Money Moral Dilemma: Is it wrong to buy cheap clearance food when we could afford to pay full price?

neverthesamedaytwice

MattMattMattUK said:

neverthesamedaytwice said:

Debating whether it's wrong or right to buy discounted food misses the correct target entirely.

Capitalism and the desire of supermarkets to make maximum profit at all cost is the issue here.

Supermarkets make profit no matter what, simply because we need food to survive. 

Supermarket net margins are 2.5-3% on groceries, they are slightly higher on home items and clothing and they make other revenue through financial products. If they sold food at zero profit it would still only be 2.5% cheaper.

neverthesamedaytwice said:

They will always pass on the increased cost, but seem to be a lot more reticent to lower costs.

Of course they pass on increased costs, if they did not they would end up loss making.

neverthesamedaytwice said:

Notice how all discounts these days are tied to loyalty card membership?! They're run by devious ****s

It is called marketing, ignore the "discount" and look at the price paid net instead.

The reality is that food is already too cheap, in many cases farmers are losing money and going bust and the costs of industrial farming are not factored into the price, which they should be. 

I'm sorry, but I can't quite believe this.

The cost rarely reduces once it's been raised due to extenuating circumstances.

> Supermarket net margins are 2.5-3% on groceries, they are slightly higher on home items and clothing and they make other revenue through financial products. If they sold food at zero profit it would still only be 2.5% cheaper.

I'd love to see a source for this.

Landlord9009

No, there's no need to feel guilty about doing this. It is helping reduce food waste. 

pumpkin89

neverthesamedaytwice said:

> Supermarket net margins are 2.5-3% on groceries, they are slightly higher on home items and clothing and they make other revenue through financial products. If they sold food at zero profit it would still only be 2.5% cheaper.

I'd love to see a source for this.

All companies listed in the UK have their financial accounts publicly visible (https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/)

Taking Tesco as an example, their latest accounts show an operating profit of £1.5bn on sales of £57.7bn, which is 2.6%.

jimi_man

No you shouldn’t feel guilty. In fact, quite the opposite - you should be glad that you are helping to reduce food waste. 

missusP

I understand a lot of people feel this is helping food waste but many supermarkets donate these reduced items at the end of the day to homeless charities or Olio, which redistributes it for free. It doesn't go in the bin but helps people who may not even be able to afford the reduced prices. I use Olio every week and it really helps as I work for the NHS on a zero hour contract and cannot guarantee work every week. 
I agree with others and don't think the poster should feel guilty but I wanted to correct the view this food is binned.

cjdew

pollyanna24 said:

I work in a supermarket and the amount of food we throw away is obscene. 

The other day I was throwing away over 80 boxes of strawberries when someone came over wanting some.  I said, yeah, take them.  She took me at my word thinking they were free and tried walking out, but we had to call her back to pay.  I felt bad, but the shop would rather the food goes to waste than somebody get it for free.  That's what I think is bad in the whole situation.

This would be ideal for your store to sign up to Olio. 

Tescos, Sainsbury's and Asda have. Tesco being the longest to do so. I think maybe even morrisons now.

I am guessing you work at a store different to these? 

JennyDavis

I don't see anything wrong in that. It is only your choice how much you want to spend for the food. Buying food on clearance also means that this doesn't go to waste, which is great, right ? I wrote a paper on poverty with the help of these guys https://ukwritings.com/write-my-essay some time ago and know exactly what i am talking about. 

MoonChild91

I don't see anything wrong with this, you're reducing food waste and there's no guarantee that anyone else (whether they needed it more or not) would come along and buy it anyway. I don't agree with hoarding food for the sake of it, but I've definitely been known to take advantage of these offers for my freezer. 

silvermum

missusP said:

I understand a lot of people feel this is helping food waste but many supermarkets donate these reduced items at the end of the day to homeless charities or Olio, which redistributes it for free. It doesn't go in the bin but helps people who may not even be able to afford the reduced prices. I use Olio every week and it really helps as I work for the NHS on a zero hour contract and cannot guarantee work every week. 
I agree with others and don't think the poster should feel guilty but I wanted to correct the view this food is binned.

I know someone who is an Olio volunteer hero - she collects food from supermarkets which is end of shelf life and offers it locally - but she says unfortunately due to the timing/logistics it's really hard to pass it on and a lot of it is still binned!
She has to collect between 8-9pm, then list it on the Olio app, then people need to come to her house to collect - usually before 10.30/11pm the SAME EVENING. She can't pass on anything once the Use By date has passed.

In reality, few people except those very local can access that food in a 1-2 hour timeslot. Issues with childcare, transport, safety at night are all barriers.

It's a great concept, but the execution doesn't work very well.

Andyjflet

70% of this short dated food will be binned anyway, I would suggest that you are helping to cut down on food waste.