What can we do about supermarket prices?

elljay

I called in to the Co-op in my town today for some milk and while there helped a little old lady select some washing powder, she bought the smallest pack of the most expensive (per ounce) powder there was as she could neither afford big box nor carry it. She also showed me some tins of prunes she wanted and said that they had gone up by 50% and that dried ones, which would work out cheaper in the long run, were really expensive per pack too now they were trendy. After listening to her I went for a walk round the shop looking at things and felt I had been hit by a real light bulb moment. I'm not just blaming the Co-op, though this lady couldn't possibly have struggled over a mile up and down a hill to another supermarket and lots of older people trust the Co-op anyway, encouraged by their 'community-spirit' advertising. On this site I give and receive advice on managing as well as I can, but really I'm only helping me and mine, who's helping this lady? And despite my personal attempts at cutting back I feel I am still allowing supermarkets/the government to get away with this. Like everyone else I've been paying the prices, grumbling 'what can you do?'. I left the shop feeling quite upset but now I feel angry. I'm also still angry at the organic lobbyers who insist on saying we must be prepared to pay for better quality food, my friend needs help with paying for ANY food, I'm sure organic would be great for her, but while her prunes have gone from 50p to 80p there's no chance. And petrol hasn't gone up by that much.

Is there any kind of lobby group, petition, march, hate mail campaign (!!!) - anything - what can I do? I need to feel I'm doing something political about this and not just accepting it.
Sorry for the rant

Liz

We_Laugh_Indoors

I think there is very little we can do, all the supermarkets are interested in is increasing their profits.

Clowance

One thing that struck me was that for things like washing powder, if a few friends got together - or, say, the warden in a residential home - perhaps a cheap large box of washing powder could be bought and then sold to the residents at cost by weight (in plastic bags or containers supplied by buyer), making it cheaper per wash.

I dont know how this could be organised though. Perhaps at the drop in centres in church halls where older people sometimes go for a cuppa?

We will all be old eventually and the way pensions are going many of us will not be well off in our retirement.

elljay

Thanks Clowance, that is a really good idea, hopefully someone can pick it up. I hope also that there are other people like you (and me!) who are interested enough.

What I'd want to do really is be involved in an organisation that attempts either to break the hold of supermarkets (Some hope!) or at least somehow show them up for what they are. I live in a farming area and locally people are being clobbered both by prices for their stock at market as well as by prices of everyday things in their weekly family shop - both of which are dominated by supermarket policies. Friends of the earth has a campaign about supermarkets but that's more about using farm shops or veg boxes and eating ethically and organically. None of which would have any relevance to my elderly friend and her brother who she told me about.

Liz

macca

I think it's disgusting that the supermarkets are forcing farmers out of business by keeping the price of meat artificially low.
I too wish we could do something - pity age concern can't help with the shopping bit - mind you it's the only opportunity some old people get out of the house.
Macca

andybk

macca wrote: »

I think it's disgusting that the supermarkets are forcing farmers out of business by keeping the price of meat artificially low.
I too wish we could do something - pity age concern can't help with the shopping bit - mind you it's the only opportunity some old people get out of the house.
Macca

Im a shepherd , and i get the same for my lambs as i did in 1979 , yet my costs have multiplied massively in 30 years .
When recently the bbc was reporting on the price of wheat saying it had trebled that was wrong , it was £160 a tonne in the 80s (£180 now), and bread then was 50p a loaf , There is 13p worth of flour (it was 8p before ) in a standard loaf at present prices .so why has bread gone up from £70p to £1.20? 50p increase for 5p worth of flour .
someone has to pay for all the new stores and massive land bank , believe me they are doing nobody any favours !

saintscouple

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unrich

The only way is to STOP shoping at the big supermarkets.

Buy from the high street. Visit the butcher, grocer, chemist etc etc.
Look out for farmers markets and in laybys for farmers selling direct.
Buy mail order. Tesco got me hooked on a certain type of tea and then stopped selling it. I now buy it mail order and tesco don't see any of the profit.
Scoop and save! We have a shop where you can take measure out what you want and pay for just what you need! Take your own bags and fill them with just what you want. No wasted packaging too.

Try shopping locally. I get a free range local chicken from the butcher. I slice off the breasts (2 meals), chop off the legs (2 meals) and make soup with the carcas (4-6 meals). large chicken £9 = 8-10 meals. About £1 a meal. It can be done if you have a freezer.

Not everybody has access to non-supermarket shopping but the more we stay away from supermarkets the less of a strangle hold they will have. If you don't have a car things can;t be difficult. When younger I used to cycle across town for my weekly shop.

The other side of the coin is, you have to put more effort into shopping. You have to put more effort into cooking. We are essentially lazy people and often take the easy route. Quality of life is oft confused with maximizing leisure time.

OK living on a fixed income is a different matter.

If you don't want a supermarket with a stranglehold on your town then stop shopping there. Make them desperate for you rather than condescending of you.

Now. If you have to have a supermarket I think the Co-op is the right one. As they at least have ethical policies in place, a thriving range of fair trade things. They may not be the best (by what criterion? price?) but I'd rather the Co-op than tesco, sainsbury, asda, morrisons etc

elljay

What's this post about moving threads? I don't understand.

Anyway, yes I agree with all of that, obviously - (though I do feel slightly patronised by some of your comments - sorry!!), and in addition I intend to write to the 3 supermarkets in my town to say why I won't be with them anymore. It's not hard for me to go to farmers markets or buy from small shops - I have a car and a just-about-adequate income. And they are still more expensive. However it doesn't help my elderly lady, the Co-op is sited at the poorer end of town and without transport it's pretty hard for her to get to Morrisons down the other end of the hill. While I would've previously agreed with you about the Co-op, now with my new jaundiced eye on supermarkets I feel very much as though their much publicised ethical stance is effective marketing, and that and their other publicity inclines loyal customers like my lady to feel they are about being a community resource rather than yet another commercial enterprise. Locally their prices are shocking and even before the recent hikes have always been more expensive. Where does the extra 30p on her tin of prunes go to?

I feel as though I'm patronising this lady too, but speaking to her today has really shaken me out of my little self-centred bubble and I'm incredibly grateful to her for that!

Liz

lesley1960

elljay wrote: »

What's this post about moving threads? I don't understand.

Anyway, yes I agree with all of that, obviously - (though I do feel slightly patronised by some of your comments - sorry!!), and in addition I intend to write to the 3 supermarkets in my town to say why I won't be with them anymore. It's not hard for me to go to farmers markets or buy from small shops - I have a car and a just-about-adequate income. And they are still more expensive. However it doesn't help my elderly lady, the Co-op is sited at the poorer end of town and without transport it's pretty hard for her to get to Morrisons down the other end of the hill. While I would've previously agreed with you about the Co-op, now with my new jaundiced eye on supermarkets I feel very much as though their much publicised ethical stance is effective marketing, and that and their other publicity inclines loyal customers like my lady to feel they are about being a community resource rather than yet another commercial enterprise. Locally their prices are shocking and even before the recent hikes have always been more expensive. Where does the extra 30p on her tin of prunes go to?

I feel as though I'm patronising this lady too, but speaking to her today has really shaken me out of my little self-centred bubble and I'm incredibly grateful to her for that!

Liz

Maybe you could offer her a lift?

trisontana

No matter where you shop, the days of cheap food are over. The price of fuel has risen sharply, thus affecting transport and heating costs. The price of wheat has nearly trebled this year. This affects not only bread prices but also animal feed, thus pushing up the price of meat and eggs. Because of the rise in demand for dairy products from China the price of butter and milk has also risen.

Another factor is that many farmers have stopped growing food crops and have turned over to growing crops to make bio-fuel. Thus creating a shortage of wheat, hence the price increase mention above. It's reckoned that at the moment there is only 6 weeks supply of this cereal in the whole world.