It's the supermarkets to blame

[unlacedgecko]

You have to remember a great deal of millennials with families were not taught how to cook, have no clue or even less inclination to do so. We do not buy or eat much processed food here, the majority of microwave meals taste like carp anyway and the kids just won't eat them. A lot of young families don't even own saucepans because they've blown their monthly budget on 3 iphone 25s or whatever. They have no idea what a piece of flank or skirt is much less how to cook it. The reality is that if you know what you are doing you can eat quite well for very little money, but the second you start loading up with processed or convenience foods the margin retailers make on it ramps up enormously and your take home calories plummet.

I have a friend from school. Him and his wife have a combined income of £130k. In their house "cooking" means assembling and heating up things from Hello Fresh.

 

[Steevo]

Are they too expensive, or are supermarkets too cheap?
Can you not afford to shop there, or are you comsuming too much?

Both.

Supermarkets sell staples for cost of production or below. Ready meals etc as high margin products. Leads many to believe that they struggle to afford to eat.

Some farm shops sell produce for far far far above COP alienating anyone that isn’t an aspirational, lifestyle buyer.

Too much of it is all about perception than reality.

 

[teslacoils]

Supermarkets “suffocating businesses” as farmers warn of egg shortages this year

www.bfrepa.co.uk

 

[borderterribles]

Sad thing is, all they need to do is adjust the different margins they make on all those different products. Some things they make a fortune on but our stuff gets loss leader status. It’s a frankly utterly bizarre state of affairs, but it’s been the way for decades. I suppose it made sense decades ago to sell milk as a loss leader, when the sole objective was to destroy the traditional milk round, but the days of that being a justifiable policy have long gone. The dodo was killed. So why are they still doing it? It’s madness.

You touch in your reply, upon the supermarkets wanting to kill off doorstep milk delivery, but it wasn't because they particularly coveted the margin that was to be made on it. It was because they realised that if they killed it off, then the population would have to come to their supermarkets to buy milk, and would buy other, higher margin products, whilst they were there. That was as true then as it is now. There is a reason that milk is always at the back of the store. It gives the shoppers every opportunity to fill their trolleys on their way to get milk. I am also lead to believe that consumer surveys on shopping habits repeatedly show that decisions on where to shop are often based upon where has the cheapest of several key basket items, bread and milk being high up there.

 

[Ffermer Bach]

You touch in your reply, upon the supermarkets wanting to kill off doorstep milk delivery, but it wasn't because they particularly coveted the margin that was to be made on it. It was because they realised that if they killed it off, then the population would have to come to their supermarkets to buy milk, and would buy other, higher margin products, whilst they were there. That was as true then as it is now. There is a reason that milk is always at the back of the store. It gives the shoppers every opportunity to fill their trolleys on their way to get milk. I am also lead to believe that consumer surveys on shopping habits repeatedly show that decisions on where to shop are often based upon where has the cheapest of several key basket items, bread and milk being high up there.

I drink goats milk, so go to Tesco for it, and unless there is something I like in the discounted area (and it is cheaper than Lidl, which at times it isn't!), all I leave with is 3 litres of milk.

 

[Humble Village Farmer]

I drink goats milk, so go to Tesco for it, and unless there is something I like in the discounted area (and it is cheaper than Lidl, which at times it isn't!), all I leave with is 3 litres of milk.

They don't like customers like you

 

[DaveGrohl]

You touch in your reply, upon the supermarkets wanting to kill off doorstep milk delivery, but it wasn't because they particularly coveted the margin that was to be made on it. It was because they realised that if they killed it off, then the population would have to come to their supermarkets to buy milk, and would buy other, higher margin products, whilst they were there. That was as true then as it is now. There is a reason that milk is always at the back of the store. It gives the shoppers every opportunity to fill their trolleys on their way to get milk. I am also lead to believe that consumer surveys on shopping habits repeatedly show that decisions on where to shop are often based upon where has the cheapest of several key basket items, bread and milk being high up there.

Quite. I never said it was all about the margin on milk, it was all about killing off a reason for consumers not to come to their supermarket. They all killed the milk round. It’s gone. I very much doubt they lose money on this now, but compared to all the other lines that they all have that they’re all making big margins on? There is now no reason to price these things the way they do.

 

[Humble Village Farmer]

They'll go to considerable lengths to close down the competition too. Heard a story, so don't know first hand, of a chap wandering into a local petrol station. "Is the owner about?"

"Yes that's me why?"

"We'd like to buy your site for a million pounds" (this is over 20 years ago, maybe 30) and hands over a cheque.

Low and behold, new supermarket gets the go ahead half a mile away. They closed the petrol station and built 4 houses on it.

Easy peasy. No more competition for milk, beer, wine, sandwiches, flowers, chocolate bars etc.

Million pounds starts to look cheap when you look at it like that.

 

[DaveGrohl]

They'll go to considerable lengths to close down the competition too. Heard a story, so don't know first hand, of a chap wandering into a local petrol station. "Is the owner about?"

"Yes that's me why?"

"We'd like to buy your site for a million pounds" (this is over 20 years ago, maybe 30) and hands over a cheque.

Low and behold, new supermarket gets the go ahead half a mile away. They closed the petrol station and built 4 houses on it.

Easy peasy. No more competition for milk, beer, wine, sandwiches, flowers, chocolate bars etc.

Million pounds starts to look cheap when you look at it like that.

If they’d waited til they’d queezed the pips out of the petrol station’s fuel business they’d have got it for a quarter of that.

 

[Ffermer Bach]

They don't like customers like you

the feeling is mutual then!

 

[delilah]

The concentration of market share in food retailing - because that is what you are talking about - can be reversed without the public having to change their habits. It really isn't rocket science.

 

[Muddyroads]

The concentration of market share in food retailing - because that is what you are talking about - can be reversed without the public having to change their habits. It really isn't rocket science.

Go on……

 

[Hilly]

I have a friend from school. Him and his wife have a combined income of £130k. In their house "cooking" means assembling and heating up things from Hello Fresh.

The amount of house holds with over 100k coming in the door is unreal now ! And yet they still want cheap food !! Bloody joke .

 

[delilah]

Go on……

Which bit ? The market share bit ?
The thread title is about supermarkets. When folks moan about supermarkets, what they are actually moaning about - whether they realise it or not - is market share. Call it an oligopoly, call it a cartel, whatever. The issue is the concentration of market share. So. We need to reverse the concentration of market share. Yes ?

 

[Muddyroads]

Which bit ? The market share bit ?
The thread title is about supermarkets. When folks moan about supermarkets, what they are actually moaning about - whether they realise it or not - is market share. Call it an oligopoly, call it a cartel, whatever. The issue is the concentration of market share. So. We need to reverse the concentration of market share. Yes ?

So as I said, go on……
In other words, tell us how.

 

[delilah]

So as I said, go on……
In other words, tell us how.

Lets say someone starts a thread on here saying they are going to build a shed for doing bull beef in and are looking for design ideas. Someone puts a load of photos up of the shed they built for finishing steers in.

There is little point discussing something unless we are in agreement on what we are talking about. @startinghandle , you started the thread, you mentioned 'supermarkets', what do you mean by 'supermarkets' ?
Everyone who has waded in with their comments. What do you mean by 'supermarkets' ? You must know what you mean by the word, otherwise you wouldn't have pitched in ?

Apologies for being a pedant. It's just that I have had this discussion too many times on here and it is an utterly pointless discussion unless we are agreed on what we are talking about.

 

[Muddyroads]

Lets say someone starts a thread on here saying they are going to build a shed for doing bull beef in and are looking for design ideas. Someone puts a load of photos up of the shed they built for finishing steers in.

There is little point discussing something unless we are in agreement on what we are talking about. @startinghandle , you started the thread, you mentioned 'supermarkets', what do you mean by 'supermarkets' ?
Everyone who has waded in with their comments. What do you mean by 'supermarkets' ? You must know what you mean by the word, otherwise you wouldn't have pitched in ?

Apologies for being a pedant. It's just that I have had this discussion too many times on here and it is an utterly pointless discussion unless we are agreed on what we are talking about.

I’ll probably regret this, but here goes:
A large number of muppets producers produce products (almost all are perishable to a greater or lesser degree) which are bought by a relatively small number of buyers. The buyers set the prices which are often underpinned by world prices as the buyers can often buy similar products from around the world.
The muppets producers have very little option but to sell to the buyers.
How do you suggest this can be changed?

 

[delilah]

How do you suggest this can be changed?

That one's easy. By increasing the number of buyers in the marketplace. We have already got that far, if we are in agreement that market share is the issue. Reverse the concentration of market share = more buyers in the marketplace. We haven't moved the discussion along with that one tbh.

 

[Muddyroads]

That one's easy. By increasing the number of buyers in the marketplace. We have already got that far, if we are in agreement that market share is the issue. Reverse the concentration of market share = more buyers in the marketplace. We haven't moved the discussion along with that one tbh.

Sorry if I’m being thick, but how do we increase the number of buyers, bearing in mind that we don’t control them?

 

[delilah]

Sorry if I’m being thick, but how do we increase the number of buyers, bearing in mind that we don’t control them?

In the same way that we have decreased the number of buyers. Government policy.