First it was petrol. Then came the Lurpak scandal. And now the price of fish fingers are making us tear out our hair.
The cost of living crisis has seen prices of food, transport and petrol rise like never before. People are finding that virtually every time they go to do their weekly food shop, their usual buys have shot up.
One shocked shopper's tweet about the cost of fish fingers has gone viral, after they found out how the much-loved freezer staple was being sold for at Sainsbury’s. @_daniellemakeup tweeted: "Nearly fell to my knees in de people food establishment.”
The packet of Birds Eye 30 Cod Fish Fingers (840g) were priced at £7 at Sainsbury's. However, the shopper may have fallen flat on their face had they seen the price for the same product elsewhere - as it turned out Sainsbury's was the cheapest.
For example, Ocado were selling them for £7.90. Meanwhile, at Tesco and Asda they were £7.50. Even Iceland had them priced at £7.50. And Morrisons were charging £7.49.
But somehow Sainsbury's bore the brunt of the complaints on social media, where shoppers shared their disbelief, according to reports in MyLondon. A person with the username AnibabeBeans said: "I remember when this was £3.50. wow," while ScholarPriest said: "Hol up Hol up Hol up SEVEN [redacted] pounds?!"
Nicka said: "Me friend told me this was the price & I called her a liar", while Zainabg said: "I bought these yday and was mad how expensive they are now lol". By Monday morning, the original tweet had racked up 535 Retweets, 261 Quote Tweets and 4,414 Likes.
The price of fish fingers, according to the website Compare Grocery Prices, noted that on March 3 this year, Sainsbury’s sold the same product for £6.75. The same data revealed back in February 2022, they were being sold for £6.50 a packet.
It follows the shock in July, when Sainsbury’s shoppers shared their furore over the price of Lurpak butter, reaching as high as £7.25 in some stores. A single 750g tub remains £7.25 at Sainsbury’s, while a 1kg tub of the same butter costs £9 for online shoppers using Ocado. The Mirror reported that Iceland shoppers were left stunned after spotting a 500g tub of Lurpak selling for an eye-watering £5, when the same product was £3.65 just a short while ago.
Aldi customers raved about the budget supermarket’s Greenvale Olive Spread, which received glowing reviews from shoppers who said they would "give it a go" following the recent rise in butter prices. Priced at just 99p for a 500g tub, Aldi's spread is considerably cheaper than a same size tub from Lurpak, which would cost £5. However, it is important to note this replacement contained palm oil.
In January this year, a reporter for Walesonline compared the cost of a Tesco shopping basket, buying the same products in June 2021 and in January 2022. She found that a whole chicken had gone up by 35p, a bottle of wine by 35p, a box of cornflakes by 20p, a loaf of bread up by 15p, a bag of pasta by 15p and a medium bottle of milk by 10p.
Sainsbury's has been approached for comment.
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