Supermarkets in Shetland - prices, ethics and experiences

[Salmon]

Another protester for Tesco's opening day I see - funny how folk like this seem to only post their own personal viewpoint rather than printing a balanced view to let folk make their own choices. He seems to have overlooked the reality of the situation - AA Gill put the issue into a better perspective.

 

Intensive farming is a way of modern life - you want something different then you'll need to curb the population growth.

 

p.s. Salmon in cages, hmm, maybe Mr Dobson should spend his time protesting for better Salmon welfare rights around the farms surrounding Shetland.

 

http://www.shetland-news.co.uk/letters_07_2008/Foul%20protest.htm

 

This is part of of AA Gill’s article in the Sunday Times on Jan 27 2008

 

“As part of the concerted Channel 4 crusade against murder most fowl, Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall and Jamie Oliver have been using a lot of TV time and clout to stop intensive chicken farming. Now, normally I’m all for improving flavour, freshness, goodness and the sexual allure of livestock, but this isn’t about the quality of chicken, it’s about the quality of chicken’s lives, and frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn dish of boiled wattles about the lives of chickens. Giving them a hay bale, a square yard of grass and an hour a day in the chilly drizzle is a bit like putting a bridge table on death row.

 

If you care about the quality of chickens’ lives, their happiness, there’s only one thing you can morally do: don’t eat them.

 

Animals are bred into humiliating, unnatural shapes and idiotic imbecility in strange, unnatural habitats, and then die for dinner. Get over it or eat grass. The only thing you should campaign about is whether they’re improved eating. This zoomorphic sentimentality, this Beatrix Pot-au-feu of food, is as dysfunctional and disassociated from the reality of field and table as medical foodies who think that all breakfast is either poison or a cure for cancer.

 

But it goes with the bosky, cute, Waltons-style sets that Hugh and Jamie make out they live in: gastro-arcadia, where everything is innocent, happy and immortal. It won’t do. Livestock engineering is about human engineering: there are 60m of us. Let’s say 50m want to eat chicken once a week, and you want the chickens to have a square metre of grass to play in. And they take a minimum of five weeks to get fat enough to eat. Well, that’s 25m chickens living on a square metre each, totalling an area roughly the size of Wales. A better use of the principality, we may agree, but it’s not exactly practical. For a start, it’ll be knee-deep in crap by Easter – and, of course, it won’t happen. What might happen is they just make chicken a lot more expensive. That won’t bother Jamie or Hugh or me much; we make a bob or two. But it might make a difference to people who depend on cheap, reliable food: the young, the old and invalids. We have intensive farming for a reason: not just simply for laziness, or because farmers like to work indoors, but because we are an intensive population.

 

Expensive food will send us back to the 19th century, and the national cuisine will be porridge and bark for the poor, who will get rickets. Chickens and rabbits are the cheapest, quickest and most efficient converters of protein. If you take them out of poor people’s diets, you have to replace them with something. It used to be fish – herring mostly. There is one fishing boat left in Great Yarmouth: start forming a queue now.

What this maudlin, sanctimonious bout of petting-zoo food rights leads to is simply exporting the moral problem. We ban the manufacture of veal, but not the consumption of it. So it is made in Holland, and we drive it back in lorries. We improved pigs’ rights, so our pork comes from Poland. Intensive chickens will be reared by the hungrier nations of the EU, and we will buy them back. And if you aim to make food contented, bespoke and rare, well, that’s just fine and dandy, but, please, will you tell the rest of us what parts of the world you’re planning on ethically starving to death.

 

Infiltrator that is the best post i've read on Shetlink for a long time 10/10, my smile got broader and broader as i read through your post, thanks a lot.

 

Sal

[Roachmill]

Are we done with the carnivore reacharoundathon?

 

/Thought this thread was about Tescos.

 

@Salmon: Maybe you missed my earlier question:

We will be offered the same national advertised promotions as the rest of the UK.....promise.

Promise? No offence intended but pray tell how you know for sure. There's many a time I've seen offers that "apply only to mainland UK". You an employee?

[Salmon]

Are we done with the carnivore reacharoundathon?

 

/Thought this thread was about Tescos.

 

@Salmon: Maybe you missed my earlier question:

We will be offered the same national advertised promotions as the rest of the UK.....promise.

Promise? No offence intended but pray tell how you know for sure. There's many a time I've seen offers that "apply only to mainland UK". You an employee?

 

I agree this thread is about the arrival/fear of arrival of one of the biggest national/international super stores listed in the UK...

do i work for Tesco ?...who can say,

but what i can say is i love these wee Isles and the people that live and work in them,

they have also been taken advantage of (ripped off) for years

...TESCO in Shetland will break the mould....Spend £50 in our store and receive 10% discount at our petrol pumps...do you think the SIC will have the power to stop TESCO from offering the local population discounted petrol at a TESCO petrol station attached to their store in Lerwick...

not a chance lol...if TESCO wish it, it will be done.

 

 

(oh....SIC please speak to our Legal Department....they will advice you if it's worth investing in a "FEASIBILITY STUDY" to stop Tesco's advance...

there's a thought who gets the returns from all of Shetlands "FEASIBILITY STUDIES"...the Isles have spent millions over the years to find answers i could have given them at midnight in the Thule Bar on a Friday.

 

TRUE

 

SAL

[Silvercloud]

Hi,

 

What are the other garages going to do??

 

By Tesco offering 10%off their petrol for every £50 spent in Tesco they will treat petrol as a lost leader making the money up in the store and off setting any loses from mainland stores thus forcing the local petrol stations out of business who is going to resist 10%off their petrol bringing the price down to the same as mainland ???

 

Silvercloud

[greenman]

might not be cheaper, but it cant be dearer than the co op, they have fairlyhiked their prices since sommerfield closed

[Roachmill]

do i work for Tesco ?...who can say

Eh, you can . With an answer like that you should be in 10 Downing Street. I'm merely curious to know whether you're talking hot air or actually know for a fact. As someone pointed out earlier, Tesco were (allegedly!) looking to pay people to support them in a public meeting. So I'm sure they'd have no problems paying someone (not necessarily you) to come on here and big them up.

 

if TESCO wish it, it will be done.

Jings, crivens and help ma boab! Tesco are the Second Coming. All hail Tesco! And you still say Tesco are good after that little ditty? I'll wait and see what they do once they've been open a while before bowing down and taking what they're giving thanks.

 

the Isles have spent millions over the years to find answers i could have given them at midnight in the Thule Bar on a Friday.

Couldn't we all.

[ianboy1]

Well im no employed by Tesco their here and nothing can be done about that fact their spending money LOCALLY nobody can deny that fact ..

 

Morrisons managed to keep their prices very much lower than that of the Coop so why shouldnt Tesco,, yea Morrisons didnt last long but that was a country wide buy out of their smaller stores by Somerfield that prompted that shift I believe (feel free to correct if im wrong) personally I liked Morrisons and loved the prices our weekly shop dropped by around £20 and the Produce was equal if not better than that of the Coop ?.

 

Normally now I go shopping once a month to the supermarket and avoid like the plague the rest of the month HMMMM my latest experience of the Coop well I was standing deciding which Chicken to purchase when I was requested to MOVE by a member of staff who promptly placed a trolly of goods where I had been and another followed blocking the goods I wished to purchase !!! and thats only the first isle !! I found this several times on my shopping trip.

 

Then their was my 40 min wait in a cue prior to arriving at the slowest checkout operator in Britain who if something didnt scan rang their little bell or switched on their little flashing light and then sat and looked vacant until a very fed up supervisor arrived and grunted, I did happen to mention that he could lay the un scanned item to the side and continue with other goods my reply was A vacant expression and when my shopping eventually got scanned low and behold it was £30 dearer than last month Hmmm and they havent put their prices up ????( and no we didnt buy any extra goods ).

 

Well I have shopped at Tesco many a time on the mainland along with Asda Lidl Aldi and many others Depending where I was what I was doing and how much time I had. Their here many a thread on here saying how bad Tesco will be how they will rip us all off why not give them a chance why not wait and see we can moan all we want it wont change the fact they are here and opening in just over a week.

 

As for the Councils feasability study another waste of tax payers money if they cant make a straight forward decision we need to look seriously at who we vote into powerfull decision making positions, What do they need a study about if Tesco want to spend the money on expanding the store let them if they want to put in petrol pumps let them if our local businesses wish to group together and bulk buy goods let them all in all I hope more groups do get together you never know it might just get us the consumer a better deal.

 

Heres a new question for you if B & Q or Wickes wanted to build a store would we have a 18 page thread protecting our local builders merchants !! oh hold on Homebase bought a local company and came in that way thats ok how about poor leslie at LBC or poor Clarence at Brae I dont think I see a thread protecting them local boys we local businesses ,, Would the council be carrying out another study ? I doubt it.

 

So lets just see if Tesco manage to dissapoint us all or have their doubters say I told you so!! we wont know until they open the doors will we!! but I for one will be trying out the Tesco in Shetland shopping experience at the end of the month for my monthly shop and I have kept my till receipt from the Coop to compare next months shop and if Tesco dont drop my monthly shop back down by that £30 or more I will be surprised.

 

Please excuse spelling punctuation etc never was my strong point.

[Infiltrator]

If you want to monitor Tesco's Shetland prices vs. their mainland prices you should register for their on-line shopping and use this to check their prices. Personally I'd be very surprised if they decide to have 'Shetland Only' prices. This would play havoc with their pricing and ordering system.

[JAStewart]

I spoke to two former colleges of mine from the Somerfield era who are still working at South Road, now for Tesco. Apparently inside its looking fantastic. The cash office has been knocked out and at least another till has been implimented. New tills (so hopefully they won't break) and the layout of the store is different too!

 

I'm looking forward to going, but that'll only be on the 15th, what with T in the Park being in need of my presence.

[Malcolm]

ianboy wrote...

 

 

Well im no employed by Tesco their here and nothing can be done about that fact their spending money LOCALLY nobody can deny that fact ..

 

 

My reply..."True :D"

 

 

Morrisons managed to keep their prices very much lower than that of the Coop so why shouldnt Tesco,, yea Morrisons didnt last long but that was a country wide buy out of their smaller stores by Somerfield that prompted that shift I believe (feel free to correct if im wrong) personally I liked Morrisons and loved the prices our weekly shop dropped by around �20 and the Produce was equal if not better than that of the Coop ?.

 

My reply.."We used to shop at Morrisons in Yorkshire and were never dissapointed :D"

 

 

Normally now I go shopping once a month to the supermarket and avoid like the plague the rest of the month HMMMM my latest experience of the Coop well I was standing deciding which Chicken to purchase when I was requested to MOVE by a member of staff who promptly placed a trolly of goods where I had been and another followed blocking the goods I wished to purchase !!! and thats only the first isle !! I found this several times on my shopping trip.

 

My reply... "The [move please] request happens quite a lot!"

 

 

Then their was my 40 min wait in a cue prior to arriving at the slowest checkout operator in Britain who if something didnt scan rang their little bell or switched on their little flashing light and then sat and looked vacant until a very fed up supervisor arrived and grunted, I did happen to mention that he could lay the un scanned item to the side and continue with other goods my reply was A vacant expression and when my shopping eventually got scanned low and behold it was �30 dearer than last month Hmmm and they havent put their prices up ????( and no we didnt buy any extra goods ).

 

 

My reply..." by all means press your wee button or flash your peerie lights but continue to scan the ruddy shopping whilst waiting!".

 

 

many a thread on here saying how bad Tesco will be how they will rip us all off why not give them a chance why not wait and see we can moan all we want it wont change the fact they are here and opening in just over a week.

 

My reply... A very good point Ian "

 

 

 

Heres a new question for you if B & Q or Wickes wanted to build a store would we have a 18 page thread protecting our local builders merchants !! oh hold on Homebase bought a local company and came in that way thats ok how about poor leslie at LBC or poor Clarence at Brae I dont think I see a thread protecting them local boys we local businesses ,, Would the council be carrying out another study ? I doubt it.

My reply....Dead right n they widnae!"

 

So lets just see if Tesco manage to dissapoint us all or have their doubters say I told you so!! we wont know until they open the doors will we!! but I for one will be trying out the Tesco in Shetland shopping experience at the end of the month for my monthly shop and I have kept my till receipt from the Coop to compare next months shop and if Tesco dont drop my monthly shop back down by that �30 or more I will be surprised.

 

 

My reply... Hear Hear!

 

 

 

Please excuse spelling punctuation etc never was my strong point.

 

My reply...

 

"Tesco's homeware department sells dictionaries and books on grammar and punctuation"

[Baron Farkoff]

If Tesco have a petrol station then I can't see sound service station lasting very long.Is the same level of scrutiny that was applied to to the Mareel/Booze issue to be applied to the Tesco/monopoly on everything issue?

[greenman]

my question is:

how can the council be suporting while they are trying to get rid of mr hodge, or is it just councillors who promised to fight mr hodes cause in order to get elected, that mow support tesco while shafting mr hodge????

[JAStewart]

^^ I think that a lot of the controversy regarding Mr Hodge was funds, or lack thereof. Tesco are so rich it hurts.

[greenman]

funny the carry one a certain mr hodge had getting planning permission, compared to tesco???

[JAStewart]

Well I think that you should realise that Tesco have simply moved into the building at the South Road, and have just submitted the planning application to the council. They haven't got any planning applications accepted yet.