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The Best Supermarket to shop at

(85 Posts)
cheelu Mon 21-Jan-13 13:06:48

I have found that Sainsbury's food is much fresher and defently tastier that any other Supermarket I have used. I think the worse in terms of freshness has to be Asda. Obviously Marks and Soencers food is amazing but I find that I can not do a proper full weekly shop in M&S

What have you found guys.

Ana Mon 21-Jan-13 18:06:30

There isn't a Sainsbury's within 50 miles of me, so I can't comment!

I do prefer Asda to Tesco as in this area at least the staff are more friendly and polite. M&S is always too crowded and the Co-op too expensive...

merlotgran Mon 21-Jan-13 18:07:35

I use Sainsbury's and I had no intention of insulting anyone, cheelu. I was just pointing out what Stephen Fry had said (as a joke on QI) and as phoenix has pointed out, it was probably a quote originally made by the late Alan Coren aimed at people with a sense of humour.

nanaej Mon 21-Jan-13 18:08:38

Ooh! Cheelu that's a bit harsh! merlot did not say she condoned SFs remarks on QI!

I laughed when I heard it said on the TV programme and was not insulted then nor am I now!

annodomini Mon 21-Jan-13 18:19:59

It's a good job merlot used 'riff-raff' instead of the word used in the original quotation. grin

nanaej Mon 21-Jan-13 18:21:12

Trueanno grin

Ana Mon 21-Jan-13 18:23:00

Oh no! It wasn't...'plebs' was it? shock

annodomini Mon 21-Jan-13 18:39:45

No it wasn't plebs - I personally don't think that's really so insulting. I'm sure most of my ancestors were decidedly plebeian. Depends who says it and how it's said.

celebgran Mon 21-Jan-13 18:40:01

whoa hey boring supermarket food shop, we use Morrisons mainly but do like to go Asda, like their fish, and like to look at George!

I not very keen on Sainsuburys - we have go there when OH GETS his nectar vouchers - and I struggle with small one near us due to their sell by dates very low and general over pricing etc not really sure their stuff any better than Morrison, but we do have 2 large Morrisons in Clacton.

Wehave largest Sainsburys in country at Colchester yawn yawn cos I find it very hard work and mainly non food stuff takes up most space, we dont go there often enough for me to have clue where find stuff!!
very pricey too. they do this price match thing hmmmm too much hassle.
We have coop and Iceland 5 mins walk away, get Milk and free range eggs from Iceland and bits and bobs from coop when no time or bad weather!!

celebgran Mon 21-Jan-13 18:41:07

forgot to say yes Marks stuff is usually yummy!
And Ana Asda are very polite indeed because they are Wal Mart
American company who are very hot on service.

Ana Mon 21-Jan-13 18:41:44

I was attempting to be ironic, anno! grin

annodomini Mon 21-Jan-13 18:59:15

Asda in this town is small and not in the least friendly. They want everyone to use the self-service checkouts even for very small purchases and are quite iffy if you go up to the staffed checkout.

annodomini Mon 21-Jan-13 19:02:46

Asda in this town is small and not in the least friendly. They want everyone to use the self-service checkouts even for very small purchases and are quite iffy if you go up to the staffed checkout.

cheelu Mon 21-Jan-13 19:09:03

Just jesting merlot x

Ana Mon 21-Jan-13 19:10:19

I take your point (twice!) anno.

annodomini Mon 21-Jan-13 19:13:48

Oh, not again...!! As I've said before... blush

gkal Mon 21-Jan-13 19:48:54

Not in UK, but I'm a recent convert to Aldi and Lidl which have both opened near me. I am mostly happy tho' I still shop occasionally at other supermarkets. A shopping list for comparative items costs me 2/3 at Aldi/Lidl of what I would pay elsewhere and the last few months have seen me save enough on groceries for, say, a short trip somewhere. A lot of people are wary of shopping there but if I see e.g. some veggies that aren't so fresh looking, I don't buy them. I don't have money to waste but I like good quality food. Aldi and Lidl are mostly good enough for my needs and I think many people will flock there as things get more difficult.

merlotgran Mon 21-Jan-13 20:16:04

Aldi will be opening near us in Feb. I like Sainsbury's but am looking forward to making comparisons.

harrigran Mon 21-Jan-13 23:15:02

Sainsburys and Morrisons but do a big shop once a week at M&S for meat and vegetable dishes. I don't buy food in Aldi very often but always buy washing up liquid and loo rolls. I also buy multi packs of bottled water in Aldi.

celebgran Wed 23-Jan-13 19:44:40

thats strange Anno we always remark how pleasant and good the staff are at Asda in Colchester, but it is a large one, we dont got there that often but is a tonic how helpful staff are!!

Unlike Morrisons when they glare at you and are supposed to scan stuff through so quickly you can barely pack it. grrrrr

specki4eyes Wed 23-Jan-13 21:29:36

In my part of France, if you want to stay solvent you have to shop at Lidl. The big supermarkets like Carrefour, Intermarche are so expensive and they usually smell of rotting veg or stale fish which is most offputting. Lidl's fruit and veg is restricted in choice, but its all fresh and their grocery product range is great. We do have good markets here so tend to use those for greengrocery. Even so, you have to be careful because the stallholders are toting their stock round from town to town - there is a market somewhere every day. Aldi here is very similar to supermarkets in Romania 25 years ago - I leave you to draw your own conclusions on that comment. Leclerc is ok and has good offers but their nearest store is 40 kilometres away from me. The one stop shopping I used to do in the UK is history for me now!

granal Fri 25-Jan-13 13:52:59

i love Waitrose - quality and choice is the best - staff excellent - use the click and collect a lot - prices seem to be more compatible nowadays, but rarely do a full weeks' shopping there, as find I spend a lot more on the "nice things", so not economicaly viable - stick to Sainsburys most of the time.
Don't like Asda, Tesco, or Morrissons - occasional trips to Lidl and Aldi.
Use local Co op a lot too. Variety is the spice of life!

janthea Fri 25-Jan-13 14:01:18

I shop at Waitrose with occasional treats from M&S. As there is only me, it's not too bad. I do make use of Waitrose's Essential range which is very good value. My daughter uses Sainsbury's online, Co-Op or Pound Shop for cleaning things and branded tinned goods, and Waitrose and M&S for treats.

jeni Fri 25-Jan-13 14:03:56

Waitrose! 4oz stewing lamb included over 2oz of bone! They have refunded but I'm not happy!

FlicketyB Fri 25-Jan-13 15:44:40

I shop in Waitrose first and formost because it is in the town centre and | can get to the banks, hair dresser, and do everything else I want to do in one journey.

It is also a 'quiet' shop. I tend to suffer very easily from visual overload and Waitrose uses quiet colours, it doesnt have loud (visually) banners and stickers all over it and the aisles are wide.

I write this with some feeling because today I had to drive to the out of town Tesco to buy something Waitrose doesn't stock but Tesco does. Even though I wanted only one product, as I walked there were lots of odd tubs of goods everywhere and loud yellow and red notices sticking out of every row of goods I could feel my shoulders and neck tensing as my head tried to withdraw into itself like a tortoise. I found what I wanted and shot out of the store like a cork from a bottle. Even if Tesco sold the best and cheapest food by miles I simply coudn't cope with shopping in such a visually loud store.

storynanny Fri 25-Jan-13 19:19:19

Well, I would love to buy all my food etc at M and S, it's my ambition! Have shopped between asda and morrisons all my adult food buying life but.... Doing an experimental " austerity January" to see if we can cut down the ridiculous amount of money we spend in said supermarkets. The problem is that there is so much choice that I buy far too much, get sidetracked by a new jumper, baby clothes, magazine in asda. Trying the local Lidls for 2 months to see how much we save. So far the only things I haven't found are maple syrup, dental floss and mascara. I have planned my meals around what I found in Lidls on the day I shopped and have already saved £150 this month. Can't go armed with a list or meal plans, that doesn't work, but Im becoming a convert. Cat seems to like the cat food, the cleaning products are excellent and there is enough choice of fruit and veg for the week. So Lidls gets my vote at the moment.