Why would this be?

cormie

Might be putting in a bulk order to a health food wholesaler in a while and I was just comparing prices and saw this:

From the natural & in-shell nuts shelf

Wholefoods Pecan Nuts 150g

€3.29 (€21.94/kg)

From the cooking nuts shelf

Tesco Pecans 100g

€1.65 (€16.50/kg)

So they are both from Tesco, and the "from the cooking nuts shelf" pecans are actually cheaper per KG than I can get them for from the wholesaler. Now this wholesaler supplies to most health shops I've ever been to so it's not just some guy saying he can get wholesale prices, it's the actual supplier. So I'm wondering, what could be so much different about these "cooking nuts" compared to the others that makes them so cheap? I've used them and they seem fine

rubadub

It pays to shop around, and it tesco you have to shop around different sections of the same store!

Seriously, there are nuts in around 6 areas in my tesco,
health food section,
cooking,
fruit & veg,
organics,
snacks & crisps,
and then those brands own stalls.

And prices can vary a lot.

Pecans are a very expensive nut, €16.50/kg is very cheap. €22/kg is cheap enough too. Tesco were doing 200g of roasted peanuts for 29cent a while ago! cheaper than cheapo peanut butter. The cooking section is a good place to check as they are usually unroasted and unsalted (if you are worried about such things). I think tesco brazils are cheap in the cooking section too. And it is good since they are usually 100-150g bags. I buy 500g of cashews in lidl that go in a flash!

Some prices in tesco seem like errors to me. A while ago odlums organic oats were cheaper than regular odlums per kg, for the same size bag, and no offer was being shouted about.I was getting ham really cheap too, same situation, no apparent offer on. Could also be simply economies of scale, tesco are probably buying in far more nuts than your "supplier".

Roast pecans & maple syrup in oats & cold milk is lovely.

cormie

Yup, unroasted, unsalted is what I'm after. Cashews, Pecans, Walnuts, Brazils and Almonds being the main ones. I'd prefer organic, the price per 100gm from supplier for organic walnuts is €1.27 compared to 85c in tesco for the "for cooking" ones and again, Tesco are cheaper than the non organic too. Are the cashews in Lidl roasted/salted at all? How much for 500gm?

Glowing

Yesterday, the price for 300 gms of Tesco cashews was 4.49 - around the corner in the healthfood section, Tesco healthfood cashews were 4.63 for 300 gms!

Similar bag, identical contents, why the price difference?

rubadub

cormie wrote: »

Are the cashews in Lidl roasted/salted at all? How much for 500gm?

Heavily salted & roasted, think about €4.50 for 500g. If you want cheap raw unsalted nuts try the asian shops, cashews are €10/kilo, ready shelled pistachio around 12/kilo. No other nuts really though, maybe regular peanuts, with skins.

Glowing wrote: »

Yesterday, the price for 300 gms of Tesco cashews was 4.49 - around the corner in the healthfood section, Tesco healthfood cashews were 4.63 for 300 gms!

Similar bag, identical contents, why the price difference?

Economies of scale, different suppliers etc. I expect roast & salted ones have a longer shelf life too. I think those tesco pink bags of roast & salted cashews are 200g & 400g, I buy them all the time.

That price difference is not much, it can be almost double on some nuts.

Macha

Supermarket chains, especially giants like Tesco benefit from buying in bulk and exerting power on suppliers to force prices down.

I tried following above replies but got a bit confused - are you comparing like with like? Ie organic with organic, etc?

You might find this article interesting, it was published just yesterday but is from a UK paper:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/oct/14/consumer-affairs-buying-in-bulk

cormie

Yup, comparing like for like, puzzling how non organic are cheaper when labelled as "for cooking" and even cheaper than their non organic competitors from wholesale Bulk buying, but even their the difference between products in their own stores.

Macha

cormie wrote: »

Yup, comparing like for like, puzzling how non organic are cheaper when labelled as "for cooking" and even cheaper than their non organic competitors from wholesale Bulk buying, but even their the difference between products in their own stores.

OK I had a look at the Tesco online-shopping thingamajig, just for Cashews and underlined the cheapest for plain & then salted/roasted (and yes I am avoiding writing my dissertation, thanks for asking):

From The Natural & In-Shell Nuts Shelf
Roasted & Salted Cashews 125g €2.75 (€22/kg)
T Wholefood Cashew Nuts 150g €2.29 (€15.27/kg)
Whole Foods Cashew Nuts 300g €4.49 (€14.97/kg)
Natural Cashew Nuts 125g €1.99 (€15.92/kg)

From The Cooking Nuts Shelf
Shamrock Plain Cashew Nuts 75g €1.63 (€21.74/kg)

From The Wholefoods Dried Frt/Nut Shelf
Tesco W/F Cashew Nuts 300g €4.82 (€16.07/kg)
Just Whole Cashew Nut 150g SAVE 1.00 Was 3.99 Now 2.99 €2.99 (€19.94/kg)

From The Other Nuts Shelf
Shamrock Roast & Salted Cashews 75g €1.88 (€25.07/kg)
Tesco Cashew Nuts 400g 3.59 (€8.98/kg)
Tesco Roasted Salted Cashew Nuts 200g €1.68 (€8.40/kg)
Kp Cashews 90g (c) €3.25 (€36.12/kg)
Harvest Fare Cashew Nuts 250g 33% Extra FREE €5.21 (€20.84/kg)
Tesco Roasted Salted Peanut/ Cashew 200g €2.98 (€14.90/kg)
Shamrock Roast Salted Cashews 200g 33% Extra FREE €4.82 (€24.10/kg)

Jesus, there is such a thing as too much choice!

Edit: In Holland & Barrett, 200g bag of whole, unsalted, unroasted cashews is £2.09 = £10.45/kg = approx. €13.37/kg - cheaper than anything in Tesco (but that's just a guess on the conversion.

cormie

I won't ask about your dissertation because I don't know what it means and I'm too lazy to google :P

I wonder is:
Tesco Cashew Nuts 400g 3.59 (€8.98/kg)

raw/unsalted?

The best deal from the wholesaler for cashews is:
Bulk Cashew Pieces 1x5kg 39.06 (7.80/kg)
Bulk Cashews Whole 1x5kg 54.85
Bulk Nuts Cashew Pieces 1x11.34kg 72.03 (6.34/kg)

Now for some reason in all the other listed cashews, whole are a lot more expensive than pieces. Why would that be?

Now with an amount you can fit in your pocket, their best deal is:
Cashew Nuts Whole 12x500g 68.93 (11.50/kg)
Cashew Pieces 12x250g 23.19 (7.73/kg)

So wholesaler is cheaper, but not by a lot, but you have to get cashew pieces instead of whole, for whatever reason that is..

Macha

I'll save you a google. Dissertation: 20,000 words of hellish pointless torture so that I can getz me a job saving the planet. There.

Ah, well the pieces would be cheaper than the whole cashews because they're basically giving you the broken ones. Tis the same with all of them if you check. Personally I'd go for the wholesales because

a)They're not Tesco
b)They're not Tesco and
c)They're not Tesco

How long do nuts last?

Can one person make their way through 10kg of cashew nuts before they go rancid?

cormie

Is that a challenge?

rubadub

cormie wrote: »

I wonder is:
Tesco Cashew Nuts 400g 3.59 (€8.98/kg)

raw/unsalted?

Roasted & salted, they come in pink packs in the crisps section. I use them in cooking too, you can always rinse them if that worried about salt, but you can't unroast them!
The salt in peanuts is over-rated. It might have so much salt per 100g, but in the end of the bag is left loads of salt, lidl ones are esp. salty. You could shake them out in a sieve.

As I mentioned Asian shops have raw cashews about €10/kilo, and they are in good enough condition.

cormie

Another puzzle, why is it cheaper to buy ones that have been roasted (electricity) and salted than ones that have just been left alone

Probably go with the wholesaler for cashews anyway! Thanks

scubasteve

I've trird both the cooking pecan and the regular. The cooking ones didnt taste as good in my opinion. I reckon they must be a lower grade.

cormie

Yeah maybe, I'll be using them in recipes and wont be eating them solo so probably wont make much of a difference to me