Sigh ... Häagen-Dazs price rise & size reduction masked by temporary price reduction

General_Grant

S_uk said:

Last time I bought Carte D'or ice cream I noticed the texture had changed, more 'airy' as if they had pumped more air into it to save on costs. Maybe it was just my imagination but it definitely tasted different to the last time I had it, which was quite a while ago. Anyway, I switched to Lidl's version which tasted more like the original.

I believe this was one of Margaret Thatcher's ideas when she had a job in industry - icecream being sold by volume not weight produced the saving.

S_uk

General_Grant said:

S_uk said:

Last time I bought Carte D'or ice cream I noticed the texture had changed, more 'airy' as if they had pumped more air into it to save on costs. Maybe it was just my imagination but it definitely tasted different to the last time I had it, which was quite a while ago. Anyway, I switched to Lidl's version which tasted more like the original.

I believe this was one of Margaret Thatcher's ideas

Why am I not surprised..

Rosa_Damascena

You don't get the soft scoop without the air.

Every time I have attempted to make ice-cream it has been rock hard for that reason. Delicious when it eventually thaws though.

S_uk

I don't mind the original idea of adding some air to make it scoopable, but I do mind the idea adding more and more simply to save on cost but to the detriment of the quality of the product. If anything I think it's worse (and even less obvious) than 'straightforward' shrinkflation when they give less of the original product.

But as someone else mentioned it just meant I stopped buying it completely, which means they now make zero profit off me.

FatherTireseus

S_uk said:

Last time I bought Carte D'or ice cream I noticed the texture had changed, more 'airy' as if they had pumped more air into it to save on costs. Maybe it was just my imagination but it definitely tasted different to the last time I had it, which was quite a while ago. Anyway, I switched to Lidl's version which tasted more like the original.

I caught a bit of a show on tv a few days ago, it was called something like Luxury Food for Less.  One of the foods they covered was ice cream, the point raised was to look at the ingredients list as good ice cream should be made from cream, milk, sugar and eggs.  And the point was also made that incorporating a lot of air into an ice cream makes it nice and ‘soft scoop’ but also boosts the profit margins of the manufacturers.  Some brands give the impression of being ‘premium’ but use cheaper ingredients.

To illustrate the point they took two tubs of ice cream, one was Carte D’or and I can’t remember the other, but it was a premium brand.  They let them melt.  The premium brand looked like….melted ice cream.  

The Carte D’or was sort of separated into a scummy looking froth on the top and a watery liquid at the bottom.  Not at all appetising.

I’ve just looked up the ingredients list for Carte D’or vanilla ice cream and it has reconstituted skimmed milk, not cream.  Water is the second ingredient.  Then several different types of syrup, and coconut oil.

The one that made me smile on the list was ‘exhausted vanilla bean pieces’.  Poor things!  They’d better go and have a lie down.

I used to buy Carte D’or but I think I shall be giving it a miss from now on.  

S_uk

That's interesting FatherTireseus. I image the Lidl one I've bought will also have cheaper ingredients as it's actually cheaper than Carte D'or, but at least I found it tastes better and has the consistency I was expecting.

There's plenty of brands out there that I don't think are worth paying extra for at all.

p00hsticks

FatherTireseus said:

S_uk said:

Last time I bought Carte D'or ice cream I noticed the texture had changed, more 'airy' as if they had pumped more air into it to save on costs. Maybe it was just my imagination but it definitely tasted different to the last time I had it, which was quite a while ago. Anyway, I switched to Lidl's version which tasted more like the original.

 One of the foods they covered was ice cream, the point raised was to look at the ingredients list as good ice cream should be made from cream, milk, sugar and eggs.

That sounds like Haagen-Daz - expensive, but IMHO knocks cheaper alternatives into a cocked hat.

Abbafan1972

Don't worry about it - just don't buy it.  Everything is going up.  

We do buy ice cream, but usually Asda's own brand tubs and cones (cornetto's), as they are cheaper and just as nice, but everything has gone up, even the budget brands. 

Murphybear

trust.no.1 said:

I still remember the good old days when Ice cream tubs were typically 500ML in size

Some time ago the tub size decreased to 460ML.

And so here I was in my local Tesco this morning and noticed that all the Häagen-Dazs tubs were reduced to £3.00 (for Clubcard holders) from £4.80.

Knowing the typical Supermarket shenanighans I smelled a rat. My eyes also appeared to be deceiving me as the tub size seemed smaller.

Sadly my impression was not an optical illusion or poor eyesight as the tub size is now 420ML

So once the price reduction is removed, a 420ML tub will cost £4.80.  This is taking the proverbial even by Häagen-Dazs standards.

Yes...Yes.. War in Ukraine, Brexit, green taxes, global warming ..yada...yada..yada...   I know.

I think I'll be investing in an ice cream maker.

Good plan.  

I have 2 small ice cream makers, the sort you have to freeze the bowl overnight.  It does take up a bit of room.  If you buy the ones with built in freezer units they are very expensive and you need a decent bit of work top to keep them on.

However, if you’ve never tried home made ice cream you’ve never lived.  I started out with vanilla and that was very good, especially if can afford vanilla pods, otherwise use vanilla extract.  I made blackcurrant ice cream and sorbet when I had a glut of blackcurrants.  

So, home made is cheaper than the premium brands, tastes much better and just as important it doesn’t have some of the chemicals that most shop bought ice cream has.  You need a Chemistry degree to know what some of the stuff in really cheap ice cream is.  

There are a gazillion recipes online and you can find things like low carb chocolate.  Yum yum