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Thread ID: 119861	2011-08-13 20:53:00	Supermarkets are putting 800 per cent mark-ups on some fresh fruit and vegetables	pctek (84)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1222989	2011-08-13 23:40:00	I've explained it in other threads I can't be bothered explaining it again. Thought most of this was common sense but apparently not. If you want to listen to the media go right ahead, but I guarantee you supermarkets are not making 800% markup.	--Wolf-- (128)
1222990	2011-08-13 23:47:00	Bananas are quite cheap at the moment. I bought bananas at $1.45 from Pak n Save yesterday. As I was passing the Vegetable Shop on the way home I noticed a sign advertising bananas for $1.99.	Bobh (5192)
1222991	2011-08-13 23:55:00	@Wolf: why can't you compare supermarkets with fruit & vege shops? If you can't be bothered explaining then post a link. You have made a statement and I'd like to see it backed up. From a personal perspective, if I ever do the shopping for SWMBO, then I do compare the prices between the two, yet you are saying I can't. It is similar produce, at differing prices, so why can't I compare them? Clearly you have experience in supermarket retailing, as do I from a suppliers perspective. I can assure you the food group with the highest margin in the supermarket is the 'fruit and vege' section. That is a fact. I'm not making any claims as to the magnitude of that margin, but it seems someone has done some research somewhere and came up with those numbers in the article. Having worked in the media I'm fully aware that some journalists interview their keyboards, but those numbers look pretty specific. Even if they were out by a factor of 2, it is still a hefty mark-up. If it is a case of excess spoilage, then the consumer shouldn't be penalised for the idiotic buying policies and practices of the supermarkets. However, the supermarkets will often discount products below cost (again this is a fact, based on my experience) to get consumers in the door, who are first lead by the nose through the high margin fruit and vege section before getting to the cheap staples the consumers saw promoted somewhere. Any consumer needs to ask themselves why am I winding my way through the fruit and veges, with poor traffic flow, just to get into the store?	andrew93 (249)
1222992	2011-08-14 00:06:00	If it is a case of excess spoilage, then the consumer shouldn't be penalised for the idiotic buying policies and practices of the supermarkets. However, the supermarkets will often discount products below cost (again this is a fact, based on my experience) to get consumers in the door, who are first lead by the nose through the high margin fruit and vege section before getting to the cheap staples the consumers saw promoted somewhere. Any consumer needs to ask themselves why am I winding my way through the fruit and veges, with poor traffic flow, just to get into the store? The consumer is always penalised for spoilage no matter what the product is, it is built into the price of the product. This being from food, glass or any other goods	plod (107)
1222993	2011-08-14 00:15:00	I've explained it in other threads I can't be bothered explaining it again. Thought most of this was common sense but apparently not. If you want to listen to the media go right ahead, but I guarantee you supermarkets are not making 800% markup. Well if you can't be bothered you have lost all credibility with me which means everything you say will be taken with a large grain of salt.	mikebartnz (21)
1222994	2011-08-14 00:17:00	Find the last fruit a vege thread we had a few weeks ago, can't remember the name of it, search my posts. Sound like a broken record now, but I worked at a major supermarket in the produce and would do quite a bit of the buying. Do you compare the meat at the supermarket to the meat at the Mad Butcher? A vege shop does not have anywhere near the amount of overheads a supermarket does. They do not sell (and waste) even close to what a supermarket does. They don't have the staff a supermarket does. They don't have the rent/power a supermarket does. Do I need to continue? I can't tell you exactly what a fruit and vege shop buys their produce for because I don't know. If it's so much cheaper there, then why not just buy from there? There is no "idiotic policies and practices of supermarkets" in terms of buying stock. Would you rather them have too much, or not enough of something? The buyer does not get "penalised" it's simply part of it. You would not believe how much they throw out. And it's not just having too much stock. It's stock that comes in average quality and goes bad quick, stock that sits on the bottom of the shelves etc. Also would be interested in the produce department being the highest margin info. As far as I knew it was the butchery. I could specifically tell you the markup on some items I remember off the top of my head and they are honestly around 100%. I have no reason to try and defend supermarkets, and I certainly can't speak for all of them, but it just gets so old when they start throwing their 800% markup numbers out there. They may have got that number from comparing a supermarket in Dunedin to a fruit n vege shop in Auckland. And as far as the produce being first in the supermarkets, they have a reason for it. Can't really remember it now, but it was something along the lines of when you look at someones trolley they are always going to have fruit n veges or it makes up a certain percent or something like that. It's like the price of milk. Someone says we're paying too much and then everyone suddenly becomes an expert saying the supermarkets are ripping people off. I'm not going to go into that though because I don't have the facts but I do for the produce.	--Wolf-- (128)
1222995	2011-08-14 00:18:00	Well if you can't be bothered you have lost all credibility with me which means everything you say will be taken with a large grain of salt. Pretty much what I said above. www.pressf1.co.nz	--Wolf-- (128)
1222996	2011-08-14 00:20:00	I've just been and done the groceries this morning. I walked into Countdown Nelson turned right and missed out the first two aisles which are the fruit & veg and alcohol ones then started shopping. As i said earlier veg either comes out of our garden fresh or excess is frozen and then the green grocer if we run out. I have converted our entire section at the back to fruit and veg and have no grass at al we don't need it, can't eat it and have a nice deck to sit out on and we have chooks at the top of the section. being on a hill it was a pain to cut the grass before so it went	gary67 (56)
1222997	2011-08-14 00:29:00	Do you compare the meat at the supermarket to the meat at the Mad Butcher? We don't have one but I do compare prices and they are often dearer and just as often a better quality. A vege shop does not have anywhere near the amount of overheads a supermarket does. They do not sell (and waste) even close to what a supermarket does. They don't have the staff a supermarket does. They don't have the rent/power a supermarket does. Do I need to continue? That is basically a straw man argument. Their waste in proportion would be near enough the same. They don't have the staff because they are no where near the same size. The rent and power I will give you.	mikebartnz (21)
1222998	2011-08-14 00:32:00	I have converted our entire section at the back to fruit and veg and have no grass at al we don't need it, can't eat it and have a nice deck to sit out on and we have chooks at the top of the section. being on a hill it was a pain to cut the grass before so it went All the rear of sections should be set aside to produce something. What amazes me are the number of people that are unemployed that have no garden and all the time in the world to work one.	mikebartnz (21)
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