French Shopping

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f6c

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What is the cost of ever day shopping in France compered to the UK. TIA
 
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Expensive. Will confirm again on Monday when we get there.
Last year we abandoned France for Spain whose prices are very similar to ours.
We were amazed by how much the prices were in France
 
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f6c said:
What is the cost of ever day shopping in France compered to the UK. TIA
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Apples and pears. The French shop differently to us.

If however, you are asking whether the cost of twenty items in Tesco is greater or lesser than the same or equivalent in Carrefour, then Carrefour is more expensive. Rough guess, but I would say 10% more expensive.

Even so, it is a poor comparison because I can spend hours food shopping in a French Hypermarket. The variety is vastly superior - however, the shelf life/quality, is IMO less so. A good example is soft fruits. Be lucky to get two days life out of a punnet of strawbs.
 
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DDJC said:
Apples and pears. The French shop differently to us.

If however, you are asking whether the cost of twenty items in Tesco is greater or lesser than the same or equivalent in Carrefour, then Carrefour is more expensive. Rough guess, but I would say 10% more expensive.

Even so, it is a poor comparison because I can spend hours food shopping in a French Hypermarket. The variety is vastly superior - however, the shelf life/quality, is IMO less so. A good example is soft fruits. Be lucky to get two days life out of a punnet of strawbs.
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I would largely agree. UK supermarkets since the pandemic appear to be racing to the bottom regards price versus quality. The French by comparison have a greater regard for quality and although you pay a bit more the choice and quality are miles apart from what’s available in the UK.
 
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Barchetta47 said:
I would largely agree. UK supermarkets since the pandemic appear to be racing to the bottom regards price versus quality. The French by comparison have a greater regard for quality and although you pay a bit more the choice and quality are miles apart from what’s available in the UK.
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Agree about the choice and variety. Don't agree about the quality. Just an opinion.
 
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f6c said:
What is the cost of ever day shopping in France compered to the UK. TIA
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Been here 15 years. The cost of everyday shopping is significantly higher than the UK, but a large part of the reason for that is the weakness of the Pound against the Euro compared to what it was when the currency was launched in 2002.

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DDJC said:
Agree about the choice and variety. Don't agree about the quality. Just an opinion.
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I agree with you. Can’t wait for a mooch around the French supermarket. Excellent variety of food. The only exception on quality is the fresh fish counter is something we don’t seem to have in the uk that in France is a thing of beauty.
But everything else is exactly the same quality in my experience just so much more expensive hence the reason why we will again head through France and into Spain next week
 
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Whatever we think ,the French dont seem to be that happy about it even Carrefour have had a bit of a barney with Pepsico
 
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gus-lopez said:
I've always been amazed by their prices even 10 years ago.
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Agreed and they won’t come down in price soon.
I do remember a time in the 90s when it seemed to be very expensive in France but then it became more affordable for a while. Last summer was an eye opener and some on here said to try Spain.
They were right

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UK shopping is a pretty miserable experience. Think I'd rather pay the extra in Auchan than the dull experience of Sainsburys etc. We don't even have deli, meat or fish counters anymore. Typical UK greed I think, keep the shareholders happy, damn the customers.
 
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I reckon France is dearer but my son, who lives in France, was here for Hogmanay said they were on a par. He lives just outside Paris and shops at Monoprix and his local market.
 
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Jenka said:
Ironic that the uk exports the most fish to France !
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I think they're prepared to pay the price for good quality more than us. We were in France several times at Christmas in ski resorts. Hundreds of miles from the coast up mountain and a really good choice of fish outside the supermarket in the snow. I think it's much more valued there than here.
 
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When we first came over to france on trips looking for a house in 2004, we saved all our supermarket receipts (we were self catering), when we got back to the uk we did a dummy tesco on line order for everything that we had bought, and it came out practicaly the same, i get the impressionit is a lot more expensive now, although its a long time since I have done any shopping in the uk.

the biggest thing that has affected us is the exchange rate. Practically all our money comes from the uk, it was nearly 1.5€ to the £ when we moved here, in the crash of 2008 it dropped down to about 1 to 1, it had crept up to about 1.35 to 1 in 2015, untill the referendum when the pound dropped drastically again.

In fact we were arranging a camper van holiday in the states that year, and the week before the vote i paid for the camper rental in full on my credit card, between the time I paid for the rental and having to pay the credit card off i saved us about £300.

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Food inflation in the UK is about 9.5%. The EU euro countries have announced inflation has risen to 2.9%.
 
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It all depends where you shop , here, you know where to get the stuff at the right price but when over there you are stuck with whatever shop you go in. We find generally the markets and Lidl aren't a lot different to here.
 
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chaser said:
It all depends where you shop , here, you know where to get the stuff at the right price but when over there you are stuck with whatever shop you go in. We find generally the markets and Lidl aren't a lot different to here.
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Compared to the French supermarket chains, Lidl and Aldi are cheaper, but apart from the boulangerie, household consumables and fruit & veg, the quality doesn't compare and any savings are not worth it.

We have found fresh meat and produce in our local markets incredibly expensive. Even more expensive is the local farmer's shop chain Plaisirs Fermiers, but the quality and service is excellent. A little bit of Waitrose quality in France !
 
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Just a small comparison from October all in Lidl.
Brocoli, UK £0.85, Germany €1.99, France €1.85.
Blueberrys, UK £1.29, Germany & France & 4.99.
Raspberrys, UK £2.25, Germany €3.25, France €2.99.
Melons, UK £1.69, Germany £3.49, France €3.99.

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But but but ... isn't wine a LOT cheaper in France than the UK? :france:

Asking for a friend :rolleyes:
 
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Lenny HB said:
Just a small comparison from October all in Lidl.
Brocoli, UK £0.85, Germany €1.99, France €1.85.
Blueberrys, UK £1.99, Germany & France & 4.99.
Raspberrys, UK £2.25, Germany €3.25, France €2.99.
Melons, UK £1.69, Germany £3.49, France €3.99.
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Correct me if I am wrong, but surely blueberries, raspberries and melons are not local crops at this time of year, therefore will be expensive.
 
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Widge said:
Correct me if I am wrong, but surely blueberries, raspberries and melons are not local crops at this time of year, therefore will be expensive.
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When melons are in season I thought they were really rather cheap in French supermarkets. As well as abundant and super tasty. Much better quality than the ones you can buy in Sainsbugs.
 
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