Ethnic aisles in supermarkets

Savannah02K

I might be late to the party here folks, apols if I am, but has anyone else noticed that stuff you can buy in the 'ordinary' aisles of supermarkets is a damm site cheaper if you go down the supermarket's 'ethnic' aisles?

I've been buying my tins of chick peas from that section of Tescos for a while (69p per tin in veggie aisle, three for £1.00 in the ethnic aisle, only difference being branding) but last week I checked out the chilli flakes - 98p for 28g of Tesco own (admittedly in a plastic jar) whilst in the ethnic aisle they were £1.99 for 200g bag!

Anyone else got any good spots along these lines?

antrobus

Savannah02K wrote: »

I might be late to the party here folks, apols if I am, but has anyone else noticed that stuff you can buy in the 'ordinary' aisles of supermarkets is a damm site cheaper if you go down the supermarket's 'ethnic' aisles?

Yup.

Savannah02K wrote: »

Anyone else got any good spots along these lines?

Basmati rice. One price for own brand, exortionate price for Tilda. Much cheaper in 'world foods' under some unfamiliar Asian brand name. Ditto for a lot of herbs and spices. Something like cumin; £47 a kilo in a little glass jar with a Schwartz brand on it, but nip over to the ethnic isle and it's £7 a kilo in a plastic packet.

snowleopard61

I've noticed this too - like you, chickpeas are the main thing I've bought much more cheaply this way.

LittleMax

and coconut milk!

ianders

Same with pepper

bargainbetty

Go to ethnic shops, that'll be a real wake up call! So much cheaper on spices, herbs, chillis, lentils etc than supermarkets!

mummybearx

And red lentils!

2kg bags in the ethnic aisle for £2.99, they are £1.40 odds for 500g in the normal aisle

x

Savannah02K

I've been buying the poppadoms etc from my local ethnic shop, 99p for a pack of 30 in there, Indian neighbour put me on to them when she saw me picking up a box of Sharwoods in the supermarket.

jackyann

Leaving aside the fact that shops are buildings, so have no ethnicity; and that all human beings are of some ethnic origin or another.......

Definitely go to Asian shops in areas with a high turnover; cheap & excellent quality.

Lilyplonk

I discovered that Red Lentils in the Ethnic Section were cheaper than in the 'usual place' that I buy them. Also packs of Ground Black Pepper - bought a couple of packs of both to keep in store [STRIKE]cupboard[/STRIKE] crate :j.

Fire_Fox

Savannah02K wrote: »

I might be late to the party here folks, apols if I am, but has anyone else noticed that stuff you can buy in the 'ordinary' aisles of supermarkets is a damm site cheaper if you go down the supermarket's 'ethnic' aisles?

I've been buying my tins of chick peas from that section of Tescos for a while (69p per tin in veggie aisle, three for £1.00 in the ethnic aisle, only difference being branding) but last week I checked out the chilli flakes - 98p for 28g of Tesco own (admittedly in a plastic jar) whilst in the ethnic aisle they were £1.99 for 200g bag!

Anyone else got any good spots along these lines?

From the World Foods section I have had block creamed coconut, coconut milk powder, coconut oil, olive oil, red palm oil, hot sweet chilli sauce, dried red and yellow lentils, brown basmati rice, brown rice noodles, canned chick peas/ tomatoes/ black beans/ pumpkin, various dry spice blends, lazy jar red or green chilli, lemon juice, dried fruit esp yellow raisins/ sultanas, whole nuts, pumpkin seeds, ground almonds, dry seaweeds, spicy fried lentils and chilli corn.

I don't get canned coconut milk, it's cheaper to dilute from the block or powder and these are easier to store. The only thing I didn't like was dried soya mince but I think that is because soya is disgusting in general! :rotfl:

We also have a few World Foods in the freezer and fresh produce - I get frozen garlic and frozen ginger cubes, 4kg of fresh red onions.