kuaka, the difference in cost is usually because vegetables, unlike meat,can be bought cheaply from markets and roadside stalls - especially if you're lucky enough to live out of the city.I need to visit the supermarket for just a few basic non-food essentials - my other basic food items are non-perishable and last many months.
kuaka,
Mar 27, 6:59am
and I did some price-checking at Countdown this afternoon.Lamb legs on special at $13.99kg, but the smallest leg was over $29, neck chops on special at $10.99 and very fatty (as you would expect them to be), butcher-type sausages $8.95 for 675gm or $8.50 for 540gm depending on the "flavour", tomatoes $6.98kg, cauliflower $4.48 each (very very small - but I guess out of season), broccoli $2.28 each and not much bigger than a brussel sprout (again out of season).It was a flying visit so those were all the prices I checked.
prendy1,
Mar 27, 7:03am
How about $5 for a pack of butter! How's a girl supposed to bake!
kay141,
Mar 27, 7:08am
My friends are quite happy with supermarket meat. They go for quantity over quality and can not understand why the only meat I buy at the supermarket is for stews in the winter. I only know what I read in the paper, and that was an interview with the butcher. It is a prime site so maybe that had something to do with it. There are empty shops in Petone but they are usually fairly small. I would expect the set up of a butchers to be fairly pricey. Maybe he is taking over a previous butcher with some of the equipment still there. The Hutt Valley is very short of real butchers but if people don't use them, that's what happens. One girlfriend always complains about the quality of her meat but won't go past the Mad Butcher or the supermarket and she drives.
uli,
Mar 27, 7:43am
Don't take it personal - but I would never ever buy Chinese, Vietnamese or Thai prawns because they are grown in polyculture and laced with all sorts of chemicals to keep them alive. They are regularly refused in Europe because of residues - and then we have some "specials" here downunder . last week Vanmei prawns were $8 here - a KILO!
I would try and get some more of my own meat if you can - rabbits, fish, chickens maybe! Go hunting with a friend and buy specials as much as you can.
kuaka,
Mar 27, 7:53am
elliehen - when I was talking about the cheap veg etc in the UK I was actually referring to the supermarket prices.Sure, you can buy stuff at street markets and roadside stalls, but the supermarkets, Tesco, Morrisons, even Sainsbury and M&S had veg etc cheaper than we buy here - and I'm comparing seasonal veg, ie. the cost of the lettuces, tomatoes, cucumbers etc as I was there in summer, and they were way cheaper than we pay for the same things here in summer.Likewise the fruit was cheaper there than it is here.
motorbo,
Mar 27, 8:54am
i so agree pickles, im going to check out another butcher this week - if i can get organic at the same price! wow why shop at the supermarket, i buy most of my vege at the market or veg shop now
lindylambchops1,
Mar 27, 9:03am
OMG! I made Prawn Curry tonight!Been nice knowing you all!
lissy73,
Mar 27, 9:21am
The only meat I buy is 'reduced to clear' specials at Countdown. Often I get nothing. We are a family of 6 (soon to be 7) with a worker who stays during the week. I send my other half out hunting and fishing as much as possible and sometimes we are lucky to purchase some hogget through a friend.
kay141,
Mar 27, 8:29pm
I hope everyone makes the most of local butchers. There was an article in our local paper last week. Last butcher in Petone closing. It is a profitable business but the landlord has decided it doesn't fit the demographics of the area and wants a beauty salon to go there. The butcher is opening up in Wainuiomata which is impossible for me to get to. That will be Petone with no butchers and Lower Hutt with Mad Butcher only. I will be forced to buy from supermarkets shortly.
pixiegirl,
Mar 27, 8:30pm
I would recommend the Aussie Butcher in Henderson.I always get my meat there and never had anything bad.It is a real butcher shop in the fact that the people who serve you behind the counter are actually cutting up the meats, cutting the cracasses etc - a real butcher shop - not done in some secret room out the back.Service is great and prices are normally really good.You can buy it either prepacked or just choose from the counter what you want.Meat is always displayed well so makes you want to buy and staff really helpful.Thoroughly recommend them.
pixiegirl,
Mar 27, 8:31pm
Also the butcher shop at Whenuapai is also very good - little bit more pricey I think but very good.
seniorbones,
Mar 27, 8:47pm
Um.I dont think so! a lot of people dont eat meat just because it actually makes them feel better, but there are the poeple who dont want to eat meat as it was once a living being. have you ever read a vegetarian recipe book.I have a big fat one and the recipes are delicous .I'm not vege we have just bought 1/2 a beast so have a freezer full but sometimes its good not to have meat for a day or two, try it you might be surprised how good you feel. And it doesnt just have to be a plate full of steamed veges either.
seniorbones,
Mar 27, 8:50pm
HI Kuaka.have you tried ordering on line! I'm not sure of the cost but that might be a way of buying from another store and also a bit more controled too just buying what you need or the specials, I go into the supermarket for one thing and come out with a bag full and $100 less in my bank account!
bedazzledjewels,
Mar 27, 8:50pm
Kay - it would be good to see the regeneration of those neighbourhood shops like the butcher. As much as anything, it's always fun to experience the 'butcher's banter'!
pickles7,
Mar 27, 9:23pm
You are so right. The supermarkets have taken a huge hunk of the local butchers, businesses, We must not let them close the lot. I for one used to buy from the supermarkets until one day I looked at the rib bone on a lamb chop and noticed it was near 10 cm wide. JOKE. It was a lamb once. I put the pkt back, visited the butcher and found a lamb chop has a 5 cm rib bone, is tender and succulent, once cooked. I am a regular visitor now. We probably spend less too as I can buy what I need. Well pleased. Can you take a bus to get to a butcher, if you have a gold card. You could use it on the buses!
elliehen,
Mar 27, 9:24pm
.and butchers without fingers missing.Butchers always used to be missing the tops, or the whole finger in some cases.
kay141,
Mar 27, 9:31pm
I do now but once he moves it will be 3 buses each way and a hell of a walk. I don't drive so that makes a tedious trip. I will stock up on his prize winning sausages before he moves.
kay141,
Mar 27, 9:33pm
It's not going to happen unless communities insist. As I said this is a profitable business but the landlord has decided it must go. As long as people are lazy and want the easy way to shop e.g. supermarkets and malls, neighbourhood shopping will keep disappearing. On that note I must add, I dislike malls as well.
cloudberry,
Mar 27, 9:38pm
That's real shame and a big loss to Petone. Wainui's gain, I hope they appreciate it. There is still a real butcher in Eastbourne, Kay. Can you get out there!
aragorn2003,
Mar 27, 10:02pm
Would anyone know of a good butcher out west auckland ways!
vintagekitty,
Mar 27, 10:08pm
I cant believe a LL would not renew a lease of a profitable business, must be more to it. LL's dont just decide a business has to go, esp if that business is paying market rent. I do think people percieve a supermarket as being cheaper, and also the majority of the larger spenders ie families are time poor and it is more convieniant to do the large shop in one place, with free parking. It is a shame that small shops are closing, but its basic economics, they have to compete against large companies who can shift bulk.
elliehen,
Mar 27, 10:09pm
kay, after the move, do you think the butcher would consider delivering your order to you!There is quite a move back to home delivery.Even some supermarkets now have 'personal shoppers' and home delivery.
kay141,
Mar 27, 10:12pm
I intend to ask him but it would probably mean bulk buying and for one, that's a lot of meat. I used to get the supermarket deliveries years ago but once again it is not economical for one. I don't have enough storage and really only use the supermarkets for essentials like butter and milk etc.
vintagekitty,
Mar 27, 10:17pm
Kay, there must be so many people like you in the same situation. Is it possible to carpool with friends and buy collectively!
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