Re: Supermarket scam.

Why don't they simply provide paper sacks like they do in Ikea and in US supermarkets?

Re: Supermarket scam.

Whenever I watch American programmes I always see customers loading the boots of their cars with large brown paper bags full of shopping. Why can't they do the same here, even if only for customers such as Carol who forgot her forever bag? Whatever happened to "The customer comes first?". Lose that customer a dozen times a day and so much for profit first!

Re: Supermarket scam.

SG they should provide paper sacks and veg bags for free for people who have simply forgotten their bag. I always have those little pack a mac type bags with me that scrunch into a tiny ball my favourite at the moment is from Joules but Radley do them too. However, it does limit what you can buy. Some forever bags in Sainsburys cost £1 and you don't want to buy these when you already have five or six in the car.

Re: Supermarket scam.

That is quite obvious and I am sure nobody objects to reasonable profits and understands the need for them. What I am commenting about is the sheer greed in the amount of profit required these days. It is often extortionate and cannot, I believe, be described as otherwise.

Before retiring I was self-employed so do know about profits. I used to charge enough to cover my costs plus a profit. This profit was not extortionate but gave me a living just above what would be expected if working as employed.

Just two instances recently of what I mean by profits required – a main car dealer wanted to charge £100 an hour to service my car. A solicitor required £240 an hour for his services. Both these examples are, I believe, sheer greed and by no means unusual nowadays.

Companies are run by accountants, they require a year-on-year increase in profits which usually means price increases. There is nothing the ordinary person in the street can do about this, other than just pay up or not use these services. I chose to use a local garage charging £50 an hour. They use the same parts / materials and employ time-served mechanics, exactly the same as the main dealer. All I wanted was my car serviced which they do exactly the same as the greedy main dealer!

Re: Supermarket scam.

Greed?
They have to remain competitive otherwise they would go out of business. Many high street shops have. With the advent of on line shopping, there is little doubt that more will go that route.

Re: Supermarket scam.

Unfortunately those American style paper shopping bags can split specially if you have heavy items in them. Far better to take your own bags.

Re: Supermarket scam.

They will sell more if they provide paper bags. It's a small cost to make more money. Hardly likely to hit profits. What will hit profits is the drive to remove packaging. If some buy one tomato or one spud vs five. So I think they deliberately refuse to.make it easier to sell loose fruit a d veg for that reason. It also spoils faster with everyone touching it. I think it's a stalling tactic while they work on eco friendly packaging design.

Re: Supermarket scam.

Cheap 'use once' plastic bags are wasteful and a lot of people don't dispose of them correctly. I think it's better if supermarkets only have bags that can be reused and that cost enough so that they don't just get thrown away.

Paper can be recycled but can we be sure that shops supplying paper bags and sacks for carrying goods wouldn't mean more trees being felled ..and perhaps not always in a sustainable manner?

Re: Supermarket scam.

The Sainsbury's I shop in has paper bags which I use if necessary .... they also have paper bags for mushroom which often use for items like onions and carrots.

I always have a couple of plastic bags tucked into my handbag .... just in case they are needed.

Re: Supermarket scam.

Much of the paper is made from recycled. Where trees are grown it is fast growing soft woods from sustainable woodlands grown for that purpose. We put some electrical plant in a paper mill in Taiwan where the source was Bagasse, sugar cane waste.