Supermarkets in Shetland - prices, ethics and experiences

[Muppet]

Kermit and co have some serious competition up here.

 

Cue Me!

 

Are you sure there's not been a recent hike in the price of milk? I bought a litre of milk for £1.04 at tesco yesterday. It did seem dearer than normal to me but it's the same price as the Co-op were selling it at today.

 

Surely the good old Co-op are not learning off big bad Tesco!

[Guest posiedon]

Fjool

Importing milk is ridiculous when it's one of the things Shetland can easily produce for itself.

Exactly! And no doubt they'll be selling Youngs seafood products? Youngs, the company that made a few hundred people redundant in the Scottish borders, when in their wisdom they decided to send shellfish to China? (not sure) but some far flung bloody spot, to have them processed, and then have them shipped all the way back again for the likes of Tesco. (I know Somerfield stocked Youngs products, but Tesco will aggressively promote them over the likes of McNabs et al.) Simply because they have massive buying power with Youngs,(and so can dictate the price) but not with McNabs.

This would appear to be an example of how Tesco are claiming to support local producers but simultaneously shafting them rotten.

That's what they do best.

 

This is how the Tesco machine works, offer the Shetland milk at an inflated price, folk buy the cheaper "south" alternative, Shetland farm dairies gets into difficulties, Tesco take them over, (or let them go to the wall) either way, it then means you have to shop at Tesco to get local milk, or local milk isn't available at all.

All you advocates of "Tesco best thing since sliced bread" should take note of the people who are familiar with their tactics.

I am not some disgruntled ex employee, nor am I well off and can afford to ignore Tesco, but I will on principle.

I'm pleased to say, I was in the Co-op this morning and it was business as usual for a tuesday morning, around 30 cars on the car park so thankfully not everybody has been taken in by the Tesco hype.

[Guest Anonymous]

just been told that a litre of Shetland milk is £1.05 in tescos 20p dearer than my local shop, who's screwing you? both are paying the same price wholesale yet one is makin 25p and the other is making 5p five times the profit for good old tescos and you lot think you are getting a good deal. Kermit and co have some serious competition up here.

OK! so I am an idiot for saying that Tesco would increase prices.

I have to admit I was wrong. Or did I read that the wrong way round???

[Guest Anonymous]

Importing milk is ridiculous when it's one of the things Shetland can easily produce for itself.

 

This would appear to be an example of how Tesco are claiming to support local producers but simultaneously shafting them rotten.

COOL Statement

[PJ of Hildisvik]

I dont see the problem here, Shetland milk has always been dearer than so called imported "south" milk at all the previous supermarkets so nothing new there.

If you want just Shetland milk you can buy it from your local shop, thus supporting your local Dairy farmer etc which is a good thing, but a lot of people want more of a choice, some might not like the taste of a certain type of milk, wherever its from regardless of the price. No doubt when we drink coffee in the cafes etc we'll all be drinking Shetland milk,

People demand a choice thats the way it's always been and always will.

I prefer Goats milk, can't see any local supplier yet, goats like it a bit warmer and dryer!

[Girzie]

Did you find that Tesco was much cheaper than the Co-op? I didn't see much difference to be honest and there were loads of empty shelves - to be expected naturally because of the amount of people - but annoying all the same. will alternate between the two as always.

[tlady]

Kermit and co have some serious competition up here.

 

Cue Me!

 

Are you sure there's not been a recent hike in the price of milk? I bought a litre of milk for £1.04 at tesco yesterday. It did seem dearer than normal to me but it's the same price as the Co-op were selling it at today.

 

Surely the good old Co-op are not learning off big bad Tesco!

 

 

No no Muppet that can't be .. that would mean that big bad Tesco was selling milk at a "fair" price.

 

 

Way back .. the good old Co-op didn't have any of their cheap products until they got serious competition! but the anti-Tescos hit squad won't remember that

 

As I've said, I'll use both supermarkets and my local shop as I did before.

 

And Tesco probably will manage to squeeze extra out of my budget because of their selection, but whos fault is that ?

[daveh]

As with PJ, I also prefer goats milk. I also like sheeps milk but I don't think either are produced locally.

I have recently moved to Shetland but, for the previous 10 years, have had access to Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Asda & Tesco plus several local shops. We tended to use Sainsbury's as it was the closest but I regularly made use of the local shops for one-off purchases when I was buying my newspapers or lottery tickets. I would suggest that this is what most people in Shetland do and will continue to do. They would have used either Somerfield or the Co-op and used their local for sundries; particularly now that the price of travelling into Lerwick can be expensive due to fuel costs. What I am trying to say is that the choice has always been there whether it was Co-op or Somerfield. Nobody forces anyone to use Tesco and it is down to personal choice.

We went there on Monday and the range and prices were excellent but, personally, we will also continue to use the Co-op every few weeks; exactly as we did when it was Somerfield instead. I will also continue to shop locally as before.

Does anyone have a problem with that? I don't.

[Styumpie]

Our modern society has dictated the need for cheap convient food - hence the need for intensive farming and big supermarkets.

 

Well folks make the most of it now, this is the cheapest and easiest food will ever be. The next decade is truly going to be a shocker. The new post modern era, coupled with the effects of a severe recession a time where oil will not be taken for granted, cost of a tank of petrol is a week/months wage, intensive farming comes grinding to a near halt, food imports come to a near standstill, supermarkets will eventually be a thing of the past, Id guess probably within the next 10 years.

[Spinner72]

Well, funny how things go, if not for Tesco's we would now have had have one company with a no competition...

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7508982.stm

 

[JustMe]

Finally went to Tesco this morning.........no queues but no bananas either. Impressed with the range of frozen vegetarian products which is mainly what I wanted to buy this week. Far better selection that previous stores in the same building or the Co-op and lower prices as well. Just hope they keep up their standards.

 

One word of warning......National Lottery tickets bought at the checkouts can only be exchanged for prizes at Tesco. Buy from the kiosk if you intend to collect winnings elsewhere.

[daveh]

I buy my lottery tickets online and have found the facility to be excellent.

 

As for Co-op buying Somerfield, that really would have been a strange situation if Somerfield had not sold to Tesco and then the Co-op moved into the old Somerfield site. I certainly doubt that another chain would subsequently move into their current place.

[Mcdilly-Willy]

"Support your local shop", "Local's best"

 

Just how much of the produce in a local shop are actually sourced "locally"?

 

• 
  Milk,
  Tatties & some veg (depending on shop & time of year)
  Butter
  Meat (sometimes)
  Anything else?
  

 

90% + of the stock comes from one of the two local wholesalers -

 

Most of the sourcing at the wholesalers is done from fruit and veg markets south and slaughter houses south / Orkney (repackaged as Shetland meat once carved).

 

Support your local shop - more like support your local Wholesaler??

[ianboy1]

[

quote="sheepshagger]hip hip hooray now you can get ripped off by a supermarket at either end of the town, instead of the nasty fat cat buisnees owners of Shetland.

 

Here's a little example of prices in Shetland

 

Item A. sold in tescos for £1.49

sold in my local shop £1.90

 

at first glance the local shop is ripping you off but look closely at how each came about their price and then reconsider

 

Wholesaler pays 60p for item A charges shop £1.35 shop has a 55p mark up less than 30% hardly a rip off when you take in to account the cost of getting produce from LK to the rural area, wages, electric etc.

 

tescos buy item A at less than 60p and sell it at £1.49 a mark up of at least 89p a ball hair short of 150% so who is ripping you off.

 

fair enough it is cheaper to you today but when the competition are gone will the company with the 150% mark up not look to screw you even more, or do you think that they will bring prices down even further because they now have a bigger market share.

 

get bloody real and stop spouting poop about local buisness when quite plainly some of you are completly clueless.[/quot

 

Is the wholesaler not a local business ? Just because the local majority do not shop at the wholesaler does not make him any less of a local business does it,, And his profit in your calculations is 75p Hmmmmmmmm lets see thats still 20p more than the shop makes ? So between the 2 they are making a mere 215% PROFIT.

 

And I have worked for local companies who I know their mark up is a minimum of 65% So personally I think as with most of your post at best speculation !

 

Maybe you should take your own advice (get bloody real and stop spouting poop) as quite frankly I think you are (completly clueless).

[PJ of Hildisvik]

So the CO-OP has purchased Somerfield for £ 1.57 Billion, interesting how they found the money for that, but couldn't be bothered to spend a penny on that pit of a building they call a supermarket over the last how many years? It took Tesco to come here for them to make an effort, regardless what they say.