Supermarket Wars !

[Richard]

I read yesterday that Morrison's are upping their discount game to fend off the challenges of Lidl and Co.

Channel4 Article

It seems it started off with the Milk battles of a week or two back and now going onwards from there.

Like it or not, Supermarkets are cheaper than your average local shop which are now either there for the item you forgot to buy, a friendly chat and gossip with the Shopkeeper or about to close down.

Good for the consumer? Reckon the answer is yes if it's saving money.

Good for UK Farmer's and Food Manufacturers? Reckon the answer is no.

Where's it going to go?

Richard

[Maggie1]

Over here we don't have the choice of supermarkets as much as UK. However we do have Tesco Aldi and Lidl. Personally I use Aldi and Lidl rather than Tesco because its cheaper and fresher than Tesco. The times I've bought fruit and veg in Tesco and its gone off in a couple of days. On saying that here we have loads of butchers 1 or 2 in every village. I use them as well. They know everybody by name, and don't mind how long it takes for you to make your mind up. There's always time for a chat. There is a notice in every butcher where their meat is from (always local) and where and who slaughters. All in all they all seem to be doing well.
I am on a Irish Gardening Forum and there are people condemning people who go to Aldi and Lidl for plants. Why don't they use the local garden centres instead. Simple its cheaper. Yesterday I bought 5 strawberry plants bare root for €2.99 (£2.50) 50p each in Aldi. No way could you get that in a garden centre. You couldn't get one for that money. OK I've got to pot them up but thats no hardship.
I'm afraid I've been brought up the old way, especially when we didn't have the money so had to go for the cheapest or starve. Its the same as I never buy organic stuff as its dearer.
I think its still dearer here food wise I paid €2.45 (£2.05) for 3 litres of milk. What do you pay

[Richard]

Very interesting Maggie, especially about he Butcher's.

Morrisons are selling 2litre Milk for 84p and most others are matching that I believe.

Even before the latest milk war, 2 litres would be £1 in the Pound Shop.

Richard

[Maggie1]

how much for 3 litres

[Richard]

Pro rata = £1.26

Richard

[Maggie1]

Phew thats 79p difference. On saying that theres a wacking difference for say Paracetamol. In UK you can buy a packet for 30p. Here its €3.79 (£3.17) which is a hell of a difference. On saying that we don't pay Council Tax. We have a water meter but are allowed so much a year free so have never paid anything as we don't exceed the limit. We pay €250 a year for our 2 wheelie bins to be emptied every fortnight, but we have to take them to the end of the lane which is quarter of a mile. So all in all theres not much difference.

[Aspasia]

I wonder how good it is for the consumer in the long term, if smaller producers are driven out of business and we have to rely on one or two larger producers, who can then charge whatever they like, as they are the only ones left? This is the tactic employed by Stagecoach in their successful monopoly on bus routes over so much of the UK: start by charging much less, then, when the other companies are out of business, yank the prices up as high as you like.

Supermarket milk here is very cheap, and is selling much faster than Shetland Farm Dairies milk, because the local company simply can't afford to price their product so low. The problem is that, during bad weather, the ferry doesn't run, and the supermarket shelves become more bare. As long as we have a local producer, we have access to milk in most weather (unless the weather is so bad that the shops are shut). But if SFD goes out of business, where will we get fresh milk in bad weather?

This is obviously less of an issue in areas which are more connected, but I do wonder about this pricing tactic of the supermarkets. They're not exactly known for being socially responsible businesses.

[Mo]

We have a water meter but are allowed so much a year free

That sounds a good idea. Have what you need but don't waste.

If there's no council tax does that mean other taxes are higher to pay for e.g. education. Since a chunk of shop price is VAT that might account for some differenc

[Maggie1]

We pay €250 a year for wheelies which are collected every fortnight. We have to take them to the end of the lane which is quarter of a mile.
Fire Brigade and Garde are not free as in UK. It comes out of household insurances. A house fire will cost you just over €1,000. Same as Garde, they charge different rates. So if your careful and insured there's not a problem.
The majority of shops here are family run, even the pharmacies. I don't know what the rates are. Pubs seem to do OK. Take our local village 7 miles away. Theres a garage, supermarket/post office, florist and some insurance places and a building society and 4 pubs. The pubs do wonderful food so are always busy. The farmers come in at lunchtime and eat. The schoolchildren also. They are so disciplined. The landlord gives free squash and they eat their meals and there's no rowdiness or misbehaviour.
Yes I use the supermarkets a lot as they are cheaper but also use the shops and pubs in the village. The only draw back is you have to have a car. There are buses but not at the end of the road as in UK. The other nice thing is when your 66 here you get free bus and train fare and also free TV licence. They did give help with phone bill and electric with a discount but they stopped that last year.
If you have a medical card a prescription is €2.50 ( £2.09) an item. If you don't medication is very expensive.