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M&S food not worth the price


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Old 22-07-2011, 10:53
John_Elway
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I have worked in the food industry for a lot of my life and one place I worked for produced food for several chains of supermarkets plus Harrods, F&M's, M&S and local corner shop brands.

The food itself was exactly the same. It was all processed exactly the same, cooked the same and treated the same.......the only difference was packaging.

We had different boxes and jars for different shops. Different labels etc.

People are so easily duped into believing that what they buy is the best because thats what they want to believe yet so many experiments and processing facts tell us different. In fact most people (in testing) either cannot determin the 'expensive' brand or they prefer the cheaper ones.
(One classic case was one where Rick Stein had to contain his shame that 30 diners preferred an Aldi chicken to any other)

M&S strawberries, for example, are picked by the same people who pick strawberries for cheaper shops and markets and they come from the exact same fields.

These supermarkets do far too much to con us into believing we are buying something of quality when we are not.

How many people here buy M&S Oakham chicken? A chicken designed to 'sound' decent, posh, good quality etc etc. It isnt. Its just a bog standard cheap chicken that doesnt even come from anywhere called Oakham.

Supermarket tactics are very precise and their marketing ploys are, of course, designed to have us believe that we are getting the best.
Its all a bit 'Emperors New Clothes'.....we believe it because we want to believe it otherwise we would all look very stupid for choosing expensive over cheaper when there is no difference.........and no-one wants to be the first one to stand out and say......"Errrr actually........".
Finally somebody speaks some sense.

I can't believe so many people are taken in by the marketing! I suppose nobody wants to admit that they are taken in but don't they see a connection between their opinions and M&S (or Waitrose) marketing?

Vanity is a wonderful thing and I suppose that those that believe this kind of stuff like to feel they are 'better' etc. M$S is a chain and wants to make money, the first rule of such advertising is that you charge higher prices that supports the "quality" image. It's like some jeans, they are still made from the same material as any other pair of jeans but the name makes and extortionate price makes those who buy it feel "good".

In reality, it's quite something if they really believe that, using strawberries as an example, that there's a little M&S policeman there stopping other supermarkets getting to the strawberries until M&S have cherry picked their ones.

If you believe in the phrase, "you're just paying for the name", then you have to believe it applies to food chains as well. I take it you've all seen the experiment where the same tea, from the same tea pot poured into different coloured mugs and cups 'apparently' tastes differently depending on the colour of the mug/cup etc. It doesn't, we just believe it does.

Advertising... priceless.
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Old 22-07-2011, 11:01
John_Elway
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For one thing M&S use free range eggs in all the products. If a lemon drizzle cake from M&S uses a free range egg and the Tesco one doesn't - that's a difference in the fundamentals right there. A chocolate cake from M&S might use a higher percentage of cocoa. These ingridients cost more because they are better.
But they haven't always used free range eggs have they? And are all their chicken ingredients in "every single" product that contains chicken from free range chickens too? So there's a contradiction right there.

A chocolate cake from M&S is not a given as to having a higher percentage of cocoa as they also sell cheap and nasty cakes too. You can certainly get a good cake absolutely, but if I go to Tesco finest and choose one it'll be the same... more to the point if we remove the packaging you nor I will tell which shop it came from. Of course, those who think they are connoisseurs like to boast that "I can tell the difference" ... (that isn't directed at you personally) ... but if they really were food connoisseurs, they wouldn't be buying their food from a chain to begin with.
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Old 22-07-2011, 11:15
Inkblot
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A web search revealss that M&S have sold only free range eggs since 1997 and began using only free range eggs in their products in 2002.
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Old 22-07-2011, 17:05
Tiggergirl
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I wonder in part if it is psychological and I don't say this against anyone who honestly thinks they can tell a difference but there is maybe the belief that because it cost more it tastes better and people have trained their minds into this way of thinking so believe it to be true.

I have taken part in a lot of Market research over the years and have seen people come in adamant they would know the more expensive brand etc but when there was no marketing packagong etc and it was just stripped back to the basic product they couldn't tell them apart.

I have had a Sainsburys Basic lasagne today and if it wasn't in the packaging etc it would easily have passed for something that cost more money. Supermarkets use marketing to train us into believing certain things that is to their benefit of course it's just realising that sometimes that's all it is just clever marketing to get us to part with more cash. Yes there are some value things etc that are dire but equally so are some overpriced equivilants from M&S etc
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Old 22-07-2011, 17:26
LittleTinker
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M&S marketing budget is staggering.....why? Because they get the results they want......people are 'talked' into buying it.
Most M&S food shoppers that I have met through the industry are inverted snobs.....and so precious of M&S. It goes to show the power of marketing and that it does, indeed, work.

Lets face it folks......true quality food doesnt need advertising............it speaks for itself.
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Old 22-07-2011, 17:57
Swarfega
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Lets face it folks......true quality food doesnt need advertising............it speaks for itself.
Tell that to the several local bistros who have had to close due to lack of trade. Trust me, their dishes and overall menus were awesome, I mean really really good. But they forgot that people needed to know they existed.

At the other end of the scale is all advertising and no product. "Fur coat and no knickers" as my Grandma would say. Those places soon get found out for the charlatans they are.

The best option is a combination of both decent products and the ability to let the general public be aware of these products. If the products weren't up to scratch, we'd soon be aware.
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