My Lidl bargain!

MissAdventure

Nothing rotting in the Lidl near (ish) to me.
I've always found their stuff pretty good.

Likewise, an extensive range of fruit and veg including some exotica can be found in my local Lidl. In fact the house move that has made Lidl my main food shop rather than Waitrose has been a real revelation.

The range of continental foodstuffs available in Lidl almost makes up for all the things we used to bring back from France when we were able to go there regularly.

M0nica

I see those boxes in Lidl, but I have never bought one because we are comfortablly off and I feel I ought to leave them for families for whom these cut prices boxes are a godsend when they are struggling to manage on a small income.

However, if I saw them at a Garden Centre I would probably snap one up.

!
Really?!

MissAdventure

If I'm lucky enough to spot a box of goodies, i just ask them to charge for it at the till, then I can go and choose my box at my leisure.

MissAdventure, giving Lady Grantham vibes!
"Charge it to my account young man & have it taken to the tradesman's entrance".

NannaFirework

M0nica

I see those boxes in Lidl, but I have never bought one because we are comfortablly off and I feel I ought to leave them for families for whom these cut prices boxes are a godsend when they are struggling to manage on a small income.

However, if I saw them at a Garden Centre I would probably snap one up.

!
Really?!

Why not? I explained why further up thread.

recently Sainsburys have also started putting out boxes of fruit/veg - they are quite good too

This thread has really made me think. The main point to make is that perishable reduced items such as top fruit deteriorate rapidly in this heat and will be likely to be wasted, that is, if no one snaps them up. Also, we all love a bargain. Some people can't cook, and wouldn't jump at the chance in any case. Also...there were alot of boxes. Alot of potential waste avoided! So, well done Sago, in my opinion...

petra

One problem for customers who really might need the boxes is that they don’t have transport. Catch 22 😥

I live in a village...I don't drive and there is no bus service.
The only shop here is a gun shop that also sells a few basics.
So if you want a litre of semi skimmed and some cartridges your laughing..

‘Comfortably off’ I don’t really know what that means’..

StTrinians

This thread has really made me think. The main point to make is that perishable reduced items such as top fruit deteriorate rapidly in this heat and will be likely to be wasted, that is, if no one snaps them up. Also, we all love a bargain. Some people can't cook, and wouldn't jump at the chance in any case. Also...there were alot of boxes. Alot of potential waste avoided! So, well done Sago, in my opinion...

Exactly, I have made so much.

The sauerkraut is still fermenting, apricot jam, plum jam and mango chutney made and we’ve just enjoyed baked plums in brandy with ice cream.
The ketchup is amazing some will be given as a little gift to our neighbours and the rest we will keep.

I bought one in my local Lidl a couple of weeks ago. The only thing I had no use for was a bunch of beetroot which went to my son's ex. There some very wilted little gems which I washed in cold water and sealed in a plastic tub. They were lovely and crisp next morning and lasted for several days.

StTrinians

This thread has really made me think. The main point to make is that perishable reduced items such as top fruit deteriorate rapidly in this heat and will be likely to be wasted, that is, if no one snaps them up. Also, we all love a bargain. Some people can't cook, and wouldn't jump at the chance in any case. Also...there were alot of boxes. Alot of potential waste avoided! So, well done Sago, in my opinion...

100%. Sago got a great deal, and has made a feast from food that might not have been saleable the next day. Leaving them for 'the poor' could easily have rendered the boxes unsaleable.

Supermarkets are only interested in business. They offer goods at very reduced prices as otherwise they couldn't sell them, and some money is better than none. They won't care in the least whether someone 'comfortably off' buys ten boxes - they'd rather that than have the left for others who may not buy them.

IMO, attitudes like that (that only the disadvantaged should buy reduced goods) that could put people off buying them. IME it's often those with less who are more sensitive to being seen as 'in need' than those with plenty. The better off often don't care who knows they shop in charity shops, whereas those who do so from necessity rather than choice can feel shame attached.

Either way, though, the boxes are for sale to everyone. It's the difference between a Community Kitchen and a food bank. A CK is for anyone who wants to buy surplus perishables, so there is no embarrassment - why build that in to shopping in Lidl?

Having been the person with the scruples over taking something that might be a godsend to someone on a tight budget.

I would say in my defence that in my local Lidl, there are rarely boxes of fruit and veg being offered at knockdown prices, I have never seen more than two and I usually shop quite early in the morning so the probability that these boxes will be bought by people who really need them is quite high.

In different circumstances I am always ready to buy up bargain boxes of fruit and veg. I used to always visit a market on my way home because at the end of the day stall holders were almost giving away fruit and veg.

Bea65

‘Comfortably off’ I don’t really know what that means’..

It means being able to buy something without worrying about how much it costs. At least that’s what I think.

All relative of course.

Looking at a new car in a showroom, can I afford the £50000 one, or should I buy that one at £15000?

Or in the supermarket, should I buy that bottle of wine at £10, or is the £5 one ok?

Do I buy the ‘good’ coffee, or is the supermarket own brand as good?

All relative, surely.

'comfortably off' means being able to meet all the necessary bills without worry, cope with most emergencies and be able to live without money worries, while being able to afford to pay above the odds for things when you so choose.

Beyond that you cannot go because everyone's life style is so different

M0nica

Having been the person with the scruples over taking something that might be a godsend to someone on a tight budget.

I would say in my defence that in my local Lidl, there are rarely boxes of fruit and veg being offered at knockdown prices, I have never seen more than two and I usually shop quite early in the morning so the probability that these boxes will be bought by people who really need them is quite high.

In different circumstances I am always ready to buy up bargain boxes of fruit and veg. I used to always visit a market on my way home because at the end of the day stall holders were almost giving away fruit and veg.

So now I am unscrupulous.

Thank you Monica.

Deedaa

I bought one in my local Lidl a couple of weeks ago. The only thing I had no use for was a bunch of beetroot which went to my son's ex. There some very wilted little gems which I washed in cold water and sealed in a plastic tub. They were lovely and crisp next morning and lasted for several days.

We have Romaine lettuce, like a bigger version of Little Gem.

If it wilts I cut the end of the stalk off and stand the whole thing in a glass of water on the worktop, much as you would with cut flowers.
It's amazing how it perks up by the next day!

You can grow the end thst you cut off, too, if youve a mind to.
Two lettuces for the price of one!

Ooh now you're talking MissAdventure!
I'll give that a go... 🧐

Oh good.
It only takes a few days to grow roots, then you can pot it up, or leave it in the water.

Sago I wish you would stop misunderstanding me. The opposite of having scruples is not being unscrupulous, and you know it. I gave a clear very careful description of the limited circumstance when I felt iffy about buying thos boxes. Had their been 6 or 8 boxes, if it had been towards the end of the day, I may well have acted differently. I gave an example where I had never seen these boxes in my local Lidl before - and I have never seen them since - suggesting that they were a rare occurrence.

If my behaviour offends you, it offends you. If the same circumstances occurred again, I would act in exactly the same way.

“Having been the person with the scruples over taking something that might be a godsend to someone on a tight budget”

So if you were the one with the scruples not taking something that may have benefitted someone on a tight budget.
Then surely because I took the box I am unscrupulous.

You are digging a big hole Monica.

I have never seen these boxes and we shop at Lidl regularly

I have only seen them once.