TESCO Banana price hike / re working

juliebunny

So I was scratching my head today trying to work out where the bananas were on the self service pay and the assistance came over to tell me that Tescos have changed their banana pricing so instead of paying by weight, it's a flat 25p per banana. Also they have removed the old weighing option on the machine but not added in the new price per item option!


I only buy small bananas, which are usually around 12p each so this is a doubling in the price!


He pointed to a large pile of bananas that had been discarded by irritated customers during the lunchtime rush.


I understand prices go up but this seems to me very unfair. I have contacted Tescos to ask for their comment on this and await a reply.

VfM4meplse

I noticed that in my local - but put it down to being a very small Metro shop with a brisk food-to-go trade. Aldi also sells them in singles, good sizes for a very reasonable 13p last time I went.

pumpkin89

This is not Tesco generally, it's particular stores (Express or Metro). They have actually done this for years in many of their convenience stores. It sounds as though yours has had a lucky escape until now (though I appreciate the frustration!)

robin58

Makes me wonder if the OP's store has a new manager who is enforcing Tesco company pricing procedures.

Also for info, I have a BP/M&S near me who have been charging for a 1 off single banana for ages.

VfM4meplse

robin58 wrote: »

Also for info, I have a BP/M&S near me who have been charging for a 1 off single banana for ages.

I have narrowed your location down to the vicinity of one of my favourite chazzers - the £2 Fair Havens next to the small Tesco

juliebunny

Indeed your replies are pretty much what I got back from Tescos - I only wish that some of the extra money would actually be going back to FairTrade but I'm sure Tescos will be trousering the extra and I'll be getting my bananas locally now instead of near work.


'To make it simpler (for who? LOL) we're moving to selling loose bananas by a single price rather than weight. We already do this in our Express stores as do many of our competitors....making the price clearer and speeding up the checkout time '(not in this case as they hadn't got bananas in the computer at all!)


Then went on to tell me about higher costs for London Metro stores and how there is a small premium on a number of products.


I'm ok with paying 25p for a banana, it's still half the price of other places like Pret, just bit irritated at how they have done it!

pumpkin89

juliebunny wrote: »

Indeed your replies are pretty much what I got back from Tescos - I only wish that some of the extra money would actually be going back to FairTrade but I'm sure Tescos will be trousering the extra and I'll be getting my bananas locally now instead of near work.

Fair Trade impacts the price they buy the bananas for - it has nothing to do with the selling price. Most supermarkets are selling bananas at 76-78p/kg and this is below the price they buy them in for, i.e. they deliberately lose money to encourage customers to shop with them. This makes sense for a large weekly shop, where they'll be making lots of profit on the other items, but not for a convenience store where lots of customers only buy two or three items. Selling bananas at 25p each will yield a small profit and contribute towards the higher costs of running small, city centre stores.

robin58

VfM4meplse wrote: »

I have narrowed your location down to the vicinity of one of my favourite chazzers - the £2 Fair Havens next to the small Tesco

You stalking me?

Reciprocating.

I think you live in Southchurch, more towards Southend.

dlusman

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-45419805

maman

Unfortunately this is another example being introduced of when you pay more for smaller quantities. I've heard elderly people complaining about this for years.


I shop in Aldi and they still sell both packs and single bananas. Unfortunately the packs have more in them than we'd get through in a week (I like greenish bananas and don't bake) so I'm left buying a few individual ones. My gut feeling is that I'm paying through the nose but as they don't have scales in shops any more (are they still in Asda?) I can't check. Maybe I'll look at the relative prices and check at home next week.:)

Stompa

maman wrote: »

I shop in Aldi and they still sell both packs and single bananas. Unfortunately the packs have more in them than we'd get through in a week (I like greenish bananas and don't bake) so I'm left buying a few individual ones. My gut feeling is that I'm paying through the nose but as they don't have scales in shops any more (are they still in Asda?) I can't check.

I've been buying the single bananas in Aldi for a long while, simply because they are better value (assuming you don't pick really tiny ones) than buying a pack.

IIRC the packs are 88p for 5 bananas, whereas 5 single ones are 65p.