It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?

EssexHebridean

Auntycaz said:

Thought 240 pk of pg tips in Morrisons was expensive at £6.25 (I bought 2pks for £3.50 each from Waitrose last week on offer), but they're now £9.50 pk in the Co op.

That's a ludicrous price! Trolley agrees too - apparently T's have them for £4.79 a pack! (And how have I only just noticed that MSE are a sponsor of Trolley?!) 

Slinky

mumf said:

My immersion heater has a digital timer on it. Worth doing.

I did think about this, but we're going to be getting solar soon and the solar man said it wouldn't be worth installing. We normally use gas for heating the hot water, immersion is just there as a backup for emergencies at the moment.

Slinky

Not bothered about all these short supply vegetables, I got a load of cheap branded chocolate in Poundland earlier, knocked down to 25p. Well cocoa is vegetable origin......

bellabella

Plenty of fruit and veg today in Lid*, Tesc* and Costc* i really thought there would be empty shelves and restrictions but there was none 

elsien

bellabella said:

Plenty of fruit and veg today in Lid*, Tesc* and Costc* i really thought there would be empty shelves and restrictions but there was none 

I went to three yesterday - just because I had run out of veg- and they were all empty of salad stuff.  
Not fussed about the lettuces but I was hopeful of peppers and tomatoes. Oh well. 

euronorris

There are a lot of veg shortages here. Most notably the salad stuff. Popped to s'bys by work at lunchtime for some milk, and managed to get a pack of cherry toms. There were only 5 bags there. They did have cucumbers, but no lettuce. And they only had a few green peppers left.

It's mostly the non-seasonal stuff, so I expect it will improve again in the summer. Costs a lot to grow those things in the winter in the UK and I don't think the supermarkets were willing to pay the farmers the increased cost for them.

Floss

euronorris said:

It's mostly the non-seasonal stuff, so I expect it will improve again in the summer. Costs a lot to grow those things in the winter in the UK and I don't think the supermarkets were willing to pay the farmers the increased cost for them.

I think it's more that established contracted suppliers for out of UK season crops are from Morocco & Spain which have been hit by bad weather, not that English farmers were too expensive.

euronorris

Floss said:

euronorris said:

It's mostly the non-seasonal stuff, so I expect it will improve again in the summer. Costs a lot to grow those things in the winter in the UK and I don't think the supermarkets were willing to pay the farmers the increased cost for them.

I think it's more that established contracted suppliers for out of UK season crops are from Morocco & Spain which have been hit by bad weather, not that English farmers were too expensive.

There are farmers on tiktok saying otherwise. The supermarkets refused to agree to pay a higher rate for them for those products (which obviously require heating/electric to grow in the UK out of season), so they simply said they wouldn't grow them as they couldn't afford to if they weren't going to get paid enough to do so.

The problem is, I'm sure, multi faceted and it isn't just one thing causing the issue. And indeed, the supermarkets probably didn't want to pay the higher price as they were probably trying to keep the cost to the consumer low too.

annieb64

Very few tomatoes in M&S yesterday and couldn't see any peppers. Got a red cabbage for coleslaw.  The market stall by the back door of M&S had peppers, all colours at 2 for £1.

YorksLass

I'm OK for peppers since I got a bag last week - three green and one red, plus there's a small amount of chopped in the freezer.  There's a bit of lettuce in the fridge and two tomatoes that I could slice very thinly so I could stretch to two salads for two.  I'm hoping to get some on my Sainsbury's order next week but, if not, then salad will be off the menu for a while.    

I have a swede and a sweetheart cabbage in the fridge, plus leeks, celery, peas & sweetcorn in the freezer, not to mention various tins of different beans and pulses in the cupboard, so veg isn't such a problem.  As long as I can get potatoes, onions and carrots I'll be happy.  

Had a walk to the pharmacy today to collect DH's meds, all P & C.  A bit on the chilly side but dry, lots of sunshine and beautiful blue sky with very little breeze.  Downhill from tomorrow for a week with sunshine and showers, maybe even some sleet at the weekend.  I may well be tinkering with the heating again!