food is expensive and competition nonexistant

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Mon Aug 11, 2008 2:59 pm

people tend to ask "why", and the answer is "because". screamin the emperor is butt naked the HS (only in Finnish so far) published an article of how the price of food is more or less the same, and even theres two hypermarkets across the street they don't "compete" with prices. which is self-evident.

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Rosamunda · Post by **Rosamunda** » Mon Aug 11, 2008 3:35 pm

Cartels. Maybe the problem is not with the shop fronts but with the procurement centres like Inex, Heino etc that monopolise the supply. It does seem uncanny the way the prices fluctuate. Even Lidl is selling Oltermanni at over 8€ a kilo at the moment!!!

The only way to reduce the weekly shopping bill is to change what you eat (Eg: porridge for breakfast instead of Kellogs etc., fresh seasonal veg instead of frozen) and to make stuff from scratch (eg sandwiches instead of pizza and burgers). And, let's face it, most people could also reduce their shopping bills by simply eating much less.

ajdias · Post by **ajdias** » Mon Aug 11, 2008 4:10 pm

Pursuivant wrote: even theres two hypermarkets across the street they don't "compete" with prices.

Why would they? Consumers are docile and nobody forces them to compete. Even Lidl is playing the greed game.

zax · Post by **zax** » Mon Aug 11, 2008 4:25 pm

Why is there almost always a huge Citymarket right nextdoor to an equally huge Prisma? Assuming prices seldom vary I'm amazed there's enough business to go around. is it just an old habit born through reasons lost in the past, ie "we always shopped in X, we'll never go to Y"?

sinikala · Post by **sinikala** » Mon Aug 11, 2008 4:38 pm

ajdias wrote:
Pursuivant wrote: even theres two hypermarkets across the street they don't "compete" with prices.
Why would they? Consumers are docile and nobody forces them to compete. Even Lidl is playing the greed game.

It's a captive audience, and the locals generally don't know any better, they've never had competition here so don't know what they are missing.

Another thing that amazes me is that the chains here often pitch their "own brand" product prices only slightly lower than the price of the market leaders... yesterday for example ... Uncle Ben's Jasmin rice €3,05 for 1 kg, Sokos own brand €2,99.
If they would price their own brand a decent amount lower (20%?) then I would consider buying it, but when they deliberately price it just a little smidgen less than the branded market leader, then bollocks to them.... I'll pay the extra 6 cents and Sokos makes less money.

And it occurred to me as we were going around the Sainsbury in Nottingham in July at 23:30

... you never see find any buy 1 get one free offers here.. a good offer here is buy 2 and get 10% off each.

Rosamunda · Post by **Rosamunda** » Mon Aug 11, 2008 4:39 pm

Nearly all the Finns I know are loyal customers. They don't shop around. It's either S or it's K.

sinikala · Post by **sinikala** » Mon Aug 11, 2008 4:41 pm

penelope wrote:Nearly all the Finns I know are loyal customers. They don't shop around. It's either S or it's K.

I agree with Ajdias; nearly all the Finns I know are docile. I see a pattern emerging.

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Mon Aug 11, 2008 4:50 pm

zax wrote:is it just an old habit born through reasons lost in the past

working class kids were given a whooping if they didn't buy the milk from Elanto co-op

Rosamunda · Post by **Rosamunda** » Mon Aug 11, 2008 4:52 pm

Well, I've started shopping in Minimani cos my kids say it's cheaper (Prisma is closest but all the schoolkids cross the road and shop in Minimani in the afternoon). Some things are cheaper: Oltermanni (I hate that stuff but everyone else in our house eats it), Pappagallo ice cream (5,80 per tub) etc and the selection is pretty good, but the fresh fruit and veg is not as good as Citymarket (Iso Omena) and a lot of it is imported (apples from Brazil

) and bakery choice is limited. But I have noticed they do NOT post the price per kilo for stuff like washing powder which is a sure sign that it is more expensive than in other places. I only memorise the €/kg prices for stuff like that, so I'd need a calculator in order to compare everything.

Rick1 · Post by **Rick1** » Mon Aug 11, 2008 6:22 pm

It is a pitty the Aldi does not come here (competition for Lidl e.o.). They can keep the shopping experience and I get 30 percent of the price. You get a carton box for free too

Karhunkoski · Post by **Karhunkoski** » Mon Aug 11, 2008 7:55 pm

sinikala wrote:a good offer here is buy 2 and get 10% off each.

Or buy a large pack and pay more per Kg for what you're buying

Examples:

Findus wok stirfry vegetables
Bog roll
Ketchup
Weetabix

Proves the point, the average customer is an effwit. Knowing this, business people will always choose to make money over being a charity to fools.

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