Today I'm angry about.....

[Wandering Willy]

LK - I'll be in tomorrow for my usual cod and chips with curry sauce.

Don't forget my fizzy Vimto this time.

[bobo the clown]

Angry may be going a bit far, but disappointed and a tad concerned that, in my local Sainbury's (& I assume therefore common in most of them) at the cheese section of the refrigerated area something like 3/4 of all the cheese there .... & there was a lot ... was cheddar

Nowt wrong with cheddar, it offers a full range of strengths and styles, but in the end it's all one type.

Meanwhile 100's of other British cheeeses get marginalised. To be fair, there was a broader range in the deli area, but I'd say still then more than half the whole offering in the plaace was cheddar.

A living example of why supermarkets will dominate & then squeeze the life out of variety.

As I say ... disappointing.

[Wandering Willy]

As I say ... disappointeg.

You're always saying that.

[bobo the clown]

As I say ... disappointeg.

You're always saying that.

eh, eh ?

(fck you were quick !!)

[TANGODANCER]

Angry may be going a bit far, but disappointed and a tad concerned that, in my local Sainbury's (& I assume therefore common in most of them) at the cheese section of the refrigerated area something like 3/4 of all the cheese there .... & there was a lot ... was cheddar

Nowt wrong with cheddar, it offers a full range of strengths and styles, but in the end it's all one type.

Meanwhile 100's of other British cheeeses get marginalised. To be fair, there was a broader range in the deli area, but I'd say still then more than half the whole offering in the plaace was cheddar.

A living example of why supermarkets will dominate & then squeeze the life out of variety.

As I say ... disappointing.

Mature Cheddar ( extra strong) is probably my favourite cheese. I reckon with that and a bit of Stilton I could manage at a pinch.

[Bruce Rioja]

but I'd say still then more than half the whole offering in the plaace was cheddar.

Could've been worse, the place could've been more than half stocked with Caerphilly. Dreadful business. Eurgh!

[BWFC_Insane]

Angry may be going a bit far, but disappointed and a tad concerned that, in my local Sainbury's (& I assume therefore common in most of them) at the cheese section of the refrigerated area something like 3/4 of all the cheese there .... & there was a lot ... was cheddar

Nowt wrong with cheddar, it offers a full range of strengths and styles, but in the end it's all one type.

Meanwhile 100's of other British cheeeses get marginalised. To be fair, there was a broader range in the deli area, but I'd say still then more than half the whole offering in the plaace was cheddar.

A living example of why supermarkets will dominate & then squeeze the life out of variety.

As I say ... disappointing.

I don't blame the supermarkets per se. They just stock predominantly what people buy.

It just reflects how lacking in imagination a lot of people are with food in this country.

This board is definitely not representative.

[TANGODANCER]

I don't blame the supermarkets per se. They just stock predominantly what people buy.
It just reflects how lacking in imagination a lot of people are with food in this country.
This board is definitely not representative.

Thank you Egon Ronay. Food is primarily for defeating hunger. Imagination won't keep it at bay. This "country" has fish and chips and pies, egg, sausage and bacon on toast and roast-beef Sunday dinners with gravy and roasties. Imagination is for playing with in between meals.

[Bruce Rioja]

I don't blame the supermarkets per se. They just stock predominantly what people buy.
It just reflects how lacking in imagination a lot of people are with food in this country.
This board is definitely not representative.

Thank you Egon Ronay. Food is primarily for defeating hunger. Imagination won't keep it at bay. This "country" has fish and chips and pies, egg, sausage and bacon on toast and roast-beef Sunday dinners with gravy and roasties. Imagination is for playing with in between meals.

So why not live on gruel then, Tango?

[Lord Kangana]

Rather more insidiously, the supermarkets are acting like a large cartel towards certain industries (the dairy industry being foremost, but you could throw in just about every other food producer to varying degrees) and fixing prices. Considering they are set up as free market enterprises, it s rather ironic that they are involved in underhand price fixing. And I don't for a second buy the idea that the Great British Public would stop buying milk overnight if a the price reflected a fairer deal towards the producers.

Bear in mind that this approach is slowly strangling the farming industry in this country. It would take a naive utopian to believe it to be unimportant whether we have a thriving, indiginous food production industry btw.

[TANGODANCER]

I don't blame the supermarkets per se. They just stock predominantly what people buy.
It just reflects how lacking in imagination a lot of people are with food in this country.
This board is definitely not representative.

Thank you Egon Ronay. Food is primarily for defeating hunger. Imagination won't keep it at bay. This "country" has fish and chips and pies, egg, sausage and bacon on toast and roast-beef Sunday dinners with gravy and roasties. Imagination is for playing with in between meals.

So why not live on gruel then, Tango?

Don't understand that remark? BWFCi was talking like we've all never had foreign food, been abroad or that there aren't takeaways of every designation in every town. Folk eat what they like do they not? Doesn't mean they're lacking in imagination because they don't eat what he eats.... There was also a wink at the end of it.

[a1]

Rather more insidiously, the supermarkets are acting like a large cartel towards certain industries (the dairy industry being foremost, but you could throw in just about every other food producer to varying degrees) and fixing prices. Considering they are set up as free market enterprises, it s rather ironic that they are involved in underhand price fixing. And I don't for a second buy the idea that the Great British Public would stop buying milk overnight if a the price reflected a fairer deal towards the producers.

Bear in mind that this approach is slowly strangling the farming industry in this country. It would take a naive utopian to believe it to be unimportant whether we have a thriving, indiginous food production industry btw.

but they all get g-ment compo when a foot and mouth scare happens.

swings and roundabouts.

[Lord Kangana]

So do the banks. Whats your point?

[Abdoulaye's Twin]

I don't blame the supermarkets per se. They just stock predominantly what people buy.

It just reflects how lacking in imagination a lot of people are with food in this country.

This board is definitely not representative.

I see it very differently. The supermarkets erode choice, but try to make you believe you have more choice through their marketing etc. Supermarkets are only interested in selling 1,000s and 1,000s of items. This means they drop or don't sell lots of stuff that would be viable still. In days gone by an individual shop would have been happy to sell a 10lb block of cheese over a week and as such sold a variety of stuff and made a profit. Supermarkets killed much of the competition through convenience and the choice gradually disappeared. Cheddar, always a popular choice is then bought in massive bulk and then packaged under different labels, with different prices. A lot of it is the same stuff.

A generation has grown up knowing only what the supermarket sells and tastes have changed as a result. The UK has some amazing food that can compete with France, Italy and anyone else. You just can't buy it in Tesco and most folk these days take the path of least resistance and buy what is easiest.

[thebish]

I don't blame the supermarkets per se. They just stock predominantly what people buy.

It just reflects how lacking in imagination a lot of people are with food in this country.

This board is definitely not representative.

I see it very differently. The supermarkets erode choice, but try to make you believe you have more choice through their marketing etc. Supermarkets are only interested in selling 1,000s and 1,000s of items. This means they drop or don't sell lots of stuff that would be viable still. In days gone by an individual shop would have been happy to sell a 10lb block of cheese over a week and as such sold a variety of stuff and made a profit. Supermarkets killed much of the competition through convenience and the choice gradually disappeared. Cheddar, always a popular choice is then bought in massive bulk and then packaged under different labels, with different prices. A lot of it is the same stuff.

A generation has grown up knowing only what the supermarket sells and tastes have changed as a result. The UK has some amazing food that can compete with France, Italy and anyone else. You just can't buy it in Tesco and most folk these days take the path of least resistance and buy what is easiest.

^ is the right answer!

[Worthy4England]

So do the banks. Whats your point?

Banks got compo for foot and mouth??

[BWFC_Insane]

I don't blame the supermarkets per se. They just stock predominantly what people buy.

It just reflects how lacking in imagination a lot of people are with food in this country.

This board is definitely not representative.

I see it very differently. The supermarkets erode choice, but try to make you believe you have more choice through their marketing etc. Supermarkets are only interested in selling 1,000s and 1,000s of items. This means they drop or don't sell lots of stuff that would be viable still. In days gone by an individual shop would have been happy to sell a 10lb block of cheese over a week and as such sold a variety of stuff and made a profit. Supermarkets killed much of the competition through convenience and the choice gradually disappeared. Cheddar, always a popular choice is then bought in massive bulk and then packaged under different labels, with different prices. A lot of it is the same stuff.

A generation has grown up knowing only what the supermarket sells and tastes have changed as a result. The UK has some amazing food that can compete with France, Italy and anyone else. You just can't buy it in Tesco and most folk these days take the path of least resistance and buy what is easiest.

Which was my broad point. I don't see supermarkets as evil, they are a certain type of business that we all use from time to time, probably most people regularly.

They have a model and broadly reflect consumer trends. I appreciate that they may be more interested in high volume than a full range. But thats the nature of their business. If people bought a bigger variety and therefore there was a demand, it would be stocked.

The flip side is that they sell under one roof a load of items that years ago, you'd have struggled to find anywhere, let alone all in one place.

[Worthy4England]

I don't blame the supermarkets per se. They just stock predominantly what people buy.

It just reflects how lacking in imagination a lot of people are with food in this country.

This board is definitely not representative.

I see it very differently. The supermarkets erode choice, but try to make you believe you have more choice through their marketing etc. Supermarkets are only interested in selling 1,000s and 1,000s of items. This means they drop or don't sell lots of stuff that would be viable still. In days gone by an individual shop would have been happy to sell a 10lb block of cheese over a week and as such sold a variety of stuff and made a profit. Supermarkets killed much of the competition through convenience and the choice gradually disappeared. Cheddar, always a popular choice is then bought in massive bulk and then packaged under different labels, with different prices. A lot of it is the same stuff.

A generation has grown up knowing only what the supermarket sells and tastes have changed as a result. The UK has some amazing food that can compete with France, Italy and anyone else. You just can't buy it in Tesco and most folk these days take the path of least resistance and buy what is easiest.

Which was my broad point. I don't see supermarkets as evil, they are a certain type of business that we all use from time to time, probably most people regularly.

They have a model and broadly reflect consumer trends. I appreciate that they may be more interested in high volume than a full range. But thats the nature of their business. If people bought a bigger variety and therefore there was a demand, it would be stocked.

The flip side is that they sell under one roof a load of items that years ago, you'd have struggled to find anywhere, let alone all in one place.

But they can't buy what isn't stocked, so how do the supermarkets know there's a demand?

Don't tell me the process of them trying a bit of product here and there, I know that bit.

They certainly lead the supply as much as listen to the demand.

[Abdoulaye's Twin]

Which was my broad point. I don't see supermarkets as evil, they are a certain type of business that we all use from time to time, probably most people regularly.

They have a model and broadly reflect consumer trends. I appreciate that they may be more interested in high volume than a full range. But thats the nature of their business. If people bought a bigger variety and therefore there was a demand, it would be stocked.

The flip side is that they sell under one roof a load of items that years ago, you'd have struggled to find anywhere, let alone all in one place.

This is the bit I take a bit of issue with (not your saying it, just in general). Supermarkets will have you believe this but I think the reality is that they create the trends and are not reactive. They have changed food production beyond recognition through creating demand for a narrow selection of products. If you take butchery as an example. A significant number of cuts and types of meat are just not available in supermarkets compared to when I was a kid. If you want a steak you have rump, sirloin and ribeye, packaged in 4 or 5 guises. Where are the porterhouses and other types? The selection of fish is extremely narrow, yet, go to Billinsgate Market in London and you'll see it represents about 5% of the choice. I don't blame supermarkets as such, they are just making as much money as they can. But they are responsible in large part for the erosion of food culture and choice in the UK. It is a shame that generations of kids are growing up thinking that there are only 4 types of cheese; processed, cheddar, mozzarella and parmesan. The latter 2 because it comes on their frozen pizza or ready meal spag bol.

Supermarkets here are just as bad, but they are mainly European in origin. Though I do love the fact that I can choose my spices and decide how much I want, rather than buying an ancient 10g packet for 10 times the price. I'm buying fresher and tastier. Inevitably the fresh produce isn't so good here and it makes you appreciate the UK a bit more. There is a counter the size of most UK fish counters for just varieties of prawns. The upside is there is loads of stuff from Asia and the sub continent available. Haven't a clue what most of it is, and some isn't labelled. I try and buy a couple of these mystery items a week and see what i can make with them. I just wish you didn't need a mortgage to buy pork and alcohol...though at least you can get it I suppose.

[Lord Kangana]

Supermarkets predominantly sell you a combination of fats, sugars, and carbs. All subsidised products repackaged. They erode choice to make massive profits, its an established fact.