Excellent value at Continental Supermarkets!

kimwp

I find cereal packets good for putting between pancakes to freeze so they don't need to be fought apart - I imagine it would work for chapatis too

wolvoman

Doc_N said:

There is a potentially dangerous downside - most of these smaller shops don't have the quality and safety checks in place that large shops and suppliers have. You may find that that cheap product you have in your cupboard isn't at all what it claims to be.

Seriously??

TripleH

The other Money Saving tip is that spices may be cheaper only if you use them up. Buying a big bag but throwing most of it out because you seldom use enough is not a saving.

I assume @Doc_N means that some items come direct from a country and may contain ingredients banned / restricted in the UK for health reasons.

Doc_N

wolvoman said:

Doc_N said:

There is a potentially dangerous downside - most of these smaller shops don't have the quality and safety checks in place that large shops and suppliers have. You may find that that cheap product you have in your cupboard isn't at all what it claims to be.

Seriously??

Seriously. 

RAS

Continental is actually a supermarket brand here. I do use it and a number of the other "world food" stores locally.

They often have a wider range of some products like beans, spices, tinned fruit and vegetables and bulk bags of rice, flour etc. But pricing is very variable. Very often the common products (say tinned tomatoes) can be cheaper in the standard supermarket and much cheaper in the discount stores. And paying 2p less for a kilo of red lentils isn't a bargain if you have to buy 5 kilos to get the reduction, unless you want 5 kilos. 

These smaller brands and the local stores don't have the buying power to achieve the bigger discounts, so you need to check things in detail. Fruit and veg are often more expensive than the main supermarkets and the bargains are on the market stalls if you buy well.