Philanthropy, or shrewd business economics?

Generali

I think most people live on about 10 meals, I have certainly read that is the case.

A shop selling perhaps 100 or 150 items would cover that for many.

N1AK

vivatifosi wrote: »

[/I]Interesting concept... I wonder what the prices will be in March. Currently they say they are selling at a loss, so prices will have to rise at some point, but still could be cheaper than the budget stores.

It sounds like a clever business move, not just undercut the headline price of people like poundland but half it! Unfortunately I'm not overly persuaded that it is of any real benefit to society (beyond the general rule that competition is good). If all it's going to do is sell smaller volume versions, or even shorter life stock, of the same junk food that poundshops do then it's doing nothing new.

There's little money, and a lot of hassle, in trying to sell fresh healthy produce through a heavy discount chain so the more people places like this drag in the less people shopping at places that actually sell healthy food.

N1AK

Generali wrote: »

I think most people live on about 10 meals, I have certainly read that is the case.

A shop selling perhaps 100 or 150 items would cover that for many.

That certainly sounds believable to me. I love cooking, so I enjoy cooking a variety of dishes and make an effort to do so, but even so I bet 80%+ of our meals could be covered by a very small product mix.

Generali

N1AK wrote: »

That certainly sounds believable to me. I love cooking, so I enjoy cooking a variety of dishes and make an effort to do so, but even so I bet 80%+ of our meals could be covered by a very small product mix.

I wish I could remember the source but it seemed reliable.

TBH, if you say a roast is a roast so a roast chook meal or a roast beef one is the same and a stew is a stew so coq au vin is basically the same as boeuf bourguignon or a thai curry then I don't cook that many meals.

What is your favourite dish/thing/meal/inspiration to cook?

michaels

I didn't look carefully but one item was tinned tomatoes. these cost £1 for 4 in Poundland and about 31p in supermarkets. Is this typical of the level of discount actually being offered?

IE it is a marketing gimmick for the press who shop at M&S and Waitrose, buy branded products and so see what are basically normal prices for most as being 'really cheap'?

purch

The Food retailing sector is getting very interesting.

What with Amazon moving in, Sainsbury's buying Argos no doubt to diversify and also get access to their "instant" delivery network, and now this concept....on top of the inroads already made by the discounters.

antrobus

Generali wrote: »

I wish I could remember the source but it seemed reliable....

Nine recipes. Not ten.:)

http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-britain-food-recipes-idUSTRE5AF3DU20091116

Generali wrote: »

...TBH, if you say a roast is a roast so a roast chook meal or a roast beef one is the same and a stew is a stew so coq au vin is basically the same as boeuf bourguignon or a thai curry then I don't cook that many meals.....

Well that survey seemed to follow that logic. A 'roast dinner' counts as one recipe, as does a 'casserole/stew', or even 'meat and two veg', which cover a multitude of sins. Or delights. Depending on the cook.

N1AK

Generali wrote: »

TBH, if you say a roast is a roast so a roast chook meal or a roast beef one is the same and a stew is a stew so coq au vin is basically the same as boeuf bourguignon or a thai curry then I don't cook that many meals.

What is your favourite dish/thing/meal/inspiration to cook?

I love cooking tartiflette and cassoulet in winter, both easy to make, and I'm a big fan of French food generally. We tend to travel a fair bit and I generally get inspired by the food we experience on those trips; though I'm still working on making decent spaetzle and gnocchi.

One thing I find helps justify the time involved (which isn't as much as some expect) is to cook food for 2 or 3 days at once if there is much prep-work. Things like curries, paella, stews, chilli etc work well like that,

In an effort to get down supermarket runs for the odd ingredient I tend to plan about a week ahead. This week I knew I was making bubble & squeek (made the mash for 3 meals at once, added the greens each meal) and a chicken curry (made 3 portions, added rice/bulgar). It does mean you only eat 3-4 different dinners in a week, but allows me to make more varied meals overall.

N1AK

michaels wrote: »

I didn't look carefully but one item was tinned tomatoes. these cost £1 for 4 in Poundland and about 31p in supermarkets. Is this typical of the level of discount actually being offered?

To be fair, if that's accurate then, a ~20% discount on a pretty much commodity product is a decent saving. Specific examples aside I simply don't see why people expect poundshops to be vastly cheaper than supermarkets:

• Poundshop owners are just as motivated to make a profit as the owners of Tesco, Aldi etc.
• Suppliers have no more motivation or inclination to sell the same product to poundshops for less than other customers.

Where poundshops are cheaper it will normally be due to product quality, product life, products being unpopular, or products being sold in amended pack sizes. Generally if you're willing to trade reliable access to a product and a long shelf life for a price discount then you might be getting a good deal from poundshops.