Tesco Value snobbery??

JailhouseBabe

Whenever and wherever I shop, I always buy value brands. I had a trolley-full in Tesco last week of Value brands - the only items that were not value were those that were on offer, e.g. 2 packs of wraps for £2.

I suppose I'm lucky that DD (19) realises that branded doesn't always mean better. We were in a store a few weeks ago and the young couple in front of us were buying branded tins of tomatoes at 79p each. DD was horrified!

Primrose

I frankly don't care a damn where I shop and what other people think about it. I'm perfectly comfortable in my own skin and with my own values. If other people have more money than sense and are happy to throw away their hard earned cash, that's fine. Just as long as they don't coming running to me for a loan when their money runs out ! There's such a lot of snobbery involved in food shopping. I'd love to do a "blind test" with some of the food shopping snobs to see if they could tell which supermarket their food came from. Bet none of them would get it right. Maybe if some of these people were forced to spend a month living in Darfur, grinding up animal feed and cooking it to keep their children alive like millions of these refugees are having to do, they would go down on their hands and knees and thank God for the ability to shop in Aldi or some of the other "value" supermarkets. It seems a harsh thing to say, but perhaps a good dose of austerity in this country might help to sort out some of the materialist values which have overtaken us in recent years.

wannabe_sybil

You all seem very welcoming to newcomers, so I thought I would pop in.

I automatically look for the value brand first, then if that is not available I look for the store own brand and only finally then do I look at the brands. I am confused why anyone would do anything different.

There are one or two exceptions to this. My darling husband is very good in many ways, but he likes Heinz or HP baked beans. He won't even have beans that have been cooked in the microwave, he is extremely fussy. He is also very particular about juice given to my little boy, so I have to buy the own brand hi juice. I was always brought up to believe that own brand washing powder was no good. More and more I find that a long cool wash gets rid of a great deal of the problems so I may try and summon up the courage to try own brand washing powder - going down instead of up, ending with Value. At the moment I use Persil non bio for my little boy and Bold for us. I think that shall have to change!

The other thing I will say is that Marks and Spencer have a range of things like fish cakes and hash cakes that were on sale at two packets of two for £3. One of those cakes is easily enough for me and one for darling husband, with my little boy having some of mine. I hope to use this part of the forum to be making my own, but until then they are a very good value protein component to the meal when I am struggling to cook.

C_Ronaldo

Its not neccessry to buy branded goods when the shops own brand is perfectly fine whether its the value brand or the more expensive own brand

LameWolf

On the subject of branded goods versus stores own/value..... I wanted a bottle of foam bath the other day, there was NO Sainsbury's own of any sort, just a VERY large display completely full of Radox. I said to Mr LW "I am NOT paying £2.79 for a bottle of foam bath, we'll go elsewhere another day".

I have a system whereby we always have "spares" of non-perishables/toileties etc, and when we start the spare I buy another, so am able to "vote with my feet" rather than pay over the odds.

ms_piggy

lil_me wrote: »

Doesn't bother me in the slightest, I buy what I am happy with and if anyone else has an issue with it, not my problem! Toothpaste if you must maybe use a sterilised soap dispenser ? Don't know if the pump would clog it up. I've always felt sorry for people sucked in with the brands thing, I go on what I like, find the cheapest that I like and buy it with things like household stuff etc. I know someone who would have a fit if other people knew she shopping in Lidl. I seen her there once and she said pleased don't tell anyone I shop there, sad really.

Im with you on this one if I can get what I need by buying stripey label I do. Most packaging only ends up in the bin anyway and if your friends think less of you because you buy frugally maybe its time to ask if they are really friends.

Kadeeae

wannabe_sybil wrote: »

You all seem very welcoming to newcomers, so I thought I would pop in.

.....I was always brought up to believe that own brand washing powder was no good. More and more I find that a long cool wash gets rid of a great deal of the problems so I may try and summon up the courage to try own brand washing powder - going down instead of up, ending with Value. At the moment I use Persil non bio for my little boy and Bold for us. I think that shall have to change!

Welcome, W.S.! :wave:

I use to feel the same way about washing powder, but now I only buy the store's own brand and most often Aldi. I've never had any complaints with any of them. Same for fabric conditioners too.

sammy_kaye18

Kadeeae wrote: »

I use to feel the same way about washing powder, but now I only buy the store's own brand and most often Aldi. I've never had any complaints with any of them. Same for fabric conditioners too.

I use the tesco 'daisy' its £2.99 i think for a huge box for 30 wshes - smells nice and does the job nicely and i have a school mad 4 year old and car freak boyfriend

DdraigGoch

I must say that I find it refreshing that the OP has found a way around what, for her, is a problem and was generous enough to see if anyone else had ways of coping that made them feel better about what might be distressing circumstances.

I've not done many of the bright ideas brought to us on here by the generosity and ingenuity of MSE-ers, but some of them have sparked off ideas that suited me, so thanks to this thread I'm now looking at ways of brightening up my kitchen/bathroom by co-ordinating the containers, and perhaps reusing ones I particularly like and refilling with better priced/cheaper/different products.

Brilliant idea - thank you, MSE, once again

DG

frugalpam

Did some grocery shopping in Tesco's today, and because of this thread I think I'm more conscious about the whole thing of buying value brands. I noticed just how many people do buy value stuff, and yet again how all the value or tesco's own brand stuff is on the bottom shelf, and the most expensive equivalents are at eye level :mad: Yes, they're making some effort at reducing prices e.g. some fruit and veg, but the sneaky way they store the own label/brands is really bugging me. I did ask one of the floor managers why that was the case, and was it to subtly get us to buy more expensive goods - he ummmmed and ahhhhd but couldn't really deny it. Talk about a woman on a mission ....:D :rotfl: