If you think the choice is Aus supermarkets is pants (and expensive) now ........
Oct 14th 2008, 8:57 pm
#92
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Oct 14th 2008, 9:08 pm
#94
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Re: If you think the choice is Aus supermarkets is pants (and expensive) now ........
There are tons and tons of things you can't get in Australian supermarkets that you can in UK. It's hard to list any specific examples because they vary by supermarket to some extent.
If you're not overly fussed what you eat, then most Australian supermarkets carry a satisfactory range (currently, not sure once coles cuts their range because Woolworths tend to do exactly what Coles do and if that happens there'll be no suppliers willing to produce stuff just for the independants).
However the point is that in Britain you have a much greater CHOICE. It's not just about ready meals.
For example, in a typical Australian supermarket, there might be something like 6 or 7 different types of sauce (tomato, barbecue, and a few slight variants). In a typical UK hypermarket you are likely to find more like 20-30 types of sauce, which would probably include some very interesting and creative recipes, not just your basic ketchup or brown sauce like here.
The same thing applies to just about every category of groceries.
Cakes would be a very good example. Aussie stores typically have 2 or 3 types of imported Mr Kipling cakes and maybe 8-10 locally produced (and usually very boring) cakes.
UK stores tend to dedicate at least half an aisle to cakes, and at a rough guess it would be more like 15-20 Mr Kipling varieties, and 30-50 other types of cakes, most of which would be very tempting.
That's what I think people mean when they say UK stores have more 'choice'.
Anyway as for Coles plan, you wouldn't think this McLoed guy was from England really would you? Coles has always been very badly managed but this really takes the cake (literally no doubt!)
At least he's honest. He was quoted in the Brisbane times article linked earlier in this thread saying ""At the moment there are plenty of reasons why [shoppers] can and probably should go somewhere else"!
Well Mr McLoed, I think I will!
If you're not overly fussed what you eat, then most Australian supermarkets carry a satisfactory range (currently, not sure once coles cuts their range because Woolworths tend to do exactly what Coles do and if that happens there'll be no suppliers willing to produce stuff just for the independants).
However the point is that in Britain you have a much greater CHOICE. It's not just about ready meals.
For example, in a typical Australian supermarket, there might be something like 6 or 7 different types of sauce (tomato, barbecue, and a few slight variants). In a typical UK hypermarket you are likely to find more like 20-30 types of sauce, which would probably include some very interesting and creative recipes, not just your basic ketchup or brown sauce like here.
The same thing applies to just about every category of groceries.
Cakes would be a very good example. Aussie stores typically have 2 or 3 types of imported Mr Kipling cakes and maybe 8-10 locally produced (and usually very boring) cakes.
UK stores tend to dedicate at least half an aisle to cakes, and at a rough guess it would be more like 15-20 Mr Kipling varieties, and 30-50 other types of cakes, most of which would be very tempting.
That's what I think people mean when they say UK stores have more 'choice'.
Anyway as for Coles plan, you wouldn't think this McLoed guy was from England really would you? Coles has always been very badly managed but this really takes the cake (literally no doubt!)
At least he's honest. He was quoted in the Brisbane times article linked earlier in this thread saying ""At the moment there are plenty of reasons why [shoppers] can and probably should go somewhere else"!
Well Mr McLoed, I think I will!
Oct 14th 2008, 9:29 pm
#95
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Re: If you think the choice is Aus supermarkets is pants (and expensive) now ........
Look folks........
I am reliably informed by the worlds best shopper (aka the wife) that Australian shopping has nowhere near the choice of what she has experienced individually in UK/Spain/USA/Belgium/Holland/Germany/Italy/Turkey....be it food or clothes.
It's probably to do with the size of the market, consumer demand and consumer education about what is out there in the BIG world.
I will eat what is on the plate and hate shopping. Food is food to fuel me to do other things more enjoyable than eating. Having said this, I was amazed at the size of some people in the malls in Oz........far from the healthy picture often painted by TV
'nuff said.
Here endeth the thread !!
I am reliably informed by the worlds best shopper (aka the wife) that Australian shopping has nowhere near the choice of what she has experienced individually in UK/Spain/USA/Belgium/Holland/Germany/Italy/Turkey....be it food or clothes.
It's probably to do with the size of the market, consumer demand and consumer education about what is out there in the BIG world.
I will eat what is on the plate and hate shopping. Food is food to fuel me to do other things more enjoyable than eating. Having said this, I was amazed at the size of some people in the malls in Oz........far from the healthy picture often painted by TV
'nuff said.
Here endeth the thread !!
Oct 14th 2008, 9:32 pm
#96
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Re: If you think the choice is Aus supermarkets is pants (and expensive) now ........
Oh I'm not sure it's ended just yet!
A lot of people see food as something that should be enjoyed, not merely as fuel!
A lot of people see food as something that should be enjoyed, not merely as fuel!
Oct 14th 2008, 9:36 pm
#97
Forum Regular
Joined: Jan 2008
Location: Melbourne
Posts: 147
Re: If you think the choice is Aus supermarkets is pants (and expensive) now ........
Ready made meals were tried here about 10 years ago and were a big flop. Australians prefer to cook their own meals generally than buy ready made.
One of the reasons there could be a wider variety of products in the UK is because many of the products are European and come from many different countries. Here in Australia we don't import much from Europe. Most food is Australian made or from Asia and perhaps some from the USA.
I don't understand the 'bananas that taste like bananas' comment. The bananas here are excellent. Maybe some people equate 'different' to lesser in quality. We all get used to certain products tasting a certain way and when they are different it is easy to say the product is not as good.
One of the reasons there could be a wider variety of products in the UK is because many of the products are European and come from many different countries. Here in Australia we don't import much from Europe. Most food is Australian made or from Asia and perhaps some from the USA.
I don't understand the 'bananas that taste like bananas' comment. The bananas here are excellent. Maybe some people equate 'different' to lesser in quality. We all get used to certain products tasting a certain way and when they are different it is easy to say the product is not as good.
Oct 14th 2008, 9:47 pm
#98
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Re: If you think the choice is Aus supermarkets is pants (and expensive) now ........
I must say I totally disagree when it come to bananas (and I would say the same about strawberries too).
Bananas here in Adelaide are either tasteless, or have a very bitter taste.
Bananas are supposed to taste like, well, bananas. I can't describe it much better than that because it's a very unique taste that you either know or don't.
I know what real bananas are supposed to taste like because I'm fortunate enough to have had some, quite recently, on my last visit to Britain and I can assure you the long yellow plastic things you get here are not real bananas!
Bananas here in Adelaide are either tasteless, or have a very bitter taste.
Bananas are supposed to taste like, well, bananas. I can't describe it much better than that because it's a very unique taste that you either know or don't.
I know what real bananas are supposed to taste like because I'm fortunate enough to have had some, quite recently, on my last visit to Britain and I can assure you the long yellow plastic things you get here are not real bananas!
Oct 14th 2008, 9:52 pm
#99
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Re: If you think the choice is Aus supermarkets is pants (and expensive) now ........
Oct 14th 2008, 9:55 pm
#100
I don't give a damn
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Location: In the arms of my family. Heaven...
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you beat me to it!
Oct 14th 2008, 9:55 pm
#101
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