Inside the Factory - Tonight BBC 1 @ 8.00 Walkers Crisps

[goose2010]

1 minute ago, grobyfox1990 said:

Best ever post on foxestalk.

Do you know how Wetherspoons sell their beer so cheap? The rumour is they buy it just before expiry date for knock off prices, and because they sell so much they can get away with it before it goes off

It's pretty much the same, they buy huge volume compared to others as they are centrally managed compared to others that are either regionally or locally managed. They sell a lot at lower margins but sell vast amounts compared to others. 

[Chris_OGrady]

18 minutes ago, goose2010 said:

It's pretty much the same, they buy huge volume compared to others as they are centrally managed compared to others that are either regionally or locally managed. They sell a lot at lower margins but sell vast amounts compared to others. 

What's the difference between supermarket meat and say butchers meat? Do the same people supply all the supermarkets? For example, does "Ashfields" chicken from Aldi come from one supplier or lots of suppliers?

[Chris_OGrady]

34 minutes ago, grobyfox1990 said:

Best ever post on foxestalk.

Do you know how Wetherspoons sell their beer so cheap? The rumour is they buy it just before expiry date for knock off prices, and because they sell so much they can get away with it before it goes off

I know someone who works for a brewery, and they said that Wetherspoons can sell their beer even cheaper than the brewery can in their own pubs, because Wetherspoons buys in such large volumes and benefits from other economies of scale. They also said that out of all the big pub chains Wetherspoons is the best to work with and very supportive of local and independent breweries.

[goose2010]

15 minutes ago, Chris_OGrady said:

What's the difference between supermarket meat and say butchers meat? Do the same people supply all the supermarkets? For example, does "Ashfields" chicken from Aldi come from one supplier or lots of suppliers?

Butchers meat is better no doubt about it as they will buy from local sources. 

 

Ashfields chicken comes from the same as most other supermarkets and will all come from the same place Two Sisters Food Group (they own so many food manufacturing sites including Bernard Matthews)  - Morrisons are slightly different as they have their own farms etc. So I buy the majority of my meat from either the local Butchers or Morrisons. 

 

Nothing wrong with Aldi's at all but it you dont have to look far to see what kinda factory / processing plants TSFG use.... 

[Chris_OGrady]

13 minutes ago, goose2010 said:

Butchers meat is better no doubt about it as they will buy from local sources. 

 

Ashfields chicken comes from the same as most other supermarkets and will all come from the same place Two Sisters Food Group (they own so many food manufacturing sites including Bernard Matthews)  - Morrisons are slightly different as they have their own farms etc. So I buy the majority of my meat from either the local Butchers or Morrisons. 

 

Nothing wrong with Aldi's at all but it you dont have to look far to see what kinda factory / processing plants TSFG use.... 

Thanks! This makes perfect sense, as I switched to buying butchers chicken last year, after getting fed up of Aldi chicken, and there is a clear improvement in quality.

[Parafox]

2 hours ago, goose2010 said:

The likes of Waitrose will pay the most so they the first shipment then M&S then Sainsburys and so on and by the time Aldi and Lidl get their pick they basically gets what is left. That obviously could be 3-4 days later than the others, so when it goes to store they sell it cheaper but it wont last as long. 

 

This is precisely what someone I know who used to work in a meat processing factory told me. He said the best cuts of meat went to supermarkets in exactly the same order you mention.

 

Waitrose, M&S, Sainsbury's, Tesco then Asda.

 

Discounters get the lesser quality meat, which is why I don't buy steaks, chicken, or joints of meat from them. Also I won't buy from Asda. More often than not we buy from a butcher. 

 

We sometimes use The Company shop in Braunstone Frith and usually we find M&S "higher welfare" meats there and half the normal store price and they're good quality.

Edited 16 January by Parafox

[cambridgefox]

4 hours ago, goose2010 said:

haha yeah i get quite a lot to be honest but is quite random! 

 

In the office we are currently working our way through about 500 packs of Aldi's version of Oreos! 

I’m also in the Packaging world,but don’t deal with such large companies.

However if you work for one of the Board  Mills .Feel free to chuck some my direction.

Thanking you in advance 👍

[grobyfox1990]

4 hours ago, Chris_OGrady said:

What's the difference between supermarket meat and say butchers meat? Do the same people supply all the supermarkets? For example, does "Ashfields" chicken from Aldi come from one supplier or lots of suppliers?

I don’t eat much meat and I thought the idea of ‘better’ meat was clear but also a bit OTT.

Until I ordered a dried meat platter from this place. Honestly melt in mouth, full of flavour. Realised that this is what meat should actually taste like!!! It’s expensive but worth it for health and quality purposes  
 

https://www.bealsfarmcharcuterie.com

[Chris_OGrady]

1 hour ago, grobyfox1990 said:

I don’t eat much meat and I thought the idea of ‘better’ meat was clear but also a bit OTT.

Until I ordered a dried meat platter from this place. Honestly melt in mouth, full of flavour. Realised that this is what meat should actually taste like!!! It’s expensive but worth it for health and quality purposes  
 

https://www.bealsfarmcharcuterie.com

I'm happy to spend a bit more on good quality food and drink because that's what I'm into. I have 0 interest in stuff like cars and designer clothes, which means I can allocate those monthly finance payments elsewhere 

[Chris_OGrady]

5 hours ago, goose2010 said:

Butchers meat is better no doubt about it as they will buy from local sources. 

 

Ashfields chicken comes from the same as most other supermarkets and will all come from the same place Two Sisters Food Group (they own so many food manufacturing sites including Bernard Matthews)  - Morrisons are slightly different as they have their own farms etc. So I buy the majority of my meat from either the local Butchers or Morrisons. 

 

Nothing wrong with Aldi's at all but it you dont have to look far to see what kinda factory / processing plants TSFG use.... 

Do Costco get their meat from the same place as the supermarkets? You can buy large cuts of meat from there which you can't get at the supermarkets, but I think the quality is closer to the supermarkets than butchers.

[Parafox]

57 minutes ago, Chris_OGrady said:

Do Costco get their meat from the same place as the supermarkets? You can buy large cuts of meat from there which you can't get at the supermarkets, but I think the quality is closer to the supermarkets than butchers.

 

I Googled and this is the closest answer I could find WRT the UK outlets.

 

Meet the Supplier: Taste Tradition | Costco UK

 

If correct, I'm impressed.

 

 

[Parafox]

1 hour ago, Parafox said:

 

I Googled and this is the closest answer I could find WRT the UK outlets.

 

Meet the Supplier: Taste Tradition | Costco UK

 

If correct, I'm impressed.

 

 

Looked again and I think this particular supplier is niche and I think more generally, Costco will source meat through their own suppliers of which there must be several in order to serve all the outlets in the UK in bulk.

 

That said, the quality is decent and IMO better than most supermarkets.

 

It's just the bulk buying that is a problem for individuals like me. 

 

PS. Their all beef hotdogs are awful.

Edited 16 January by Parafox

[grobyfox1990]

Just watched on iplayer, decent 

[Chris_OGrady]

13 hours ago, Parafox said:

Looked again and I think this particular supplier is niche and I think more generally, Costco will source meat through their own suppliers of which there must be several in order to serve all the outlets in the UK in bulk.

 

That said, the quality is decent and IMO better than most supermarkets.

 

It's just the bulk buying that is a problem for individuals like me. 

 

PS. Their all beef hotdogs are awful.

Yes, I rate their big cuts of red meat, but I had some Aldi-like chicken from there recently. I like the big prawns you can get in the frozen section. 

 

I buy in bulk and then divy up and freeze most of it.

[goose2010]

15 hours ago, Chris_OGrady said:

Do Costco get their meat from the same place as the supermarkets? You can buy large cuts of meat from there which you can't get at the supermarkets, but I think the quality is closer to the supermarkets than butchers.

Not 100% sure about Costco as they deal in wholesale, likely to be the same at Supermarkets or at least a mix of the two.