Differences in meat and fish at different supermarkets?

tofu-eater_3

Does anybody have any knowledge about how the standard and welfare quality of meat and fish differs between supermarkets? I recently started eating meat again for health reasons after having been vegetarian. The standard of the meat and the welfare of the animal is very important to me. I intend to try to find a local supply and bypass supermarkets eventually but at the moment I am buying meat from Waitrose (when I can get there) and Marks & Spencer.I've recently started looking around at whats on offer at other supermarkets,like my local Aldi and Lidl and like for example bulk freezer bags of meat from Iceland ,and I've seen that the prices are a lot cheaper ,and there are cheaper cuts of meat. I've spent time reading through all the long posts on here (I think it's called 'The Great Food Hunt' or something) where people who are in the industry ,or have worked in a factory ,or unloaded deliveries have said that often food in different supermarkets 'all comes from the same place' ,just has different labels put on by the supermarkets. I came to the conclusion that often ,but not always ,for example ,a lot of the vegetables in ,say,Marks and Spencer would be the same ones you bought somewhere else ,it's just that often Marks and Spencer might of got the first pick of what comes off the conveyor belt or maybe they marked things up so they had an earlier best before date and they spent a shorter time on the shelves. What I have started to think is ......does the meat you buy in supermarkets often 'all come from the same place' too? Am I needlessly spending a lot more money at Marks & Spencers thinking the meat comes from a different place and has a higher level of welfare? I'm not bothered about what cuts of meat I get and I am not averse at all to buying cheaper cuts (and cooking them for longer in a slow cooker etc) it's more about the welfare standards,but why should I spend so much more money if a lot of it 'all comes from the same place'. Do you think a steak sold in Marks and Spencers might be the same as the one on sale in Aldi ,after all,it does say that both came from the UK
I have absolutely have no idea how to go about buying meat as I was a vegetarian for many,many years,hopefully my question doesn't sound a bit daft,also,I'm not trying to provoke any argument or do some subversive trolling here ,it's a genuine question ,also,I don't wish to have any sort of discussion with anyone about my diet or my decision to start eating meat again.I'm just trying to save money with the current cost of living crisis. 

400ixl

There is no clear answer as sometimes they will come from the same supply chain, other times they won't.

Morrisons for example actually own their own supply chain for some of their supplies and do farm to fork where they own the farm, the processing factory and the distribution. They also allow stores some leeway to buy locally for some lines. However there will also be the supplies which come through the normal 3rd party supply chain. You would need to read the labels.

There is a good chance that Aldi and Marks and Spenser will share suppliers, whether they are the same for the products you are referencing is hard to know.

p00hsticks

The red tractor symbol is used as an indication of a particular level of animal welfare and standards

https://redtractor.org.uk/

YoungBlueEyes

I think the product recalls are enlightening, whether it’s chicken breasts or coffee or bread loaves. There was one not so long back that said chicken fillets were being recalled, and listed Waitrose - a couple more supermarkets that I can’t remember - and Lidl. I remember that cos I was a Lidler then, thinking ooh Waitrose chicken at Lidl prices. 

It may only have been that product line, and maybe even only temporarily; but I think that’s a pretty sure indicator. 

If budget allows, I’d check out a proper butchers if you have one.  

sarah1972

Meat, local butcher. Supermarkets a lot of the time has added blood, packed in ridiculously large plastic packaging, not a lot of choice for cheaper or more unusual cuts. 
Fish, local fishmonger or online fishmonger. A lot of supermarket fish has been previously frozen, not as much choice 

A._Badger

I suspect that the OP is on the right lines at Waitrose - but only if you buy their top of the range products. Although I find the meat from my local butchers of better quality (I'm lucky in having a choice of good butchers fairly locally), I have absolutely no way of checking the animal welfare aspect of the meat they sell. I night assume it is farmed to a higher standard but I couldn't be certain of it.

If the OP is that concerned (and I am not suggesting s/he shouldn't be) then I would suggest shopping either from Waitrose's most expensive ranges (products like their cheaper chickens come, I am sure, from the same sources as their processed meat products, and there are relatively few of these in the in UK, as the recalls prove), or buy from a farm shop on the farm where the animals are raised. This might be difficult, depending on where they live, but it is the only way to be sure. If that isn't possible, there are farms that sell online, which may be another option.

Fish is a different matter. It is almost impossible to know what happens on a fishing boat. The quality certainly varies from shop to shop but I doubt that has much to do with ethical standards, as such, more likely it's due to price points.

Brie

Nothing beats a proper butcher or fishmonger.  Sometimes they are a bit more expensive but the quality is there.  Sometimes they are just more expensive for no obvious reason other than being in a posh neighbourhood.  

I've heard horror stories about various supermarkets over the years but I think I've avoided most issues by looking for red tractor and carefully reading the source noted on any labels.  It's hard sometimes to know where things come from so don't be dazzled by a union jack on the label as that is meaningless. I've come across labels that say "British" but discover they are referring to a type of product rather than a place of origina or production.  Or a product that has been imported from China or Denmark or whatever and been processed or sometimes merely packaged in the UK and been labelled at British or with a union jack.  One product had pigs raised in China, transported somewhere to be butchered, processed in the EU and packed in the UK.  With a union jack.  Not fair to those that would like concise labelling.  

I know some people disagree with halal but we've had very fine products from some halal sources, better quality meat which I think means a happy life time for an animal whatever we might think of their final few minutes.  But our ultimate preference is to buy from places where the farmer is also the butcher or where the chap selling fish is open and honest with us about where he's getting his wares.   

fyi - Waitrose is generally very good in my opinion.  And one of the very few places I will willingly buy fish that has been reduced in price as I trust them to tell me why - normally it's because they only have 1 or 2 bits of something left and they'd like to display a lot of something else.  Excellent trout fillets were available once for a total of 60p for 4 and were ok to be used within 48 hours rather than needing to be cooked immediately.   Unfortunately there appear to be almost no meat or fish counters at any of the other supermarkets in our area any more.

pumpkin89

There are a lot of individual farms around the country sending their animals to relatively few processors (who slaughter, butcher and pack the meat) who then supply supermarkets.

This means that product recalls do tend to affect products from most supermarkets at the same time as they relate to issues at the processor.  This does not necessarily mean that the meat came from animals reared in the same conditions on the same farms.

Some premium suppliers are exclusive to a particular supermarket, e.g. Waitrose gets all its beef from Dovecote Park which doesn't supply any other supermarket. (https://www.dovecotepark.com)  So in many cases you are genuinely getting a different product at Waitrose or M&S.

Murphybear

We have a brilliant butcher in our market town and you can see the provenance of all their meat and it’s all local.   We have a fish van once a week with fresh fish caught from Brixham.  I appreciate that most people won’t have that luxury.  My husband eats a lot of fish and if he can’t get the Brixham fish he says Waitrose and Morrison’s are the best.  

Local butchers are the best places to buy meat. 

Farway

A._Badger said:

I suspect that the OP is on the right lines at Waitrose - but only if you buy their top of the range products. Although I find the meat from my local butchers of better quality (I'm lucky in having a choice of good butchers fairly locally), I have absolutely no way of checking the animal welfare aspect of the meat they sell. I night assume it is farmed to a higher standard but I couldn't be certain of it.

This in bold, I did ask my only local butcher where his meat came from, slaughter etc, they didn't have any idea of its provenance, may as well buy off the meat lorry in the market

I use Waitrose & Marks when I can, plus occasional online local free-range high welfare, and expensive meat supplier or Farm Shop in local garden centre. However, sometimes I do use the likes of online Asda because of my personal circumstances, in that case I just have to lump it but try & avoid the obvious pitfalls like non UK pork when I can

maisie_cat

Although I eat meat , it's not an everyday thing, soybeans are a decent dupe for meat. I'm fussy about meat, grisly/sinewy meat makes me gag and bad experiences have put me off many supermarkets, and in fact our local butcher.
In my experience Waitrose is the best followed by Tesco if you pick the high welfare lines. 
I only started using Morrisons when I moved in 2019 and lost my Waitrose, it doesn't often have high welfare meat though.
I bought meat there a couple of times but didn't like the quality, by the time you'd cut the grisly bits out there was only 50% left before you start to cook it. I have had similar in Lidl and in both cases the chicken breasts are clearly too large for high welfare.
What I do now is buy in Tesco every few months, batch cook & freeze, if we run out we run out.