Supermarket Question 5 December 2021 at 4:36PM in Food shopping & groceries 21 replies 1K views

LightKnow

Hi all 

Lately I been thinking about Supermarkets as A brand that does not waste food , Pays or is fair with its trade or ethical etc etc

Does anyone take these into account before shopping with them ?

If so who is your go to supermarket?

sarah1972

I never take it into account, I buy where the best offers for what I buy are. Sometimes Tesco, Asda, Ocado, Waitrose, Morrisons or Sainsburys 

Mnoee

There are some independent shops that do better at things like this, but any household name nationwide shop is pretty terrible.

For more locally sourced food, you can be better off with a butcher/grocer than a supermarket. There are lots more zero waste 'bring your own container' shops popping up. Some supermarkets pay more to their staff than others - that's easy to look up from job listings. 

You can research whichever points you feel are most important and pick from the big names, or look for a good shop or two locally to you, but an 'ethical' nationwide supermarket doesn't exist. 

MysteryMe

My local Co op sell a lot of fair trade and local produce as well as the usual supermarket brand stuff. It is more expensive.

Farway

I take some of it into account but these days find there is not a stand out supermarket option. Once I'd would have said Waitrose, Co-op or Marks but over time their treatment of suppliers & staff has deteriated bit by bit, as mentioned best to research what is important to you and go with that, not all go hand in hand

pumpkin89

I still think Waitrose is the best, taking into account treatment of suppliers and farmers, animal welfare, use of waste food (they do produce a lot of waste, but a high proportion of it is donated to charities).  But I agree there isn't anywhere you can shop and be sure that everything is ethical - you need to research individual products/producers.

Brie

I've heard of the supermarkets switching over to more "bring your own container" but have yet to see any that do this in our area.  I think a lot of them pay lip service to ideals but in reality it's just a way for them to cut costs.  The whole bring your own shopping bags and veg bags are a case in point.  They must have saved millions since free shopping bags were banned.  And apparently Tescos will be getting rid of even more of these in the new year.  (according to the guy on the till....)

Mostly I look at the meat and fish to see how local it is and if it's "red tractor" or similar.  But I'd prefer to buy less or pay more at a local butcher or fish monger where I can trust the quality.  I've been tricked a few times into "buying British" only to discover in the fine print that this can mean merely "packed in Britain".  Once it was pork, reared in China, butchered somewhere en route, further processed in the EU but labelled British as it was finished and packaged up in the UK.

Rosa_Damascena

OP, you have to read this:



Ultimately no system is perfect, and its the independents that have less of a damaging footprint. However this is a moneysaving website and I personally hate spending money on food.

LightKnow

Thanks for all awesome reply’s 

I guess my line of thought is contradictory . Am thinking use supermarket that provides rewards or vouchers so I can save money but also have a vision or some form of ethical standards.

but I understand this may not be necessary possible. From what am reading. 

I guess my potential target is.

- making use off food in sustainable way rather than wasting it

- The money they earn or have is used either for charity or community 

- This one I have feeling no supermarket does ( buy supplies or fresh food but the supermarket actually supports the trade or farmers etc but I still get the feeling they all pay like 10p to poor suppliers to get what they need out of them.

As mentioned. Option is to buy from butcher or grocer - which I do to most extent due to service availability 

From abit research I done . Iceland seems good with what they have vision wise and it don’t seem like they waste food . But more information digging i might do 


@Rosa_Damascena I will give that book a swirl but it feels like I might be in for alot shocks lol


I think what my concern is from something I came across on discovery and Google.  Some supermarket or companies may support violence or drugs etc which I hope is not true but sadly I reckon it is

On side note - I once heard a supermarket was ok with chicken or fruit or vegetables not been looked after or grown naturally but using genetic based or using nasty chemical to make them bigger or more juicy 

sorry I really ranted on 

thanks all 

arnoldy

Bear in mind in terms of ethics and "doing the right thing" Co-op, Waitrose and Marks did not pay back the rates relief to the public purse - unlike Tesco, Sainsburys, Morrisons, Lidl, Aldi etc

Rosa_Damascena

arnoldy said:

Bear in mind in terms of ethics and "doing the right thing" Co-op, Waitrose and Marks did not pay back the rates relief to the public purse - unlike Tesco, Sainsburys, Morrisons, Lidl, Aldi etc

You can add Boots to that list of defaulters (if that is where you go for a lunchtime sandwich). M&S Food is minting money, the operating profit for this arm of the business last year was £213.6 million.