Ethical shopping

Simon Wilson

New member
New thread because this was off topic on the Chinese gear thread.

crickleymal said:
Simon Wilson said:
... - how cheap do you want it? It's the same when you're buying most things. Don't go along with the supermarkets who keep telling us "the consumers demand low prices" and exploit their suppliers whilst trying to blame us.

Buy on quality not price and support the suppliers of good quality. I refuse to shop at Lidl and Aldi for food ...
Fair enough but I find Lidl and Aldi great value for money (mostly) and the foods perfectly fine.

My perspective is that Lidl and Aldi in recent years have represented the worst in low price, poor service, exploitative supermarkets. The service is bad and I have been told that they are bad employers. They were at the bottom of the scale on the Ethical Consumer supermarket list but since they have had a bad press they have risen up the list and now ADSA are at the bottom.

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/least-ethical-british-supermarkets-named-following-french-ban-on-stores-throwing-food-away-a6858936.html

http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/buyersguides/food/supermarkets.aspx
 

alastairgott

Well-known member
An Ethical Supermarket is one which turns a blind eye when Students raid the bins for perfectly good "out of date" food.

Students make a good new year dinner! (for eating the food not cannibalism).
 

crickleymal

New member
Kenilworth said:
Consumerism demands exploitation. There is no such thing as an ethical supermarket.

Indeed. Especially as the Coop are being investigated for the pressure they put on suppliers.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/coop-apology-suppliers-groceries-code-adjudicator-a8245916.html
 

kay

Well-known member
Lidl and Aldi pay shop floor staff more than other supermarkets. Are any supermarkets good employers? At least at the till operator/shelf stacker level?
 

richardg

Active member
"My perspective is that Lidl and Aldi in recent years have represented the worst in low price, poor service, exploitative supermarkets. The service is bad and I have been told that they are bad employers. They were at the bottom of the scale on the Ethical Consumer supermarket list but since they have had a bad press they have risen up the list and now ADSA are at the bottom."

Simon, forgive me if I've read your comments wrongly, But where in the statistics does it state that Aldi score a low rating, in the statistical analysis you quote Aldi is up there near top of the comparison tables....

Here in Skipton and indeed wherever Ive shopped in Aldi at a number of branches they have provided top class friendly service.... especially at the check out.
Staff are paid more than other super markets and have excellent working conditions,  Friends who work there tell me they would not wish to change their jobs because of the team spirit ethos.....

I wouldn't usually comment on such a topic, but for me Misrepresentation and false accusation is a bit like a red rag to a bull.. Sorry mate.
 

SamT

Moderator
I too have heard that Aldi are really good employers, very sought after and hard fought over jobs.  This was from my father in law, whos mates daughter works in the Cockermouth Aldi.  Perhaps at a management level, not at shelf stacker level.

 

nobrotson

Active member
alastairgott said:
An Ethical Supermarket is one which turns a blind eye when Students raid the bins for perfectly good "out of date" food.

Students make a good new year dinner! (for eating the food not cannibalism).

It's quite unfortunate that a lot of the Booths supplies that were turned into that new years dinner had to be returned to by myself, Luke and Brendan because the first time we were there earlier in the day the shop attendant saw us and  threatened to call the police after seeing us leaving with the supplies. Usually I would have just ignored such an idiotic threat (if we drive off after telling him we don't care, how are the police going to find us when we have disappeared to a caving hut, and more to the point do the police even give a shit). However, we were in a friends pick-up which he needs for work so it wasn't really on to get him in the shit. Up until then we had never had a problem raiding Booths bins, in fact usually the guys see us and have actually thanked us as it saves them having to get a special vehicle to come and pick up the green food waste bins!

A lot of supermarkets apporach food waste from an utterly ridiculous standpoint. A lot of people these days are concerned with overpackaging of foods in plastic, which is doubtless a major issue, but levels of food waste by supermarkets at supply and shopfloor level is appalling and really needs to change if they are to become sustainable. For example, once I was in the coop, and they were bagging up shittons of baked goods to go to the bin. I asked if I could have them instead, and offered ?1 for the lot. They refused. This got me so annoyed that I waited until the shop assistants back was turned, then just picked up the bag and walked off. I have done this in the coop if I see them bagging up food for the bin ever since: there is no reasoning with them, and most keep their bins in a locked cage which cannot be accessed for raiding.
 

adam

Member
Once upon a time I came across a stash of heavily reduced baked goods in the Ingleton Co-op, I think they were puff pastry mince pies. If there's anything I like more than baked goods it's reduced to clear baked goods. On taking these to the checkout I was told that they were unable to sell me the items as they were one day past their best before date, so would have to be taken out back and binned. I asked if I could have them for free but was told no. That ruined my day, especially as I had no apres cave pastries to consume  :(
 

Fulk

Well-known member
Barmy . . . totally barmy. But I was once in a Bargain Booze shop where they had a load of stuff going cheap. So I asked the sales guys why, and was told that ?It was past its sell-by date?. I said ?Errrr, that means it?s good for several months or even years yet?? and they said ?Yes?. So I bought a whole load of cheap booze . . . and here I still am to tell the tale.  ;)

Well, at least, they sold it on, and didn't chuck it away.
 

Simon Wilson

New member
Richard, they were at the bottom of the list a couple of years ago but they have risen up.

Lidl-n-Aldi both pay staff more than most other supermarkets. However, they have lower numbers of staff and they expect staff to do all the different tasks; they don?t have shelf stackers. The staffing level is the bare minimum they can operate with and if one team member doesn?t turn in then they can?t manage. They have a contract that says they can be called into work at any time to make up for a missing team member. My friend who tried it went back to Asda even though Asda pay the lowest wages. Maybe the way they work the staff at Lidl-n-Aldi suits some people and doesn?t suit others.

Purely anecdotal but I get the impression that the queues are longer at Lidl-n-Aldi and there are more staff around in Asda and Morrisons.

Anyway, the point I was trying to make when I started this thread is that ethical shopping is in our hands. The supermarkets are very sensitive to customer behaviour and we have the power to change how they operate if we choose to do it.

In my work I meet the most underprivileged people and I wouldn?t try to tell them not to shop on price but I have both the time and the money to buy on quality. I go to Asda to buy Butlers Tasty Lancashire cheese and I go to Booths for Mrs. Kirkhams; I have no idea what either of them costs. I go to my local market for black puddings and russet apples.
 

mikem

Well-known member
ASDA are of course owned by Wal-Mart (USA) - king of the no frills companies...

& Morrisons threw away tonnes of milk last week, when their stores had none on the shelves!

Mike
 

2xw

Active member
You reduce the opportunities for unethical practice the more folks you remove from the supply chain. Buy from local farmers markets or direct from suppliers etc. This is also better for the environment. I wholeheartedly agree with wobs approach to food waste. The amount of food we waste is disgusting.
 

kay

Well-known member
Food waste is yet another topic in which the blame is being shifted on to the consumer. Salmonella in eggs - we're not cooking them enough. BSE - that was down to us too, though I can't remember now what they said. Food waste - that's entirely down to the consumer. Supermarkets are blameless.

Time was when, if you forgot about the carrots, all that would happen was that they'd go a bit wrinkled, and could easily be resuscitated by dropping them into a bowl of cold water. Nowadays, if you look at a carrot a bit funny, it immediately goes black and slimy.

And yes, it's before 10am so I am in a thoroughly bad mood ;-)
 

Fulk

Well-known member
ASDA are of course owned by Wal-Mart (USA) - king of the no frills companies...

Aww, come on guys, Wal-Mart have just decided to stop selling guns to kids (under 21). You dom't get much more ethical than that.
 

pwhole

Well-known member
I tend to use them all, depending what I'm after. Aldi have very little product choice, but cheap prices. Waitrose have loads of product choice, but are more expensive - but they both see me regularly. However, purely as an observation, my local Aldi will get ten customers through a till in the time that Waitrose can only manage three, as most of the tills at Waitrose are unstaffed these days, and the ones that are staffed run in slow-motion. It's like the land that time forgot in there. If you're older and better-off (and decide at the last minute you'd like your 'free' members-only coffee after all), the staff will chat and indulge you until everyone else in the queue has passed out with boredom.
 

ZombieCake

Well-known member
I suppose if I fancied some sardines hand packed by the Pope and wrapped in packaging made from original Turner seascape paintings I'd go to Waitrose, or if I wanted cheapo Mars bar or Snickers analogs I'd go to Lidl.
Lidl NiMH batteries are pretty good value (both price and capacity) when they have them (which is another issue).  Their till staff do seem to have had Olympic standard training to get produce through as fast as possible.  I'm just waiting for the spring board that automatically catapults you straight back to the car park as soon as you've paid to be implemented.
 

Laurie

Active member
We have a Tesco with an adjacent Aldi.
It's a case of get what we can from Aldi then get the rest from Tesco.
We do get most of our meat from a local family butcher, not only to support a local business but because it's well worth the extra money for flavour.
Our only other option is a nearby overpriced Waitrose. Sadly, the supermarket giants have long driven out all the alternatives.
 

alastairgott

Well-known member
pwhole said:
I tend to use them all, depending what I'm after. Aldi have very little product choice, but cheap prices. Waitrose have loads of product choice, but are more expensive - but they both see me regularly.

I didn't think it would be you who posted this. I thought you were dyed in the wool northerner. ;)
 

royfellows

Well-known member
Random comments

I use local Sainsburys, its convenient and food better than Asda.
Keeping to the one store, staff know me and are nice.
I take a lot of their empty boxes and recycle for shipping lamps.
I only buy free range eggs
Eco washing up liquids are a con, look at the ingredients, 30% water. Fairy going same way.
Buying goods from China not always cheaper, check price of alternatives.
Quality Chinese goods not that cheap
Import VAT is a lottery
Save money by dumping credit card and getting debit card from bank if you dont need the credit.
A lot of expensive adhesives are rebundled PVA, ?12 for 4.5 litres from Wicks
Expensive 18650 cells are mostly rewrapped Sanyo - Panasonic OEM

New year resolution is not to leave all my empty pop bottles at underground work places.
 
Top