The great Tesco / Pringles pricing saga

martinthebandit

peachyprice wrote: »

Withdrawing a premium product because a child doesn't pay for it is.

Lol I don't think that is what I said.

If the child does not want to eat the more economical treat then that is the childs choice.

thor

trukdiver wrote: »

The fact that Pringles are always on offer somewhere suggests that the "official" price is somewhat inflated...

Too true. Although, as has already been noted, this applies to many more products and most supermarkets. It is just that Tesco are the absolute worst at trying to deceive their customers. I like to think that their recent run of poor results is due to shoppers beginning to turn their backs on them and their devious tactics.

Money-Saving-King

thor wrote: »

I like to think that their recent run of poor results is due to shoppers beginning to turn their backs on them and their devious tactics.

No it's just due to Aldi & Lidl. See the links below, all Supermarkets are the same.

Sainsbury's shares drop 7% on falling sales report

Morrisons' profits hurt by supermarket price war

Asda sees sales fall as 'shockwave' hits supermarkets

PenguinJim

dacouch wrote: »

Not well.

Could you try translating it from the start instead?

Google to the rescue! From Finnish Sayings on "Twitter": "It's a matter of taste, said the dog while licking his balls."

Hmmm. That's almost word-for-word with what I said. I guess if you didn't understand it before, you won't understand it now either. I'm not terribly good at dumbing things down, sorry - anyone care to step in and help?

trukdiver

thor wrote: »

Too true. Although, as has already been noted, this applies to many more products and most supermarkets. It is just that Tesco are the absolute worst at trying to deceive their customers. I like to think that their recent run of poor results is due to shoppers beginning to turn their backs on them and their devious tactics.

Tesco's own brand wines were notorious for being "half price" for almost as long as they were full price! (and not being any better than Lidl's wines..)

Pennywise

trukdiver wrote: »

Sometimes they are even made in the same factory/production line and just packaged differently, although they may have different quality control standards.

And different ingredients. I've spent time working as the accountant for some large food factories, including one making sandwiches for the supermarkets and another making sandwich fillings, cooked chicken meals and ready meals. Yes, they did use the same factory for making different brands, but I can assure you that in most cases, the ingredients were very different indeed.

In one of my first jobs, I naively asked why they were importing eggs from the far east by the container load and buying eggs from a local farm that were far more expensive - I assumed the local eggs were to cover shortfalls between container deliveries! In reality, I was abruptly told that the local eggs were for the premium brands and the imported mass produced eggs were for the discount supermarkets.

As I spent more time poring over their books and stock records, etc., it did become more and more apparent that the ingredients were very varied in quality. Not only that, but I also found out that the "waste" of the premium brand goods was usually used on the discount goods, i.e. the slices of a tomato were used in higher priced sandwiches, and the ends of the tomato were diced and used in discount sandwiches. We all know about "MRM" (mechanically recycled meat) which is the bits of animal left over after the meat has been taken, which used to be mashed and used in discount brands (though the publicity has stopped the worst of this now). Another instance was where imported frozen cooked chicken pieces were used in the discount brands of ready meals (so already frozen prior and a potential risk if frozen again at home), whereas local fresh chicken was cooked and used in the premium brands.

Of course, just using better ingredients doesn't improve the taste does it? After all, a lot of low quality food is laden with salt, sugar and other additives to taste better. That's probably why blind taste tests can sometimes show discount brands as tasting better. But that just hides the underlying poor quality of the ingredients in many cases.

I'm certainly not saying that premium brands are never wrapped and sold as discount brands. Of course that will happen. But, just because the same factory produces food for Marks & Spencer and Lidl, doesn't mean that you'll get the same quality and food standard at Lidl.

SevenOfNine

PenguinJim wrote: »

Google to the rescue! From Finnish Sayings on "Twitter": "It's a matter of taste, said the dog while licking his balls."

Hmmm. That's almost word-for-word with what I said. I guess if you didn't understand it before, you won't understand it now either. I'm not terribly good at dumbing things down, sorry - anyone care to step in and help?

In the context of the 'flavour' aspect of Pringles vs other brands, the saying made perfect sense just as it is.....but someone either 'gets' it or they don't. I thought it was funny & have heard it before (& still found it amusing again).

somethingcorporate

Pennywise wrote: »

And different ingredients. I've spent time working as the accountant for some large food factories, including one making sandwiches for the supermarkets and another making sandwich fillings, cooked chicken meals and ready meals. Yes, they did use the same factory for making different brands, but I can assure you that in most cases, the ingredients were very different indeed.

In one of my first jobs, I naively asked why they were importing eggs from the far east by the container load and buying eggs from a local farm that were far more expensive - I assumed the local eggs were to cover shortfalls between container deliveries! In reality, I was abruptly told that the local eggs were for the premium brands and the imported mass produced eggs were for the discount supermarkets.

As I spent more time poring over their books and stock records, etc., it did become more and more apparent that the ingredients were very varied in quality. Not only that, but I also found out that the "waste" of the premium brand goods was usually used on the discount goods, i.e. the slices of a tomato were used in higher priced sandwiches, and the ends of the tomato were diced and used in discount sandwiches. We all know about "MRM" (mechanically recycled meat) which is the bits of animal left over after the meat has been taken, which used to be mashed and used in discount brands (though the publicity has stopped the worst of this now). Another instance was where imported frozen cooked chicken pieces were used in the discount brands of ready meals (so already frozen prior and a potential risk if frozen again at home), whereas local fresh chicken was cooked and used in the premium brands.

Of course, just using better ingredients doesn't improve the taste does it? After all, a lot of low quality food is laden with salt, sugar and other additives to taste better. That's probably why blind taste tests can sometimes show discount brands as tasting better. But that just hides the underlying poor quality of the ingredients in many cases.

I'm certainly not saying that premium brands are never wrapped and sold as discount brands. Of course that will happen. But, just because the same factory produces food for Marks & Spencer and Lidl, doesn't mean that you'll get the same quality and food standard at Lidl.

Of course some times premium brands will use better and more expensive ingredients - it would be foolish to suggest they wouldn't.

But sometimes the only actual REAL difference is the brand perception.

RuthnJasper

Money-Saving-King wrote: »

Because sometimes it is. I shop at Aldi every week.

I can second this. Not ALL Aldi/Lidl stuff is nicer - but I definitely prefer the Lidl's own brand tomato ketchup to any other (including Heinz).

Teeny bit OT - but, at his wedding reception, my brother was devastated when our mum let slip that all thoughout his childhood she had bought Sainsbury's-own-brand Weetabix and put it in a branded Weetabix box (he refused to eat any cereal other than "proper" Weetabix). The deceit!! But she must have saved loads over the years, hehe

somethingcorporate

RuthnJasper wrote: »

I can second this. Not ALL Aldi/Lidl stuff is nicer - but I definitely prefer the Lidl's own brand tomato ketchup to any other (including Heinz).

Teeny bit OT - but, at his wedding reception, my brother was devastated when our mum let slip that all thoughout his childhood she had bought Sainsbury's-own-brand Weetabix and put it in a branded Weetabix box (he refused to eat any cereal other than "proper" Weetabix). The deceit!! But she must have saved loads over the years, hehe

The shame! :rotfl: