Our recent trip to California was, considering that we think of ourselves as being familiar with the country, a little different. Whereas most of our trips have been on business and, therefore, hotel and restaurant based, this trip was almost entirely self-catering. Being there for a month, I got used to looking at prices in food stores just because I really had no yardstick and knew little of what to expect.
Now back in England, I have just returned from Waitrose in our local town. For some reason (I didn’t actually want any on this occasion) I studied the broccoli on offer and got a few surprises. All the following are English products and not shipped half-way around the world. I didn’t make precise notes but the following prices are close enough.
- regular broccoli heads (loose): £1.79 kg
- regular broccoli heads (wrapped): £3.70 kg
- organic broccoli heads (wrapped): £3.49 kg
My Lord, why would anyone buy a product simply encased in plastic wrap for over twice the price of the same loose product that one can put in a plastic bag for oneself? I was expecting a price difference but that’s huge.
To cap it all, the organic stuff (which I normally avoid because of the rip-off price) is actually cheaper than its direct equivalent though it isn’t available loose, for some reason; it is available only in that very expensive plastic wrap. (I did wonder if I’d switched the organic and non-organic price but I double checked and don’t think I did.)
Incidentally, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and ASDA all seem to be selling the loose regular stuff at £1.38 kg.
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