OT: oops not a good advert

[The Natural Philosopher]

It is widely claimed that the amount of olive oil sold in europe exceeds the amount of olive oil produced by about 3:1.

>

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "Ian" saying something like:

Why don't you f*ck off, Beale?

[Martin Crossley]

Always preferred 3-in-1 to olive oil anyway...

[Alan]

In message , Derek Geldard wrote

In this context 4x4 is probably just a generalisation for the type of car now seen regularly in Aldi/Lidl supermarkets where perhaps they were not seen 6/8 weeks ago. In my local Aldi the number of cars in the car park has increased significantly (up by around a factor of 3/4) [1] and it's a broad range of makes/models with a significant number of higher price bracket newer cars.

At the local Lidl it's hard to make any judgement about the people using the store based on their cars. The very large car park is shared with the local bingo hall (bingo social club?) and that has always been full of 4x4s :)

[1] I'm only judging the numbers based on the times I regularly use the store.

[stuart noble]

I wonder how the ex-Waitrose types will cope with the Lidl checkout system i.e. put stuff back in the trolley and do your fancy bag packing somewhere else. I'm happy with that.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Depends on how fast you are at packing - I do it as it goes through the checkout, but if can't keep up will then pile it in the trolley and do it later. Wish this was normal at all supermarkets. I can get a bit annoyed having to wait while people pack then spend ages trying to find their card, etc.

[Alan]

In message , stuart noble wrote

The Aldi checkout may also be a massive culture shock for some :)

I often annoyed now when I go into my local Tesco and find that I'm spending 4 times longer at the checkout than I do at my local Aldi.

[Mary Fisher]

We pack all our own things at Waitrose - what makes you think there's anything fancy about it?

Mary

[Mary Fisher]

Yes, that's another advantage of having two of you doing it.

Mary>

[Steve Firth]

Ah yes, more utter cack from the Medway Tosser. No doubt Al Capone was a noble and upright citizen because he was only caught once and that was for tax evasion.

[stuart noble]

Only that it takes twice as long and ultimately doubles the number of staff they need. It often seems there are more staff than customers in my local Waitrose, and I'm not inclined to pay for that.

If my toes get crushed by a Lidls pallet truck now and then, it's a risk I'm prepared to take.

[Mary Fisher]

it might take you twice as long but we've developed it to a fine art :-)

But they don't DO the packing - we do!

I am.

Mary

[Steve Firth]

And are you happy with the substandard adulterated "food"?

I suppose you must be, anyone who is happy to have their goods thrown at them for the convenience of the checkout staff presumably starts with pretty low standards.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Rubbish. We pack as the stuff gets checked out.

[The Medway Handyman]

Too true. I now don't judge which checkout to use by the length of queue, but by how competent the people in it look.

And don't get me started on B&Q on Wednesdays....

[Steve Firth]

What I am inclined to pay for at Waitrose is that they have about the same ethic regarding food that I do. Some of the farms around me supply Waitrose and that supermarket seems to be unique in demanding high standards of production and in managing the supply chain to avoid fraud and dumping.

Other supermarkets have been fairly overt in their approaches to me at food exhibitions to find ways of selling adulterated s**te to customers. One buyer spent a lot of time admiring our produce and then asked if we'd be willing to supply their supermarket. He then named the price that he would be willing to pay and I explained, patiently, to him that what he was offering was about half the cost of production, even if I paid workers the minimum wage. He had a simple solution to that, he didn't want to buy the product, just the concept and packaging. The actual production would be done by a factory in China under contract to the supermarket. The supermarket would source the ingredients, probaby in China with some supply from Australia. Then the goods would be shipped to Italy to have labels applied "Made in Italy" and shipped on to the UK.

To me that's fraud. It may well be permitted under EU rules, but it's passing off one thing as another. Not of much interest to me either because no matter how I look at it, I can't see it as a way to get a fair price for my farm produce.

[Steve Firth]

I am bemused. Appart from the tales of woe in the newspapers, which all seem to revolve around aspects of wealth that don't immediately affect the average person, is anyone here *really* suffering from a shortage of money or just a crisis of confidence? My business takings are, so far, completely unaffected. Interest rates and hence mortgage have actually reduced so I have more money in my pocket rather than less and saving a few quid on the weekly shop by eating s**te doesn't appeal to me.

I've had a look in both Lidle and Aldi, and I use both shops to buy some of the power tools and "stuff" that gets mentioned here from time to time. I've bough computer equipment from both, although it pays to be very careful with that because it's often not a bargain.

The "food" doesn't appeal to me at all. I recognise most of it as relentlessly down-market German brands passing themselves off as something they are not. German feta, German pasta (made in Turkey), German water injected ham being passed off as "Aosta" prosciutto etc. Some manky vegetables at double the price and half the quality of the market stall and endless ranks of cheap-shit tinned and bottled goods.

I once tried some "piccalilli" which went into the bin because it was yellow watery custard with lots of vinegar and as far as I could see one onion and one piece of cauliflower.

I didn't eat that crap when I lived in Germany, I don't see any point to eating it now. I suppose if one has no tastebuds and doesn't care what crap one shovels down one's throat then both shops are fine. There are other and better ways of economising, but I don't see it as necessary at the moment.

[Rod]

Doesn't really help that most of the supermarkets slow down the queue by patronisingly (and insincerely) asking if you are all right today. It is so tempting to tell them the truth.

Followed by 'Do you need any help packing?' - when there aren't even enough staff to keep queue lengths at sensible levels. Them as makes decisions must pray that people don't say "Yes"!

[John Rumm]

Not as manic, and less riff raff ;-)

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Most people's lives don't revolve around olive oil. You've been watching too many TV ads. And believing them.