'It’s about the size of your package...' blog discussion

flapjack_2

Having done a short stint for UCI cinemas (prior to the Odeon takeover) I learned several things about the concessions stand. Firstly most cinemas make their entire profit margin through the overpriced fare you buy at inflated prices there. They break even on the ticket (a friend who worked in another chain confirmed this). Whether you want to sponsor your cinema is your call, but the next thing to mention is that most cinemas won't turn you away if you bring your own snacks. Not that they wouldn't like to, but it's logistically impossible to check everybody's bags before going in. Plus the old argument they used to use, that other people's hot food had a smell that other punters wouldn't appreciate was all but blown out the water by the sale of their own hotdogs. I had heard in the news that Cineworld turned one punter away for bringing his own snacks, but I've never had that problem the many times I've done it. As they're a cheaper cinema chain than most it's understandable they'd want to, but the simple expedient of taking your snacks in a rucksack (or even a supermarket carrier bag) prevents most of their staff from getting uptight about it, in the unlikely event they can be bothered to stop you at the door.
As for pick and mix, I had some fudge in one cinema recently that was as stale as the jokes in a christmas cracker. You are far better off buying a bag of maltesers or popcorn from your local supermarket. And who needs to drink 2 litres of coke from a bucket sized beaker that guarantees you have to get up halfway through the movie to take a leak.

jetfighter

shaz22 wrote: »

A cinema manager once told me that that particular establishment would empty the out-of-date bags of sweets into the Pick 'n' Mix. The moviegoers were none the wiser and the cinema reduced waste and saved money!
That insight has always convinced me that I can last for three hours without needing any confectionary while watching a movie and undoubtedly saved me money too!

I used to work at a theme park with a pick 'n' mix stall. At the end of the day, any dropped sweets would be picked up, dusted off and added back into the containers. Yuck! (I had no part in this, by the way.) Plenty of the sweets added to the containers in the first place were out of date, too. My sister works there now and says this still goes on!

Personally I get my pick 'n' mix from Wilkinson's. Much, much cheaper!

Paul_Herring

flapjack wrote: »

but the next thing to mention is that most cinemas won't turn you away if you bring your own snacks.

There are a number of people on this thread that would disagree.

drlarios

AHAR wrote: »

Staying just about on-topic, I noticed in Sainsbury's the other day that the best value HP sauce can be had by buying the smallest bottle - the square glass one. It's easy to compare because they have price per 100g figures on the price labels.
Normally you get more for your money when you buy larger pack sizes. Has anyone else noticed any such anomalies?

We noticed the same with marmit in asda the other day - sneaky beakys they are!

robellett

We don't just take in our cheaper confectionary from elsewhere, but also love drinking our beers that we pop in a bag, and enjoy inside the cinema.

After all, we might be doing this at home and, in the olden days, cinemas often had bars - some of the newer ones do, but they are much dearer than cheap supermarket purchased beer.

Finally, it's always worth checking the price per 100g or kg etc. Often smaller items are cheaper! Some of the supermarkets find it incredibly difficult to work prices units out, funnily enough, though I bet it's in their own interest to. Eg. Tesco's Cadbury chocolate large bars, approx 125g, had a range of prices for 100gs, even though the ones in question were the same full unit weight and price.

Always tell customer services of discrepancies, to help you and other shoppers in future.