Re: Britain's Worst Supermarket : Sun May 12, 2013 9:26 am  

JerryChicken wrote:

And yes you can extend the life of your home baked bread by a day or two, the wife stores ours in a large Tupperware style sealed box, personally I don't like that as it actually softens the crust then, its better to admit, like the French do so well, that bread is actually a product that has to be baked and then consumed same day and I don't have a problem with supermarket bread not lasting for a long time, indeed I'm very suspicious about the branded packed sliced breads that are often the cheapest on the shelf, taste of nothing at all, last for seven days and are only actually good for toasting or feeding to ducks.

I think toasting is a step too far...

We've just started to bake soda bread, it tends to last a couple of days if I hide it from the wife, I've just started off a sour dough leveant, I understand that keeps well too.

Re: Britain's Worst Supermarket : Sun May 12, 2013 9:29 am  

Dally wrote:

But they are allegedly "baking" from pre-frozen ingridients to produce the initial loaf. If they have stuff left then it is sliced and put out next day. I would guess the act of slicing makes it feel pliable and therefore fresh to the unsuspecting customer?

Have baked our own lots of times and it lasts just as long as that stuff, especially if wrapped in foil. PS when you bake your own it takes more that the 9 minutes or so it takes in-store!

Some of the bread is frozen and "baked off" in store, just the same as it is in, say, Lidl. Other bread is made in the traditional way with flour, water, etc - the yeast is stored at the required temperature in the bakery.

If you're near Kensington, nip into one of the "upmarket" Tesco Stores - they now work in partnership with Euphorium Bakery, who supply real artisan stuff.

Re: Britain's Worst Supermarket : Sun May 12, 2013 9:34 am  

Dally wrote:

Are you in Scotland? Maybe the Tesco cafes are better there. But the ones I've tried to eat in (granted not for some time as they look so awful and my memories are bad) have

The majority of the cafes are now operated by Costa, whereas previously it was in house.

Re: Britain's Worst Supermarket : Sun May 12, 2013 9:58 am  

Dally wrote:

For example, someone I know:

At interview told no full time jobs but on a 24 hour contract could get another part-time job. When contract comes need to be available 6 days a week full time (ie ourtside contracted hours).

Regularly puts in an extra 2 to 3 hours a day unpaid. No pay for breaks. No overtime for working long-shifts at short notice.

Hourly rate offered in writing was actually less when it came to signing a contract!

Contract wholly obe0sided in favour of the 'er.

So called "managers" texting at 11.00pm to ask if can go in at 9.00am next day.

The latest wheeze was that all staff at the branch had to go into an interview and JUSTIFY ever hour of any time 24/7 when they couldn't go in (even though virtually minimum waged, part-timers. Also had to name a number of other branches they could work at if called upon. Given that bus fares / train fares take up half a shifts work it is a bit unrealistc to expect none drivers to get to out of the way places in the middle of the night!

In short they are a horror story and should closed down legislatively. As the staff are unhappy so are the customers.

As to products - they can even make (sell) the cheapest foods cheaper and c**p! Got some pork scratchings recently - but they'd even managed to find a cheaper version and sell it for more. It was disgusting and full of air!

Their stores are dated.

Their in store cafes are vile.

They are so far behind Waitrose, Morrisons, Sainsbury, Aldi, etc from a customers perspective they will start to fail unless they change. They have had their day and are sinking back (hopefully) to whence they came.

OK, one person you know.
Socially, I know a number of Tesco employees - parents of my kids friends. Not ones I work with, manage, or am managed by. They work in various roles - checkout operators / supervisors / electrical / back office. Each one is more than happy with the flexibility given to them regarding working hours. Remember that a lot of large format stores are now open from 06.00hrs Monday, to 22.00hrs Saturday, plus 6 hours on a Sunday. This leads to a requirement for some flexibility - the days of a "9-5" shop assistant in grocery retailing has now gone.

The smaller, Express format has a different requirement - usually quieter stores, with less staff, but flexibility is still required.

Each year, each and every employee completes a "viewpoint" appraisal of their manager, work conditions, pay, facilities, etc. These are really interesting to assess, and there has been a dramatic improvement in all areas over the last 18 months within the business.

Regarding managers texting at 11pm at night - before Tesco, when I ran large transport fleets, I'd be forever juggling drivers around and ringing / texting at all hours to get them in if possible. It's called manpower utilisation, and is prevalent in many industries that operate around the clock. Some people say "yes", some say "no" - thats the nature of the game.

2 or 3 hours overtime unpaid? Sorry, but don't believe that. If they are hourly paid, they would be paid for the hours worked. Not paid for breaks? As I said, hourly paid: not working on break, so not paid - that's the norm.

Ask your friend about the benefits that Tesco staff receive - some of them are not just industry leading, they are UK leading. There is still a defined benefits pension, which is recognised every year as one of the best pensions available in any business in the UK. 10% discount for staff - this mounts up over the year and is a good benefit. Shares In Success gives an annual bonus of between 3% and 7% to all staff. Higher level staff have a Long Term Incentive plan which can be as much as 25% of salary in share options each year. Health plan, dental plan, the list goes on. Plus, Tesco are recognised as a business that develops their people, from the shop floor up..

Re: Britain's Worst Supermarket : Sun May 12, 2013 10:27 am  

Man in Madrid wrote:

The majority of the cafes are now operated by Costa, whereas previously it was in house.

Nope, they haven't been in house for over four years and the catering company (Avenance Elior) have just bought into a Costa franchise rather than them being run by Whitbread who own Costa.

Re: Britain's Worst Supermarket : Sun May 12, 2013 12:45 pm  

cod'ead wrote:

You'd end up with something resembling a chapati. The ingredients and process in most supermarket breads mean they don't machine-slice too well without collapsing

Done it often and never had a problem. Very occasionally it can be a bit crumbly but otherwise perfectly fine.

Most (larger) supermarkets bake and slice their own bread on site these days.

Re: Britain's Worst Supermarket : Sun May 12, 2013 3:19 pm  

Big Graeme wrote:

More like respond to a customer, smile, take them to the product they are asking about, ask if they need anything else, smile, say goodbye. But the gist is right. The Co-Op have been trying for two years to match ASDA customer service wise and they still can't touch them.

I work for ASDA and they want their employees to do everything me and you said.
Mine wasn't a definitive list I was just making a list of somethings that are included.

Re: Britain's Worst Supermarket : Sun May 12, 2013 3:22 pm  

Anakin Skywalker wrote:

I work for ASDA and they want their employees to do everything me and you said.

I know

Anakin Skywalker wrote:

Mine wasn't a definitive list I was just making a list of somethings that are included.

So you'll know who Grassroots are then...

Re: Britain's Worst Supermarket : Sun May 12, 2013 3:34 pm  

Big Graeme wrote:

I know

So you'll know who Grassroots are then...

I feel as though I should and I'm sure I have heard it about it but no I don't

Re: Britain's Worst Supermarket : Sun May 12, 2013 4:10 pm  

Big Graeme wrote:

You are talking about a small list of very select brands and sometimes just key brands within a portfolio, the rest get what they are given.

We must agree to differ - these brands form a significant chunk of their offering. I worked for UB who had various snack brands - Asda tried it on with them - the monies they wanted was huge - and de-listed everything this included McVities products, Hob nobs, Jaffa Cakes, Mini Cheddars. This lasted all of two weeks and you would hardly list McVities in the league of Coca Cola, Pepsi, P&G etc. Supermarkets have to have these products if they don't customers will go elsewhere.