Panic Buying Again!

[UncleEbenezer]

A Waitrose shopper wouldn't be seen dead in Tesco. And certainly wouldn't want a Tesco delivery van arriving at the manor

Almost as bad as walking down my street with a Lidl plastic bag.

T7

There are few things worse than a Lidl plastic bag. They're one of those that'll savage the fingers!

I use a backpack for my supermarket shopping. Sadly now pretty-much limited to Lidl, as our local Tesco has joined Morrisons and the Coop in inflicting muzak on its customers. The nearest Waitrose is across the border in another country!

[tjh290633]

This is getting serious - just been 'informed' that Waitrose French Butter With Sea Salt Crystals is no longer available with my online order. What's a chap to do?

T7

Try Tesco. They have something similar.

TJH

Be serious! A Waitrose shopper wouldn't be seen dead in Tesco. And certainly wouldn't want a Tesco delivery van arriving at the manor

--kiloran

Perhaps they can deliver in a brown paper bag?

TJH

[Lootman]

A Waitrose shopper wouldn't be seen dead in Tesco. And certainly wouldn't want a Tesco delivery van arriving at the manor

Almost as bad as walking down my street with a Lidl plastic bag.

I can put my hand on my heart and honestly declare that I have never been in a Lidl or an Aldi. That would be like flying Easyjet or Ryanair. Not gonna happen.

[Nimrod103]

A Waitrose shopper wouldn't be seen dead in Tesco. And certainly wouldn't want a Tesco delivery van arriving at the manor

Almost as bad as walking down my street with a Lidl plastic bag.

I can put my hand on my heart and honestly declare that I have never been in a Lidl or an Aldi. That would be like flying Easyjet or Ryanair. Not gonna happen.

You don't know what you have been missing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL7jyXCQ2Zc

[stevensfo]

A Waitrose shopper wouldn't be seen dead in Tesco. And certainly wouldn't want a Tesco delivery van arriving at the manor

Almost as bad as walking down my street with a Lidl plastic bag.

I can put my hand on my heart and honestly declare that I have never been in a Lidl or an Aldi. That would be like flying Easyjet or Ryanair. Not gonna happen.

I had to use Ryanair once a month to visit my family when I first started work in Italy, and unless they've improved over the last few years, the great thing is that they make Easyjet feel like first class! I can honestly say that those frequent Ryanair flights from Stansted were the among the most soul-destroying experiences ever, though at least it prepared me for the equally horrendous Easyjet flights from Luton.

We have a Lidl 15 minutes from us, though I haven't used it for years. These days I target those places where they have a short queue policy and the manager opens a new till as soon as there are more than two people in line, or if one has a trolley full to the brim. Before you dismiss Lidl, you should come and experience an italian supermarket called 'Dpiù', a place that makes Lidl feel like Waitrose. I once saw them advertising genuine Scottish Malt Whisky for about 8 euros and couldn't resist. I now know how the Scottish council tips dispose of old battery acid!


Steve

[UncleEbenezer]

Before you dismiss Lidl, you should come and experience an italian supermarket called 'Dpiù', a place that makes Lidl feel like Waitrose. I once saw them advertising genuine Scottish Malt Whisky for about 8 euros and couldn't resist. I now know how the Scottish council tips dispose of old battery acid!


Steve

Oh god, yes. Italian supermarkets in my time there were certainly something to make you yearn for back home. Even the sub-standard ones back in Blighty.

But that was the 1990s. Surely they've improved since then?

[AF62]

Almost as bad as walking down my street with a Lidl plastic bag.

I can put my hand on my heart and honestly declare that I have never been in a Lidl or an Aldi. That would be like flying Easyjet or Ryanair. Not gonna happen.

I had a chat with a friend over Christmas who breaths the same rarefied air as Lootman; someone who would never consider buying groceries anywhere other through an Ocado delivery - heaven forbid actually setting foot in a Waitrose.

They had been telling me how they had been working in the Canary Islands before Christmas (although working from a rented home to escape lockdown would be more accurate), and how they had been forced to shop in Lidl because it was the only store near the rented villa. They liked it...

I had to use Ryanair once a month to visit my family when I first started work in Italy, and unless they've improved over the last few years, the great thing is that they make Easyjet feel like first class! I can honestly say that those frequent Ryanair flights from Stansted were the among the most soul-destroying experiences ever, though at least it prepared me for the equally horrendous Easyjet flights from Luton.

I have used Ryanair lots, and have never understood the 'hate'. It's just a means to get from A to B, and frankly unless you are flying long distance Business / First Class then Ryanair do it with just as much comfort and just as effectively as any of the 'full fat' airlines.

Now EasyJet on the other-hand - what a shower of.... Sneakily overbooking flights (Ryanair don't) and also cancelling flights at the drop of a hat.

We have a Lidl 15 minutes from us, though I haven't used it for years. These days I target those places where they have a short queue policy and the manager opens a new till as soon as there are more than two people in line, or if one has a trolley full to the brim.

You have just described my local Lidl, because that is exactly what they do. Aldi on the other hand....

[stevensfo]

Before you dismiss Lidl, you should come and experience an italian supermarket called 'Dpiù', a place that makes Lidl feel like Waitrose. I once saw them advertising genuine Scottish Malt Whisky for about 8 euros and couldn't resist. I now know how the Scottish council tips dispose of old battery acid!


Steve

Oh god, yes. Italian supermarkets in my time there were certainly something to make you yearn for back home. Even the sub-standard ones back in Blighty.

But that was the 1990s. Surely they've improved since then?

Oh they have definitely improved and in some ways they overtook UK supermarkets many years ago, especially for things like fresh food. We had biodegradable bags when UK shops were still arguing about the old plastic ones. That supermarket I mentioned is really scraping the barrel and I never go there now. Alcohol in Italy is very cheap and a paradise for any alcoholics. Due to the much lower duty tax, you can buy 95% alcohol for about 16 euros per litre and at the beginning of the Covid pandemic, people were using it to make hand sanitiser, though it's important to add some glycerol or risk having red, sore hands.
I don't drink much whisky as a rule but the large supermarkets usually have a good choice and my favourites are Laphroaig malt and J&B, but I'm definitely not an expert. Prices vary enormously and it's important to snatch bargains as soon as you see them, as well as being aware of very dubious advertising - e.g. spirits being marked as 'Special offer' when you know for a fact that it's actually more expensive than next door etc.
The things I miss are British cheeses, sausages, smoked gammon and draught bitter, so as you can imagine what my luggage is full of after a visit home! Bringing back sausages and gammons in hand luggage has caused a few raised eyebrows at security. Goodness knows what it must look like under the scanner!

Steve

[SalvorHardin]

I had a chat with a friend over Christmas who breaths the same rarefied air as Lootman; someone who would never consider buying groceries anywhere other through an Ocado delivery - heaven forbid actually setting foot in a Waitrose.

They had been telling me how they had been working in the Canary Islands before Christmas (although working from a rented home to escape lockdown would be more accurate), and how they had been forced to shop in Lidl because it was the only store near the rented villa. They liked it...

I have a similar example with a friend of a friend. Out here in rural Somerset it can be a bit of a drive to get to the supermarkets, but he preferred a 30 mile drive to Waitrose for the weekly shopping even though there's a Tesco roughly 300 yards from his house.

One evening he called in as a guest for boardgames night (this was five years ago). As host I provided all of the snacks. He was well pleased with the selection, but was somewhat nonplussed when they found out that everything came from Lidl (my preferred supermarket pre-lockdown). The pistachio nuts were particularly well received; as I said, "Twice the amount for half the price and better quality" (all of which was true).

However, the power of supermarket snobbery is exceedingly strong for some people. He briefly switched to alternating between Lidl and Waitrose, but his wife put her foot down and they returned to Waitrose. She looks down on me as some shabby oik who can't afford to shop at Waitrose, though she can't quite reconcile that with her also knowing that I once flew to Omaha purely to attend a shareholders' AGM

[88V8]

Waitrose a tortuous five miles, Aldi one mile.
Pre-panpanic, we used to alternate.

The Aldi is small.
A lot of British meat. Blue eggs. Otoh, no fresh meat counter, deli, nor cheese counter, and their fresh veg doesn't last so not very fresh.

I like the anarchic shambles. The random collection of thisthats in the centre aisle. Plenty of Christmas nibbles.
Occasionally Jane McQuitty picks one of their wines.

But post-panpanic we don't go there. The fat waddling customers alarm me.

Perhaps again, one day.

V8

[terminal7]

shabby oik

not mutually exclusive of

I once flew to Omaha purely to attend a shareholders' AGM

I suspect she knows you can afford to shop at Waitrose.

T7

[sg31]

We are moderately comfortably off financially, a couple who are very good friends don't earn a great deal but they shop in Waitrose and M & S for their food. It's their choice of course but it seems strange.

When we were younger and generally skint we would shop where prices were cheapest, we had to, we now shop where the best value is. I'm still a big fan of the reduced cabinet. I get a sense of satisfaction from finding good stuff that I wouldn't normally buy at prices I find attractive.

[SalvorHardin]

I suspect she knows you can afford to shop at Waitrose.

True, though she is also certain that only poor people would ever shop at Lidl.

It's like one of those episodes of original Star Trek, where Captain Kirk confuses the alien computer with contradictory pieces of information, causing it to short circuit whilst shouting "Does not compute"

[swill453]

The things I miss are British cheeses, sausages, smoked gammon and draught bitter, so as you can imagine what my luggage is full of after a visit home! Bringing back sausages and gammons in hand luggage has caused a few raised eyebrows at security. Goodness knows what it must look like under the scanner!

Is that now one of the things that's banned post-Brexit?

Scott.

[UncleEbenezer]

The things I miss are British cheeses, sausages, smoked gammon and draught bitter,

I missed British cheeses hugely. Italy seems to have much less of a cheese culture (OK, less dairy altogether than us), and a lot of the cheeses were not to my taste - especially the Roman cheeses that tasted of nothing but salt. Of course there are the big-name cheeses (like gorgonzola, dolcelatte), but the only slightly more special cheeses I liked were some of the Sardinian hard cheeses, especially the Pecorino.

I don't eat meat, so that just leaves beer. Funnily enough, I found I lost the taste for English beer out there. Even when I returned to Blighty on a visit I didn't really enjoy it. It was only when I came home long-term that I re-acquired the taste. I expect that may have had something to do with the environment and climate of the Rome area. You're well to the north of that, aren't you?

[stevensfo]

The things I miss are British cheeses, sausages, smoked gammon and draught bitter,

I missed British cheeses hugely. Italy seems to have much less of a cheese culture (OK, less dairy altogether than us), and a lot of the cheeses were not to my taste - especially the Roman cheeses that tasted of nothing but salt. Of course there are the big-name cheeses (like gorgonzola, dolcelatte), but the only slightly more special cheeses I liked were some of the Sardinian hard cheeses, especially the Pecorino.

I don't eat meat, so that just leaves beer. Funnily enough, I found I lost the taste for English beer out there. Even when I returned to Blighty on a visit I didn't really enjoy it. It was only when I came home long-term that I re-acquired the taste. I expect that may have had something to do with the environment and climate of the Rome area. You're well to the north of that, aren't you?

Lombardia, the region where Covid started in Italy, but we're in the north-west, a long way from the cities and large towns, thank goodness.

We can get cheddar here, but it's not the mature sort that I like, and is sold sliced, all ready for sandwiches. Most gorgonzola is 'dolce' i.e. a bit sweeter than normal. Most of the hard cheeses are very expensive but at least they're tastier than the others. There are days when I'd trade them all for a chunk of Cheshire, mature cheddar, Red Leicester, Wensleydale, Stilton, Double Gloucester etc. Among Italians, Lombardia has a reputation for boring food and they also have a very different idea of 'hot'. I reckon any UK curry or Chili con Carne would have them calling an ambulance!

Though spicy Mexican dishes seem to becoming popular now, so maybe their taste buds will soon start to glow in the dark, like ours!

Steve

[UncleEbenezer]

Among Italians, Lombardia has a reputation for boring food and they also have a very different idea of 'hot'. I reckon any UK curry or Chili con Carne would have them calling an ambulance!

Not just Italians, some other Europeans. About the hottest native Italian dish is the penne arrabiata, which to a Brit (or similar - e.g dutch) seems mild. To an Italian it's hot. And I knew an Austrian who found it too hot to manage!

Though spicy Mexican dishes seem to becoming popular now, so maybe their taste buds will soon start to glow in the dark, like ours!
Steve

Glad to hear it.

One evening I was returning home on a late night bus, and got talking to a Bangladeshi chap. He told me he worked in a restaurant, so I perked up and asked where: a good south-asian meal from time to time would've been most welcome. But it was only Yet Another Italian Restaurant.

I did eventually find some Asian restaurants, but they're rare!

[dubre]

One of the several reasons why I and my close family can afford to use Waitrose is because we do most of our shopping at Lidl.

[sunnyjoe]

Almost as bad as walking down my street with a Lidl plastic bag.

I can put my hand on my heart and honestly declare that I have never been in a Lidl or an Aldi. That would be like flying Easyjet or Ryanair. Not gonna happen.

You don't know what you have been missing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL7jyXCQ2Zc

Indeed

https://youtu.be/ZAg0lUYHHFc

[terminal7]

Gloves off:

The true indicator in these parts is the champagne challenge.

The Lidl 'champagne' Comte de Senneval Champagne Brut does not lay a glove on Waitrose Blanc de Noirs Brut NV Champagne. Of course the Comte is cheaper but there are some things a chap does not show parsimony in the face of the annual rites of post Queenie - know what I mean Harry?

T7