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Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

economist.com

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Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#131

Post by Vladimof »

photochemsyn wrote: post #99

Farmer's markets are the way to go for produce if you have farms in your area. Some are overpriced and upscale, some are cheaper than your local chain grocery store. You can also buy grains/beans in bulk at lower prices, often direct from farmer's coops, and have it shipped to your door. Get a pressure cooker for beans, a rice cooker, save on the gas prices as they're electric, and use an induction electric stove. If…

> Some are overpriced and upscale, some are cheaper than your local chain grocery store

Some also sell imported fruits and veggies...

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#133

Post by Vladimof »

rco8786 wrote: post #123

Anecdotal I guess but I’ve visited 15-20 countries across Europe and Asia in the last ~10 years and the supermarkets were largely not great relative to your average American Kroger.

Kroger has some good deals, but the Kroger brand is often inferior in quality when compared to Walmart's brand...

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#135

Post by itcrowd »

rightbyte wrote: post #127
petercooper wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe it's just a coincidence, but since Brexit I've noticed the shelf life of fruit and veg has gone through the floor (I suspect the time the produce takes to reach the shelf has increased). For things that have advisory "best by" dates on (e.g. strawberries), where you used to get a date a week in the future, now you need to take care to not buy something with tomorrow's date. In semi-related news, The Independent…

I have noticed the same thing with Christmas trees. They lose their "tiny green things" (name?) earlier. Maybe picker/cutter shortages? Like instead of picking the strawberries or cutting trees with 10 people in one week 5 people do it in two weeks? To fill up one truck load.

I understand people here debating veggies and fruits or meat. But Christmas trees? How often does one buy one? Once a year? Might have been a fluke? Or do you have a compelling reason to relate this to Brexit?

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#136

Post by tpict »

floren wrote: post #106
fredley wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're right. For example in EU supermarkets you will typically find, separately: white onions, brown onions, sweet onions etc. In the UK: onions. Maybe sometimes also 'large onions'. Same goes for most other produce. It's chicken and egg, as the demand for this won't materialise without awareness and the awareness won't arise without the knowledge there even are different types of onions, I imagine most Brit…

What type of onions are the UK "onions"? I'd assume white onions because they're attractive and versatile?

As a British expat, the “yellow onions” you see in US supermarkets are most familiar.

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#137

Post by 5555624 »

88913527 wrote: post #102
algoatecorn wrote: post #3

With the emergence of dark grocery stores, there will be major opportunity in the space of personalized nutrition. Shoppers will be more connected with a mobile app when it comes to their grocery store experience, and those apps have the potential to steer you toward an optimal diet that saves money and improves health. I strongly believe personalized nutrition and shopping experiences will have major impact on non c…

The average grocery store carries 30,000+ items, I don't know how people will find new products in a world (decades from now) where dark grocery shopping is the norm. We all only have vast awareness because we know of the goods by walking the aisles. The web apps for grocery shopping have carousels that might showcase to you two or three new items, but there simply is nothing analogous to aisle walking. You can't eve…

Since December, all of my grocery shopping has been done via Shipt.[0] What is available via the web site and app is fraction of what's available in the store. I've lucked out because they shop at the store I used to shop at; so, I can add a detailed special request. (Instead of just saying "pumpernickel bread," I can add that it's not in the main, prepackaged bread section; but, in the bakery section, on the left side, behind the bread slicing machine.)

[0] Not by choice, a combination of Necrotizing Fasciitis, Sepsis, and Gangrene left me in a wheelchair

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#138

Post by random-human »

grendelt wrote: post #89

HEB is loved in Texas (suspiciously absent from NE Texas), but has a pretty great line of private label foods, competitive prices that are usually at or below Walmart's prices. For example, when meat prices spiked because national meatpackers had problems, HEB's Texas meatpackers didn't have such high costs (less of a spike). They have to be doing well financially with a decent markup, but the quality is pretty great…

HEB is sorely missed when I live in or visit other states and go grocery shopping.

Beside national brands, they source from quality local small businesses, farms and ranches, and even make a wide range of their own "generic" brand food - including fresh foods like meal-simples (a complete meal for one, ready for the oven w/cooking directions), or even a full bbq joint in some stores. Their Central Market food brand found in HEB's is usually cheaper, fresher and healthier than national brands. But if you want higher end organics in majors cities, their Central Market stores in Austin put the original Whole Foods to shame, IMO. The few times I would go to Randells or Walmart would be during larger holidays when HEB was closed and those stores were generally more expensive, had questionable produce and a disappointing selection of just about everything else in comparison.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H-E-B

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#139

Post by latchkey »

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #25

> but they do not have the size that European supermarkets have to resist price increases by suppliers. Walmart bankrupted Vlassic by suckering them into a deal where they were stuck selling pickles at a loss. They are infamous for dictating price to their suppliers.

> Walmart bankrupted Vlassic

https://www.fastcompany.com/47593/wal-mart-you-dont-know

Re: Americans are poorly served by their grocery stores

#140

Post by jen20 »

tpict wrote: post #136
floren wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What type of onions are the UK "onions"? I'd assume white onions because they're attractive and versatile?

As a British expat, the “yellow onions” you see in US supermarkets are most familiar.

Also as a British expat, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose in Bath had all of the types of onion you’d find in the US pre-pandemic - though I haven’t been back since. I’d imagine Brexit may have ruined that.
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