caged hens at 99p when they also sell free ranged eggs for the same price!