Tescos vs Sainsburys. Price and quality.

tomstickland

I did a search but couldn't find a specific answer.

For the last year I've been shopping at Tescos. The supermarket is out on a spur from the route home - about 2 miles out and 2 miles back down the spur. It just so happens that there's a Sainsburys at the roundabout where my route passes. Sounds stupid really. I went to Tescos because the store is larger, seems to have a larger range and is cheaper.

I've recently started shopping at the Sainsburys because it's, er, closer, and seems a bit more organised. I'm also wanting to find out if the products, especially the vegetables are a bit better.

I'm undecided at the moment. My guess is that Sainsburys is more expensive for a very slight improvement in quality.

Any opinions on these two?

There's also a Waitrose about the same distance away as the Tesco store.

yellowmonkey

Hi

Have you tried My supermarket.com http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/FirstTimeHome.aspx

Type in your postcode and this will compare prices for you. I find Sainsburys a little bit more pricey but i think the food is of better quality. Just my opinion though

ym

tomstickland

I've just run a typical shop through that website and the results were
Tesco £24.75
Sainsbury's £25.08
Asda £26.83
Ocado (?) £31.41
So Sainsbury's are 1.3% more expensive. Say I spend £30 per week, then that's 40p extra. It's 4 miles, at a cost of, say 20p per mile and I go their twice a week. £1.60 extra travelling cost.

All rather hypothetical I know, but it suggests that Sainsbury's are very marginally more expensive but it'll save me money overall.

I've added a lot more products now and I'm up to
Tesco £37.26
Sainsbury's £38.84
Asda £39.68
Ocado £49.39

That's 4% extra for Sainsbury's vs Tesco. It's still cheaper to shop there than travel to the extra distance to Tesco though.

My God, it's 00:54 on a Sunday morning and I'm doing a virtual shop! Money saving is too much fun.

sinizterguy

My shopping experience in Tescos usually amounts to spending more time dodging trolleys and grumpy shoppers. Shopping somewhere both crowded and cramped is not something I enjoy. Tend to shop at Waitrose nowadays. Much more pleasant.

Sainsburys usually feels better to me (than Tescos) - and the stuff I buy also seems better. But thats just personal preference. Waitrose feels even better than Sainsburys - some items are better, others same ... slightly less choice with some products, but that doesnt bother me as I tend to buy similar sort of stuff each week.

I am sure there is a difference in quality between them, but whether its worth the expense or not, is something thats up to you.

tomstickland

Interesting, my opinions are similar. The Tesco store is larger and has a vast choice on most items. Too much choice really. The Sainsbury's store seems somehow a bit more upmarket. I think part of the difference must be to do with the customers there. I'm going to try Waitrose for a laugh some time too.

thor

Tescos are definitley cheaper overall but Sainsbury's cream turnovers are the best around anywhere and can be found as bogofs every so often! Tesco does not come close in this respect(well it's important to me)

alanclose

tomstickland wrote: »

Ocado (?) £31.41

I think its the delivery company for Waitrose

lynzpower

I find sainsburys "basic" stuff quite a bit better than tesco value I have to say.

I prefer sainsburys in general, although I do find it slightly more expensive,

thier reductions are much better tho- if you get there about 7.30 ( thats the time round our way) then reductions are reduced to around the 20p mark

Tescos tho have me in thier grip with voucher acceptance, clubcard points and carrier bag points. I buy the work petrol there too for my pointage. We tend to get a couple of weeks worth of shopping ( mind you were on a low food budget) per 1/4 out of the CC vouchers, cos we spend so little on food its not worth saving them for holidays etc.

sooty&sweep

Hi

I think you should also cost your time into the equation.

If you're on your way home from work you tend to want the shop over and done with quickly.

Olliebeak

I've just run a typical shop through MySupermarket - Asda (my usual shop)- £56/Tesco-£63/Sainsbury's-£74.

And the Asda is the closest to where I live which matters as I don't have a car and a taxi is not too expensive back home (or my son is FREE!).

Plus there is a decent cafe in Asda (lovely coffee is £1 but you get free refills!).

marvin

Sainsburys is always better than that grotty chavvy tesco
marvin
operations controller
Sainsbury's Supply Chain
Somewhere near Birmingham