Yesterday we checked out from Fern Cottage {aka Doc Martin’s surgery} in Port Isaac and headed east to the Cotswolds for the next leg of our “research” trip.
Researching tea and scones… It’s a tough gig I tell you, but we’re up to the challenge!
We made multiple stops along the way {which I’ll tell you about tomorrow} but it was the sight of a familiar grocery store that got me all excited that I yelled at The Girl to PULL OVER… I have to see what things cost there!
ALDI in the UK. How exciting! Check out these prices:
29 pence {$0.33 USD} for 2 pounds of carrots!!! That is an insanely good price, don’t you think? A 2 pound bag of carrots around here runs about $2.
29 pence {$0.33 USD} for a bunch of celery. FACT: We saw celery for $4.99 USD for sale at Hannaford this past winter. I’m not even that into celery, but at that price, I’d be chopping it up and putting it in everything. Currently it’s selling for $2.99 a bunch.
49 pence {$0.56 cents} for 3 onions. Yep.
89 pence {$1.02 USD} for a little over 4 ounces of blueberries. Excellent price. This size typically runs $2.50 – $3.99 in the US.
4 lemons for 75 pence {$0.86 USD} Crazy good deal!
6 Braeburn apples for £1.39 {$1.59 USD} Very nice.
Four pears for £1.69 {$1.94 USD} I thought the pears were another good deal.
59 pence {$0.68} for 1.1 lbs of cooked beets {heck of a deal AND you don’t have to deal with the mess!}
£1.19 {$1.36 USD} for 1.1 lbs of vine ripened tomatoes.
£6.09 {$6.98 USD} for 2.2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts.
£1.99 {$2.28 USD} for a little over a half of a pound of butter.
£1.45 {$1.66 USD} for a half gallon of milk. I pay more than twice that for Oakhurst milk here in Maine.
84 nappies for £4.59 {$5.26 USD} I haven’t bought diapers in a loooooong time but that seemed like a really good deal to me.
58 pence {$0.66} for 1.5kg /3.3 lbs. of flour.
65 pence {.75 cents} for 2.2 pounds of sugar. The last time we bought sugar from Costco it was $0.52 a pound.
£2.19 {$2.51 USD} for a dozen eggs.
£1.99 {$2.28 USD} for a 17 ounce box of Corn Flakes. {The big box of Corn Flakes is $4.99 at Hannaford.}
And last but not least, a 6 pack of crumpets for 35 pence {$0.40 USD}. Holy smokes, if I lived closer, at that price, I would have filled my freezer with them.
True, currently £1 = $1.14 USD but still, even if some of those items were going for double, they’d still be less than what we are paying here in the US.
Call me crazy, but I think the food prices in the UK are pretty darn good.
What do YOU think?
~Mavis
Brianna says
I think the fruits and vegetables in the US have gotten so expensive. Cereal is outrageous. A dozen eggs makes me very conservative on how I use them. The price of bread is terrible too. Everything has gotten expensive, but pantry staples and food are grossly inflated from prices a year or two ago.
I have always made my kids school lunches, but the prices are just shy of $4/lunch now with no seconds. My kids have friends who go without lunch or kids asking for something from their lunch. That bothers me on so many levels and I am very mixed over it.
I was shocked at the price of Halloween candy too. It use to be $9.99 for the 300 piece mars variety bag and it is $16+ now depending on the store. I am really not seeing any sales worth stocking up on either.
Toni Wood says
Wages in the UK are way lower than ours in the states so the prices hit a lot harder.
Katie C says
I love seeing those daily life-type of things—thanks for sharing! I wonder what kinds of government food subsidies there are and how having a high population of people participating in government programs (last I looked it was roughly 60%)/a high tax rate affects the food prices? With fuel that astronomical, it costs so much more to grow/transport food and those prices don’t seem to match up with the true cost of food without having government assistance to produce the food. I’m so glad you two got to go on this trip! What a cool experience.
Tracey says
I love Aldi too! I like to compare prices and also see the different items that they carry. One of my favorite stops in Australia several years ago was to their local Aldi. You’re showing some amazing prices in the UK! Makes good sense that fresh produce and household staples are reasonably priced!! (milk/butter/meat are on par with about what we’re paying here in IN)
Julie says
Wow! Some of those prices I have not seen for 20 or 30 years here in the USA.
Stacie says
Those are great prices! I love the flag on the products so you can tell they’re “local” at a glance. Thanks for sharing your travels!
Margo says
Wow! We are at about “Hannaford level” here. At first glance I thought the chicken was per pound, then realized the price was for the package! Does the government subsidize groceries? Crazy good prices! Have fun on the next leg of your journey.
Dawn says
I rarely buy celery but every time I do I can’t help but wonder why crunchy water is so darn expensive. I can’t believe the difference in prices versus US prices. I shop in my local Aldi frequently (though not for every shop) and even the prices at Aldi in NH are significantly higher than those in the UK.
Teri says
Insanely good prices. Unbelievable!
Michelle says
My husband is from London, England, and he has always mentioned that food here in the US is a lot more expensive than there. I lived in London for a university study abroad program years ago, so it’s been too long for me to remember any side-by-side comparisons. Eating out at a restaurant is more expensive there, but people don’t do that as often as people seem to do here.
Meg C says
I’m going to Vienna, Austria in November. This post has inspired me to check out some prices at their Aldi (called Hofer in Austria) and compare. I’ll try to report back if there are any crazy differences or similarities to US and UK.
Enjoy your travels & thanks for sharing your adventures with us!
Joely says
I shopped at Aldi when we visited the Cotswolds. I wonder if it is the same one. I have to say that grocery shopping on vacation is one of my favorite activities. Eating some of those foods after coming home is one way we try to stretch out our vacation experience!
Dianne says
Wow – those prices are low. They are at least 3x cheaper than what we see in the US. Our food has a lot more mark-up than UK. These prices haven’t been seen in years. Curious to know what their salaries are compared to US. Average salary in the US is $56,310 USD. The average UK salary is £38,131., which is, $43,087.84 USD. Of course, men’s wages are higher in both countries!
I do think 3x higher grocery prices in the US is not warranted. Even Aldi’s is more expensive here. Long gone are lower prices at the grocer.
Kudos to Mavis for all the produce she has grown this year. It is getting that everything healthy cost so much more!
Caroline says
It varies depending on the supermarket, go into a coop in the Cotswolds (often the only supermarket which you can reach without a car) and you’ll see very different prices. However you’re also more likely to get some local foods in a Cotswolds coop whereas Aldi is cheap but with a higher carbon footprint.
Amanda Riley says
Very true. And the cheaper prices are usually loss leaders. I think each week it’s 5 or 6 different fruits and vegetables that are this low in price.
Prices have risen greatly in UK for a wide range of items…Brexit and higher fuel costs contributing
Helen says
Depends on supermarket / quality / variety. Price wise Aldi and Lidl are the cheapest, Sainsbury’s and Tesco mid range, Waitrose and Booth’s top end. Cheapest blueberries in Waitrose £2.10 for 150g, crumpets 80p and celery 75p.
Dee Patterson says
Whew I live in Devon ( but not exclusive) to Devon , everyone does it , people give away fresh produce for free.
There’s always a box of apples or more rarely pears either that or an invitation for anyone to do pick whatever they need.
Books , children art things are often advertised for free too.
It’s more prevalent in rural places but really it’s everywhere.
Don’t forget too , Mavis some supermarkets give 5 p off a litre if you spend £40 .
yvonne says
I see a bigger package of goodies coming home with you with those great prices!
sandyf says
I will take 6 packages of crumpets please.
I just went grocery shopping here in CA.
I had to go to 5 stores- and soooooo expensive. I wish Aldi was close to me-but none around here.
Food is outrageous here. I guess I could think about eating less…naw.
I am binging Doc Martin and loving it.
Lynda says
My son mostly shops at Lidl in the UK but also at Tesco and Sainsburys… check them all out!
Sue D says
My friend in Germany and I compare food prices a lot. She rarely shops ALDI because they are the same price as Edeka, which is closer to her. But, like the UK, fresh fruit and veg prices are so much lower and in supermarkets like Edeka, Sainsbury’s, and Waitrose, much more of a variety. It’s always a disappointment coming back from London, and having only perhaps 3 types of potatoes to choose from. I have been in a couple of ALDIs UK, but don’t remember what their produce area is in comparison to Waitrose, Tesco, or Sainsbury.
TC says
I hear you, prices here are crazy, Trader Joe’s is cheapest in Central CA. I want Mavis to send me some of those crumpets though I can get them at TJ’s such a taste of home. I just filled up with Gas at our Costco which is the cheapest around $6.49 a gallon, it is crazy in CA
Virginia says
Wow. Our gas prices have really been dropping on the east coast. Our Costco gas is now at $3.04/gal.
Jennifer says
I grew up in Central CA! Now we are on the Central Coast of CA. On Monday I paid $6.05 at our Costco, so I am sure it is up since then. Texted my mom who was in Sacramento with her sister. She said they had filled up for 5.95 and then ran errands for about 1 1/2 hours. On the way home they drove by the same gas station and the price had jumped to 6.15!! So glad the school where I teach is only 1 mile from our home. It totally helps.
Sue in SoCal says
I hear you on the gas prices. We filled up the car yesterday at the Ralph’s station and with my 10 cents off we paid$5.99. We’re going camping this weekend but I told my husband since we aren’t going far, don’t fill up the truck. That thing takes 35 gallons!
Suzan says
I love to compare prices whenever I get travel overseas. It is difficult to compare just on price alone. But sometimes there are some surprises. For example some items in Fiji was about one third of price of here is Australia. But the weekly income is so much less.
Prices in Australia are crazy high and sometimes even. This winter an iceberg lettuce went to $14 each!
Mable says
They pay a lot more for gas, though. And the country is small and close to other food producing countries, so their food transportation costs are less and that is reflected in the prices.
Dana Robinson says
Mavis
I’m glad you are enjoying your research trip.. if I were to vinmo you the money could you purchase an authentic flag from across the pond ??? Oh Scottish one if they have it. Please
Jerilea says
Goodness sakes…how can American cereal be cheaper in a foreign country than it is here? Prices are incredible.
Carrie Valentin says
The vegetables might be cheap but this winter the price to keep warm will be insane in Europe, if there is enough of any form of energy to even go around. I save money by cooking vegan most of the time. Rice and beans together make a whole protein. Our energy comes from carbohydrates (unless you are strictly Keto), so a diet with 5 to 10% protein, only the fat from vegetables (where all of the essential fatty acids come from whether carnivore or vegan), and all carbohydrates in the forms of rice, and other whole grains, green and yellow veges, and fruit once or twice a day can help you to be very healthy. I laugh at these commercials for vegetable and fruit pills…just eat that way! We do go for pizza once a month in Costco and an occasional Big Mac…but a bean burrito at Taco Ball without cheese and with extra beans will keep me all afternoon if I am out running errands. Seriously hoping to learn to can veges and fruits next summer like you Mavis! I need to go back to what my Grandmothers and Great Grandmothers did for food. You inspire me to learn.
Debby T says
I follow a family’s blog that lives in England. They were visiting the US and did the same as you and compared prices. He was overwhelmed at how expensive food is here. He was shopping in Florida, while vacationing at Disney World.
Heather says
Sadly, those in the UK are going to be using that savings on much higher energy prices this winter.