Supermarket wars

Is it cheesy cock

Sluffy wrote:

wanderlust wrote:

Sluffy wrote:I think the world will still carry on turning no matter how much you keep banging on about the Brexit result.

You may not have noticed but this is the world turning. It's today's news. Or is it a case of "job done" after the vote for you? Interesting that it seems that all the big gobs that were shooting off before the referendum have either resigned, shut up or covered their eyes and ears whilst chanting "la la la la la la" in an effort not to pay any attention to what's actually happening in the world and to the country they have the downright cheek to claim they care for. (Apart from that fat Turkish bloke with a Russian mum who was born in the USA - they made him British Foreign Secretary )

You may be in denial but the referendum result WILL affect our quality of life and if you think that isn't worthy of discussion in it's various forms (e.g. how will our shopping habits change?) - after some of the shite threads you have allowed on here - you need help my friend.

Let me know if you want me to stick to alien conspiracies, pregnant teenagers and what I had for tea. Trouble is none of that was in the grown up newspapers today whereas Tesco and Sainsbury's financial problems were.

I learned a trick many, many years ago when dealing with members of the public who simply wouldn't let an issue that burned bright with them drop, and that was to ask them 'what do you want me to do?'.

I can't change the Brexit result and it plainly looks that those who possibly might - the politicians aren't going to do it either - probably because the majority of their electorate voted for it.

The only possible way it won't happen is if a General Election is called and one party stands for Remaining in the EU and the other stands for continuing Brexit - and that isn't going to happen either as ALL the major party's want to remain.

So what exactly do you want me to do about it?  What do you want Nuts to do about it?  Or you wife, or your mates or the young kids you play 5-a-side with?

Maybe it will mean a shittier financial life for all of us - but what do you want us to do about it exactly?

Another old trick I learned was never complain about a problem until I had a solution to it - so what is your solution to the Brexit result in which the vast majority of constituencies (both Conservative AND Labour) voted to leave the EU.

So what exactly is your solution - just keep on bellyaching about it forever more?

Is that it!

Before I answer this, I'd like to thank everyone for getting the subject back on to supermarkets (although I was hoping we'd be having a conversation about where  we shop now vs where we'll be shopping in future) but at least it's a decent effort at ignoring the elephant and TBH I appreciate it because although I don't know you folk, I do feel it's the kind of thing my friends would do when I make an arse of myself. 

Sluffy - I don't want you to do anything. It's fairly clear that I wanted to stay in Europe but I am a pragmatist and we have to move on and I believe I have. That said, I firmly believe that our world will change as a result of the decision and I think that it's entirely valid to speculate about where we are going, hence this thread.

It would be lovely to limit threads to nostalgic reminiscences about life in the 50s/60s/ whatever but the world has never changed faster than it does now (God knows we've lived through so much change already) and if this site is to retain a finger on the pulse we should at least keep our eyes open.

So in that spirit I think that we might be heading for a time when we no longer have cheap booze and "essential items" like bread, milk or Twirls that many families depend upon. That's how it was in the late 70s when I used to have to buy ox liver because it was the cheapest protein, although that particular item is now considered fancy and therefore expensive. Bread was £1 a loaf in 1979 and wine that wasn't Lambrusco or Blue Nun was a fortune but we managed to keep it at an affordable price whilst expanding the choice. The point I was trying to make is that relative food pricing was kept artificially low and that may change over the next couple of years, and there'll be more in the future when our farmers lose their subsidies and get militant about what the supermarkets pay but that's speculation and I'm wondering what everyone else reckons will happen.

Now obviously any change in that situation may well be down to leaving the EU, but the reasons for it are not the point because the referendum was ages ago and this is about today's news.

So be clear about it. I'm not complaining about a problem - I'm speculating about what might happen in the future. And I don't have a solution other than the obvious one. And maybe I'll start doing "the weekly shop" at Lidl because their Manchego is tastier than Tesco's. But if anyone thinks that the balance of power (market share) of "the big 4" is not going to change I'd like to read their thinking on it. I think that's a reasonable question to ask especially as there are people on this site who have a range of perspectives and are capable of voicing them - don't you?

I think the black market might come back, they'll always be stuff we can buy, we could buy a loaf in the world war.

I really wouldn't worry about it lusty.

scottjames30 wrote:I think the black market might come back, they'll always be stuff we can buy, we could buy a loaf in the world war.

I really wouldn't worry about it lusty.

We might even learn how to bake our own bread again and cow heel pie and tripe might make a comeback Scott. 
I baked a fruit pie last week (first time in a bout 10 years TBH) as the gooseberry bush in the garden was hanging with fruit and I really like the tartness. (Can you still actually buy gooseberries?) Anyhoo, I made a short sweet pastry with a little fine demerara and served it up to my mates who loved it - but looked at me like an alien for making my own pastry. It was like "who in their right mind makes their own pastry?" We'll apparently I do because it tastes 10 times better and it's dead easy.

I've no idea how things will pan out with the supermarkets but if the worst comes to the worst I still reckon I've got the skills to live off a £20 a week if I need to  

Bargain of the week: Lidl cooking bacon £1.29 a kilo! Basically it's the ends of the joints so it's unsliced but if you like your bacon thick slicing your own is the way forward. Or makes a good casserole. And it's a kilo! Ridiculously cheap IMO.

wanderlust wrote:

scottjames30 wrote:I think the black market might come back, they'll always be stuff we can buy, we could buy a loaf in the world war.

I really wouldn't worry about it lusty.

We might even learn how to bake our own bread again and cow heel pie and tripe might make a comeback Scott. 
I baked a fruit pie last week (first time in a bout 10 years TBH) as the gooseberry bush in the garden was hanging with fruit and I really like the tartness. (Can you still actually buy gooseberries?) Anyhoo, I made a short sweet pastry with a little fine demerara and served it up to my mates who loved it - but looked at me like an alien for making my own pastry. It was like "who in their right mind makes their own pastry?" We'll apparently I do because it tastes 10 times better and it's dead easy.

I've no idea how things will pan out with the supermarkets but if the worst comes to the worst I still reckon I've got the skills to live off a £20 a week if I need to  

Bargain of the week: Lidl cooking bacon £1.29 a kilo! Basically it's the ends of the joints so it's unsliced but if you like your bacon thick slicing your own is the way forward. Or makes a good casserole. And it's a kilo! Ridiculously cheap IMO.

and pigs trotters back as a pre match meal

I've already banged on about this at length but all I can see is a hike in the price of consumables such as bread and milk because the manufacturing costs are set to increase.

The Big 4 have had British producers over a barrel for years and margins have been shrinking throughout that time.

To the point where Associate British Foods (manufacturers of Kingsmill bread) lose about 8p a loaf of the private label (own brand) bread they make for the Big 4.

But they absorb this cost simply to secure the shelf space for the Kingsmill.

And then they pay the Big 4 a fat retainer every year to maintain the right to keep making bread on which they lose money.

It's crazy but it's how it works.

ABF get a lot of their wheat from European suppliers (as do the majority of the other big British bakers apart from Warbies who buy their's from the US and Canada) because British wheat's shit for making bread with.

Sorry if that offends anybody but it's a fact. The protein levels in domestic wheat are far too low and it's only good for biscuits. 

So what's going to happen when they can no longer mitigate their losses by buying German wheat at a subsidised rate?

The price is going to go up, that's what.

Same with milk.

British dairy farmers are already struggling but what will happen when they lose what bit of protection they currently get from Europe in the form of subsidies?

Tesco will still want their milk at cost + 1p, so the farmers will all probably decide to jack it in and go and do something else.

So the Big 4 will have to source their milk elsewhere and that will be more expensive.

This has been coming for a while and there have been plenty of predictions from within the UK Food Manufacturing industry of something along these lines happening for a few years.

Brexit's just speeded everything up.

And all that's without the end to cheap affordable European labour to run the factories which we may well now see.....

scottjames30 wrote:I think the black market might come back, they'll always be stuff we can buy, we could buy a loaf in the world war.

I really wouldn't worry about it lusty.

Go and google "National Loaf".

Bwfc1958 wrote:

bwfc1874 wrote:

Bwfc1958 wrote:

bwfc1874 wrote:Don't read the thread if you're not interested, I don't click on the Dinner thread because I don't give two shits what you lot eat.

Follow my example.

How dare you. My daily eating habits are something that should be appreciated by one and all. You have no idea what you're missing out on. 

How do you feel about tinned tomatoes.....?

By tinned do you mean chopped or plum?

Chopped of course, what do you take me for? Some kind of plum?

Fixed. No charge.

Breadman wrote:

scottjames30 wrote:I think the black market might come back, they'll always be stuff we can buy, we could buy a loaf in the world war.

I really wouldn't worry about it lusty.

Go and google "National Loaf".

Google " Black Market ".

Bread is shit anyway, the country would be better off if they cut out bread and milk.

Breadman wrote:I've already banged on about this at length but all I can see is a hike in the price of consumables such as bread and milk because the manufacturing costs are set to increase.

The Big 4 have had British producers over a barrel for years and margins have been shrinking throughout that time.

To the point where Associate British Foods (manufacturers of Kingsmill bread) lose about 8p a loaf of the private label (own brand) bread they make for the Big 4.

But they absorb this cost simply to secure the shelf space for the Kingsmill.

And then they pay the Big 4 a fat retainer every year to maintain the right to keep making bread on which they lose money.

It's crazy but it's how it works.

ABF get a lot of their wheat from European suppliers (as do the majority of the other big British bakers apart from Warbies who buy their's from the US and Canada) because British wheat's shit for making bread with.

Sorry if that offends anybody but it's a fact. The protein levels in domestic wheat are far too low and it's only good for biscuits. 

So what's going to happen when they can no longer mitigate their losses by buying German wheat at a subsidised rate?

The price is going to go up, that's what.

Same with milk.

British dairy farmers are already struggling but what will happen when they lose what bit of protection they currently get from Europe in the form of subsidies?

Tesco will still want their milk at cost + 1p, so the farmers will all probably decide to jack it in and go and do something else.

So the Big 4 will have to source their milk elsewhere and that will be more expensive.

This has been coming for a while and there have been plenty of predictions from within the UK Food Manufacturing industry of something along these lines happening for a few years.

Brexit's just speeded everything up.

And all that's without the end to cheap affordable European labour to run the factories which we may well now see.....

When I worked at Warby's in the 70s during summer holidays I'm sure they got their flour from Rank Hovis MacDougall - who were British, but they sold out to Premier Foods (also British) a few years back apparently. Are you sure they get their flour from the States?

Appreciate it's likely in these days of the global economy, but if so it's a bit of a disappointment as Premier foods own about half of the brands we traditionally consider to be British.

From Warbys website
Wheat

WheatThe wheat which we use to produce our flour is produced under contract with farmers in the UK and Canada. We've been working with the same farmers for over 15 years, meaning we are able to achieve outstanding quality.

We specify the varieties grown and the optimum protein levels that we require for baking our bread and to ensure that quality is maintained.

The blend of wheat we use gives us the combination of the qualities we look for in our bread in terms of taste, softness and freshness. Our established sources of supply mean that we can consistently maintain these qualities.

Can i just say a big fook off, to all the remain voters.

scottjames30 wrote:Can i just say a big fook off, to all the remain voters.

Just as we started to get on better again

Ok, you are having a bad day, I won't tell you to fook off .

Just the baby stamping so called grown men then.

Take it from me (ex Ops Manager in a Warbies bakery), the wheat is predominantly North American.

The ratio's something like 90/10.

British wheat's protein content is very low so you have to add extra gluten to the mix and that costs money.

And they don't like doing that.

They use just enough domestic stuff to be legally able to crow about using British ingredients in their advertising and on their website.

And you're quite right about RHM / Premier supplying the wheat.

But it's not British wheat they're supplying, it's North American.

They source their wheat from all over the world and the more expensive, better quality stuff gets bought by Warbies.

The domestic stuff goes to biscuit factories and shite like Robertson's Bakery and all the other tin pot producers.

Breadman wrote:Take it from me (ex Ops Manager in a Warbies bakery), the wheat is predominantly North American.

The ratio's something like 90/10.

British wheat's protein content is very low so you have to add extra gluten to the mix and that costs money.

And they don't like doing that.

They use just enough domestic stuff to be legally able to crow about using British ingredients in their advertising and on their website.

And you're quite right about RHM / Premier supplying the wheat.

But it's not British wheat they're supplying, it's North American.

They source their wheat from all over the world and the more expensive, better quality stuff gets bought by Warbies.

The domestic stuff goes to biscuit factories and shite like Robertson's Bakery and all the other tin pot producers.

I bet you used to get all the girls

Hahahaha, to be fair I think Breadman doesn't know what he is talking about, North America is not the EU.

But now that we're out, we can go direct and get the best deal.

scottjames30 wrote:Bread is shit anyway, the country would be better off if they cut out bread and milk.

Don't be a knob breads the best thing since sliced bread

whatsgoingon wrote:Don't be a knob breads the best thing since sliced bread

I like him less since he admitted he likes sailors.