20kg Potatoes

dak

Is it possible to find a shop in Dublin selling 20kg bags of Potatoes anymore ?

rubadub

Is there any particular reason it must be 20kg? or are you indirectly trying to find cheap potatoes, if so you might be better asking that directly.

Due to economies of scale the smaller bags are often cheaper. e.g. big 20/25kg bags of sugar cost a lot more in the cash & carry than 20 individual bags in supermarkets. Family size tins of beans/peas/pasta sauce etc are usually more expensive per 100g these days than the big selling medium size ones.

In my tesco onions & potatoes are a tiny bit more per kg when picking loosely than in the bags, but I get full use out of them, as I do not end up with any duds in the bottom of the bag. So it would be a false economy for me to get big bags.

If you still want 20kg bags I would ask a local green grocer, they can probably source them if needed, while a supermarket will probably not be of any help.

dak

Just Curious ! Years ago down the country Potatoes were sold in Hundred weight bags ( 8 stone , 112 lbs or 50.8kg ) . Supermarkets up to a few years ago also sold 20kg bags for about the same price as 10kg cost now.

I suppose its just a way of making more money by getting rid of the larger cheaper bulk bag and getting consumers to buy only smaller bags at a higher price.

No reason why people can't save a few euro by buying bigger bags of spuds. They last for quite a while provided they are kept in a dark and cool storage environment.

Cardinal Richelieu

dak wrote: »

Just Curious ! Years ago down the country Potatoes were sold in Hundred weight bags ( 8 stone , 112 lbs or 50.8kg ) . Supermarkets up to a few years ago also sold 20kg bags for about the same price as 10kg cost now.

I suppose its just a way of making more money by getting rid of the larger cheaper bulk bag and getting consumers to buy only smaller bags at a higher price.

No reason why people can't save a few euro by buying bigger bags of spuds. They last for quite a while provided they are kept in a dark and cool storage environment.

Your correct about saying that supermarkets make money with smaller bags but times move on

• 20kg is a little too heavy to have customers lugging about, potential Health and Safety Issues not to mention the space they takeup in shopping trollies. Yes I know they still sell heavy items such as TVs but not in the same volume as potatoes.
• Families don't eat as many pots as they did pre metric, birth control, changing tastes, alternatives such as rice/pasta etc
• Less consumer knowledge, people no longer keep the bag of pots in the cool dark pest proof shed but in the warm kitchen that makes the potatoes run to seed quicker. Nowadays a sprouting spud with a spongy surface is considered gone off so binned so the consumer preference is to buy smaller bags to prevent waste.
• Preference for washed pots, a change in the last 30 years is for prewashed spuds, on a positive side you don't end up with a quarter of a bag of soil but it does cause a certain amount of skin damage that inhibits shelf life so not suited to 20kg packs.
• Changing tastes- Irish people traditional liked a high dry matter(floury) potato but sales of smaller waxy salad potatoes continue to increase year on year and these varieties do not store as well so unsuitable for 20kg bags.

You can still get 20kg bags but its really prepackers and catering trade that buy them, the Dublin Corporation Market would be your best option.

dak

Cardinal Richelieu wrote: »

Your correct about saying that supermarkets make money with smaller bags but times move on

• 20kg is a little too heavy to have customers lugging about, potential Health and Safety Issues not to mention the space they takeup in shopping trollies. Yes I know they still sell heavy items such as TVs but not in the same volume as potatoes.
• Families don't eat as many pots as they did pre metric, birth control, changing tastes, alternatives such as rice/pasta etc
• Less consumer knowledge, people no longer keep the bag of pots in the cool dark pest proof shed but in the warm kitchen that makes the potatoes run to seed quicker. Nowadays a sprouting spud with a spongy surface is considered gone off so binned so the consumer preference is to buy smaller bags to prevent waste.
• Preference for washed pots, a change in the last 30 years is for prewashed spuds, on a positive side you don't end up with a quarter of a bag of soil but it does cause a certain amount of skin damage that inhibits shelf life so not suited to 20kg packs.
• Changing tastes- Irish people traditional liked a high dry matter(floury) potato but sales of smaller waxy salad potatoes continue to increase year on year and these varieties do not store as well so unsuitable for 20kg bags.

You can still get 20kg bags but its really prepackers and catering trade that buy them, the Dublin Corporation Market would be your best option.

Thanks for your reponses. Have to agree the Irish consumer tastes have changed although some of us are still love meat , 2 veg and lots of spuds.

Mellor

dak wrote: »

I suppose its just a way of making more money by getting rid of the larger cheaper bulk bag and getting consumers to buy only smaller bags at a higher price.

I actually doubt they make more money on smaller bags.
They is more processing on smaller bags, so the cost for the manufacturer in higher, which is passed on to the supermarket. Even if they had the same profit mark-up of say 10%, the smaller should still costs more for the consumer.

I used to work in a supermarket when I was in school. We sold 10kg, 5kg and 2.5kg bags.
To bring out a pallet of 10kg spuds all i had to do was pick up pallet from store, drop pallet on floor. 1000kg of spuds on the floor in no time.

The smaller bags required opening the storage packs, and stacking them individually on the shelves tidily. I takes a lot longer to get through 1000kg that way. Then I dispose of the rubbish etc, I wouldn't be surprised if they made more profit on the 10kg factoring in everything.

Tar.Aldarion

I'd say it is closer than people think all right but as they sell 1kg of potatoes for up to 4/5 euro I'd say those make a lot more. It's the 89 cent 1kg bags that wouldnt make as much.

Mellor

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

I'd say it is closer than people think all right but as they sell 1kg of potatoes for up to 4/5 euro I'd say those make a lot more. It's the 89 cent 1kg bags that wouldnt make as much.

lol what??

I but a 2kg bag here for about $4 or $5 and I consider fruit and veg to be expensive.

entropi

I buy a 5kg bag in my local Lidl when I need them, for 5 euro. Not bad tbh, and the potato quality is not bad!

Tar.Aldarion

Mellor wrote: »

lol what??

I but a 2kg bag here for about $4 or $5 and I consider fruit and veg to be expensive.

Yeah with things like brands and type of potatoes it really varies. You can get 1 euro tesco value baby potatoes but most are 2-5. So they make a lot on that.
I lolled when I saw a half price bag of baby potatoes...3e.

Cardinal Richelieu

Mellor wrote: »

I actually doubt they make more money on smaller bags.
They is more processing on smaller bags, so the cost for the manufacturer in higher, which is passed on to the supermarket. Even if they had the same profit mark-up of say 10%, the smaller should still costs more for the consumer.

Not really, the basic raw material is the same, washed potatoes then fed onto a grading line by automation, graded, then fed off into different packing channels for 2.5kg, 5kg and 10kg packs. Only extra work on the smaller packs line is that two people have to count and pack the required number of retail packs into an outer bag and then stitch it. Sure you have extra packaging costs but companies have got pretty tight on packaging control. Volume may have declined but the actual mark up on smaller packs has increased when you look at the prices charged for 2.5k, 5kg and 10kg bags. Of course the lion share of the markup on small packs goes to the retailer. The value 1kg lines are usually sold as a loss leader with a restriction on how many can be ordered. Usually its the smaller grade offs from the other potato packing lines.

Mellor wrote: »

I used to work in a supermarket when I was in school. We sold 10kg, 5kg and 2.5kg bags.
To bring out a pallet of 10kg spuds all i had to do was pick up pallet from store, drop pallet on floor. 1000kg of spuds on the floor in no time.

Some supermarkets have moved away from pallets, too many health and safety issues. Heard of a fellow breaking his pelvis when the tail lift broke under the weight of a pallet of 10kg spuds and some ended up on him. The HSA now that they have fewer building sites to inspect frown upon pallets built above the customers shoulder height.

Mellor wrote: »

The smaller bags required opening the storage packs, and stacking them individually on the shelves tidily. I takes a lot longer to get through 1000kg that way. Then I dispose of the rubbish etc, I wouldn't be surprised if they made more profit on the 10kg factoring in everything.

Was that while ago when you worked in a supermarket? They actually make a tidy sum on the smaller packs with the high selling 2.5kg lines delivered in bins that you can roll out or cheaper 1kg packs already packed in green crates ready to put on the shelf when stock sells down. The emphasis for supermarkets is to get the supplier to do as much of the donkey work for them before it reaches the store these days.

The stockloss on smaller packs is less than the 10kg packs too. Amazing how many people put a 10kg bag on the bottom of a trolley and forget to pay for it at the checkout. Waste on 10kg packs is pretty high too, more easily damaged in transit and also some customers like to rip them open when buying loose potatoes rather than buying the ones on display.

Mellor

Cardinal Richelieu wrote: »

Not really, the basic raw material is the same, washed potatoes then fed onto a grading line by automation, graded, then fed off into different packing channels for 2.5kg, 5kg and 10kg packs. Only extra work on the smaller packs line is that two people have to count and pack the required number of retail packs into an outer bag and then stitch it. Sure you have extra packaging costs but companies have got pretty tight on packaging control.

I was referring to package cost, i never said how much more, I was just pointing out that its higher and should cost more if they have the same mark up. (i no idea what irish pricing is liek now).

Some supermarkets have moved away from pallets, too many health and safety issues. Heard of a fellow breaking his pelvis when the tail lift broke under the weight of a pallet of 10kg spuds and some ended up on him. The HSA now that they have fewer building sites to inspect frown upon pallets built above the customers shoulder height.

I'm not surprised, was hardly a very safe situation. I've seen pallets falling and can well imagine a person beign badly hurt.
I was just pointing out that when big bags were availible, the workload means they carry a decent profit.

Was that while ago when you worked in a supermarket? They actually make a tidy sum on the smaller packs with the high selling 2.5kg lines delivered in bins that you can roll out or cheaper 1kg packs already packed in green crates ready to put on the shelf when stock sells down. The emphasis for supermarkets is to get the supplier to do as much of the donkey work for them before it reaches the store these days.

Yeah, quite a few years ago. i'm not surprised its moved to bins and crates. Was such an annoying and slow job.

The stockloss on smaller packs is less than the 10kg packs too. Amazing how many people put a 10kg bag on the bottom of a trolley and forget to pay for it at the checkout. Waste on 10kg packs is pretty high too, more easily damaged in transit and also some customers like to rip them open when buying loose potatoes rather than buying the ones on display.

We used damaged 10kg to fill the loose potato crates, which sold for maybe, twice the price per kg.


I wasn't trying to say that bigger have the same profit, or more or what ever. Just pointing out the other factors and how its not simple a case of price per kg.

TooManyDogs

I'm lucky living where I do, I get 10kg bag of spuds straight from the farmer for €3

Tar.Aldarion

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

Yeah with things like brands and type of potatoes it really varies. You can get 1 euro tesco value baby potatoes but most are 2-5. So they make a lot on that.
I lolled when I saw a half price bag of baby potatoes...3e.

The cheap tesco ones have doubled in price since I wrote this.