With the cost of living crisis continuing, we’ve taken a look at if its possible to get everything you need for a week from lesser known supermarket Heron Foods.
The supermarket isn’t as widely known as the likes of Tesco, Asda or Aldi, but offers a multitude of offers on food and drink - shoppers just need to know where to look. But can you actually get your full shop from Heron?
Heron Foods originally started as a butchers before changing its name and opening its first Heron Frozen Foods store in 1979. In 2017, B&M took over the supermarket and now there are 250 stores, including a number in Merseyside.
The chain often isn’t included when comparison sites put supermarkets head to head, so I made the trip to my local store on Aigburth Road to see if I could get my full week’s shop from Heron. Read on to see how I fared when just eating food from Heron Foods for a week - and how much it cost me.
The big shop
I’ve been to Heron Foods once or twice before, but never for a big shop. This time around I headed into the store determined to find food to last me at least a week.
I often struggle with what to buy during my food shop, with so many options and being a picky eater I tend to make last minute decisions about my meals. This time was no different, leaving me to make quick decisions on what I’d enjoy throughout the week - and what I could actually get my hands on.
As I’m not much of a breakfast person, I opted to stick with the basics with a loaf of Kingsmill Soft White Thick bread (£1.15), four pints of milk (£1.59) and a large 600g punnet of strawberries (£2.50).
Lunch for me tends to be a quick snack while I’m working from home or on-the-go during the days I’m in the office, so making sure I had things that were quick and easy was important to me. I managed to get hold of soup, noodles and ingredients for sandwiches relatively cheaply.
I also managed to get some products for tea, including a Santa Maria Fajita Kit (£1.85), an Italian Sweet Chilli Chicken pizza (£1.89), a bag of frozen Salt and Chilli Chicken (£2).
Fresh food was an issue
Heron Foods on Aigburth Road has only a small section of fresh food available, with slim pickings on offer at the time of my visit. There weren't many options when it came to salad or fresh meat, with only bacon and ham stocked at the time.
This, unfortunately, meant I’d need to visit a different supermarket to get my hands on all the other ingredients I required to make complete meals. However, there was plenty on offer when it came to the likes of yoghurt, milk, juice and cheese.
The verdict
Ultimately, the supermarket didn’t offer everything I’d need for a full week’s shop. While the basics were there, even the main ingredient for a dish sometimes, the trimmings or additional items weren’t available.
The shopping was quite easily done, but the disappointment on the fresh foods front meant meal prepping was the hardest part of it all. However, just because the store didn’t offer every single thing I needed at the time, doesn’t mean there aren't some excellent bargains to be had.
The store is definitely winning when it comes to frozen food and cupboard fillers; from huge boxes of McVities biscuits for £3 to jumbo bags of frozen potato wedges for £1.75, Heron has a number of products that are well worth the money.
However, if fresh food is a deciding factor, it could be worth shopping elsewhere for those necessities before heading to Heron for your cupboard and frozen food.
The tinned products, dry food and frozen items were great and are well worth the money. But, Heron will definitely have to step up its fresh food game before it can compare itself to supermarkets such as Tesco and Asda.
You can find your nearest Heron Foods store here .
Receive newsletters with the latest shopping news, deals and honest opinions from the Liverpool ECHO Shopping & Reviews newsletter by signing up here
READ NEXT:
