Stockists for ingredients

newbielou

Is there anywhere that is budget friendly for stocking up on baking and cooking ingredients, sugar, cooking chocolate dried beans etc?

maman

If you have an Asian supermarket/shop near you, they can be better value for dried pulses.

For other ingredients, Aldi and Lidl or sometimes Farmfoods are usually best value. 

PipneyJane

newbielou said:

Is there anywhere that is budget friendly for stocking up on baking and cooking ingredients, sugar, cooking chocolate dried beans etc?

Depends where you are.  I like WingYip, who have branches in Birmingham, Manchester, Croydon and Cricklewood.  Unlike Costco, you don’t need to be a member to shop there.  You do, however, need to be prepared to buy your flour or rice in 10kg bags, which means that you need large storage containers.  (I use the largest-sized Lock-n-Lock boxes.  You’ll need 2 for 10kg of flour or 10kg rice.)

HTH

- Pip

Brie

I like Lidl and I also like the Polish supermarkets that are scattered about.   

Koperniks is the biggest and best around us.  Best place for mushrooms and cheapest too, unless you are picking your own in the wild.  Best place for buying work friendly things like cuppa soup too - Polish varieties which are much nicer than the normal UK ones in my opinion. 

It's also one of the few supermarkets left in our area that has an actual meat and cheese counter.  Tescos and Sainburys don't have them any more.  Waitrose does in some shops but not all and the selection is limited.  And if you like sausages be prepared to try to decide between about 40 varieties available at the deli counter.  Likewise sliced meat.  Tasty and incredibly inexpensive.

KOPERNIK - Polish supermarket

Sarahspangles

I use Ocado, I skim for ‘offers on favourites’ for my monthly big shop, and stock up if there is one.

Some supermarkets sell mixed size eggs, if you don’t mind looking up how much a medium/large egg should weigh. I have a recipe that needs 9 eggs for 2 cakes but it can vary from 8 to 10 depending on the size of the egg.

Cherryfudge

We use Lidl a lot, but you can also make savings by checking your recipe for possible swaps. For instance, if it says caster sugar, you can use granulated. Self raising flour isn't necessary - you can use plain if you add baking powder (ratios are available online and sometimes on the baking powder tub but if in doubt I use a rounded tsp). I also went through a phase of making my own chocolate drops but it took time and I don't use them often so that went by the wayside!

During the war some ingredients were scarce or unobtainable so recipes became lower sugar and often fruit or veg ended up in cakes, which we still see in terms of things like carrot cake or beetroot brownies, both of which can be delicious - so if you're interested in experimenting, this might be a way to go.

Cherryfudge

It's always worth checking Approved Foods for baking bargains. Their stock changes all the time. Also, if you have a market locally, there may be a stall for discounted foods. I've had some good bargains from ours though it's too easy to buy things because they look interesting or cheap, and actually end up spending more than intended!

Rosa_Damascena

@PipneyJane 's post reminded me of Hoo Hing. I didn't visit often when I was in the vicinity, but when I did I stocked up on all kinds of goodies. Ditto TFC - bulgar wheat, couscous and olives were favourites!

twopenny

I live in a rural area so don't have those options.

But do have roadside stalls. 'free range eggs' and grassfed native breed milk inc Jersey (£1.40) - sometimes sugar is on offer mostly in Iceland for a large bag. There has been meat in one stall. Honey has increased in price but runny honey is still very reasonable compared to supermarkets.

I check them out as I go for scenic drives.

For pulses and dried fruits etc our local vegetarian shop is very competitive on price. They buy in bulk and decant and wider range than the big brands.

Used to be that there were lots of people selling their surplus veg outside the cottages. I used to do very well out of that when I was working and driving home. Now they have been taken over by the monied that doesn't happen but in town there are some. You just have to cook with what you find (there's a whole expensive business run on that)

Free apples are left outside people houses. I'm all making chutneys and freezing apples in September.

If you go back to old baking there are various plants and fruits you can use to sweeten or flavour.

Unfortunately nothing for flour or refined sugar. 

Alnat1

Lidl is my usual choice for basics but local health food stores can have cheaper bags of pulses and seeds and more varieties of flour. The "world foods" section in larger supermarkets (Tesco, Morrisons) often has larger packets of certain herbs and spices, much cheaper than buying those piddly little jars.

Cherryfudge

Alnat1 said:

Lidl is my usual choice for basics but local health food stores can have cheaper bags of pulses and seeds and more varieties of flour. The "world foods" section in larger supermarkets (Tesco, Morrisons) often has larger packets of certain herbs and spices, much cheaper than buying those piddly little jars.

This reminded me that herbs and spices can be a lot fresher and cheaper in the sort of shop where you take your own packaging. Their turnover can be faster than supermarkets, so the things are very fresh, and you aren't paying for packaging. However, some things seemed to me to be more expensive there, so it's worth knowing how much per 100g you would pay where you usually shop, then check how it compares.