This purchase this morning made me realise just how expensive food is becoming

I forgot to buy Heinz vegetable soup which is normally £4 for a pack of four in Asda and Tesco.

Called into the co-op for a tin and was astonished to see the price per can was £1.95. Cheeky or what?

At the risk of boring everyone (and myself), just back from an Aldi shop. Went to pick up tomato ketchup, a very infrequent purchase, we don't eat it, but our DiL does. Heinz classic ketchup £3.59, Aldi own £0.77. Same size.

That’s the conundrum, Goldenage. We like cheap food but someone, somewhere, is always paying the price, in poor wages or living conditions or similar.

There’s a chicken processing factory a few miles from me. It employs a lot of people but the appalling conditions that some of the migrant workers live in is shocking, crammed into caravans which must be hellish in a Scottish winter.

M and S apparently are pretty cheap for their own brand beans. 45 p I think.And taste OK

Bijou I like fish but only buy frozen because I think it is fresher, unless you can get fish direct from a trawler my guess is most will be frozen first or stale.

SueDonim

That’s the conundrum, Goldenage. We like cheap food but someone, somewhere, is always paying the price, in poor wages or living conditions or similar.

There’s a chicken processing factory a few miles from me. It employs a lot of people but the appalling conditions that some of the migrant workers live in is shocking, crammed into caravans which must be hellish in a Scottish winter.

And SueDomin I wonder which supermarkets are selling these chickens? I know some customers can’t afford to be choosy, but some shoppers just don’t care about provenance of cheap food they buy.

My neighbours children love Morrisons donuts so every so often I buy them a couple of packets - there are 4 children . Anyway last time I bought them 3 months ago they were 6 for 50p today I bought them and they were 85pence for 5!! Dreadful

So what is happening with the price of Heinz baked beans in the UK? Here in Spain a 415gram can sells for 1€10 in Mercadona supermarkets (a big chain of supermarkets with branches in many areas). They are presumably made in the UK and imported into Europe, as there are the addresses of the various distribution centres on the side of the label. That's approximately 97 pence at today's exchange rate.

I was buying milk at £1.55, I went a fortnight later and it was up to £1.75. I went to the checkout today and the girl said "that's £1.75 please, sorry £1.95, my goodnesd the milk has gone up again". She was even shocked it had another 20p added on to it again. It probably will be over £2 by Christmas.

The Co-Op is generally expensive, but it has very good deals such as at the moment steak and fries for 2 for £4, and each month they have 5 different freezer items for £6, just gone up from £5.

I support Fair Trade when I see it.
Most profits from food production now seem to go to large multinational companies. That’s capitalism.

I agree re M & S having some reasonably priced goods, though they are going up too. Last week, they had the cheapest butter of all the supermarkets as far as I could see. It was £1.75, and £1.99 in other shops. Their baked beans were only 40p last week, though up to 50p now, which, of course, is a 25% rise. They are still selling 6 mixed size free range eggs for £1.00.

I believe they supply all sorts of retailers, Farzanah, so who knows where it ends up being sold.

M&S beans are 50p this week.

M & S milk still £1.55 this morning. They are trying hard to be competitive, in some areas.k

Any idea why this is the case?

I love my Lurpak spreadable and couldn’t believe the price recently. It was a very stable £3.50 for a tub (500gr) and it shot up to £5….I will never pay that price for it …so I shop around to see who has it on offer… this week my local ‘one-stop’ had it at 3.75 so I bought 2 tubs. I love it and no other will do for me.

Completely agree and needed to be said.

fuseta

My cats love Dreamies and last year a pack cost £1. Yesterday I went to buy a pack and the cost had risen to £1.96. That was in Morrisons. No more Dreamies for the cats I'm afraid!

Dreamies: in Tesco's they're £1.30, or 2 for £2 (Clubcard price)

Cream crackers are either unavailable now or very expensive….

4 pint pack of s/s milk in our Tesco delivery today, £1.55.

basic stuff has gone up more in price than other less necessary food things

Imo prices of basic groceries seem to have risen far higher than inflation.
Its ridiculous.

My favourite baked beans in Sainsbury’s today were £3 for 4 cans - 75p per can! Going to have to reconsider a cheaper brand.

I've just been to morrisons and the increase is pretty alarming isn't it? £4 for regular sized tub/jar of instant hot chocolate!

I used to be a fusspot with some things, only buying brands of certain items. After recommendations from friends, I tried some own brands. I now buy Aldi and Lidl soup - their tomato soup is identical to Heinz. Their baked beans at 37p are nicer than Heinz (in my opinion). I also now buy their tea bags, crisps, cooked meats, bread. Lots of things now. They're great.