Easter Feasting

[Harold Gough]

With the supermarkets full of fresh meat and lots of other foods of unusual types or amounts, it was like Christmas, except for the turkeys and the puds. Where did all this Easter feasting come from? It seems to have crept up on us.

There is a mystery too. In recent days, Tesco has been stocked with dozens of legs of lamb, dated 31 March or 1 April. They were still there in large numbers on those days. Expecting them to be sold off cheaply, I made special visits, morning and afternoon on 31 and morning on 1.

At no stage were they offered at discount and they disappeared, with ones dated 5 April in their place.

Harold

[SteveJ]

Re: Easter Feasting

Ahhhh they just took them into the back and relabled 5 April. Job done. I am sort of jokeing, but i know of this being done at the suppliers.

Steve

[Harold Gough]

Re: Easter Feasting

Ahhhh they just took them into the back and relabled 5 April. Job done. I am sort of jokeing, but i know of this being done at the suppliers.

Steve

My wife is convinced of such practices.

Harold

[PeterBirder]

Re: Easter Feasting

Rather than indulging in ill informed speculation you could try asking your local store manager what happens in his store. Alternatively, this report from last month tells you what they are now doing.http://metro.co.uk/2016/03/11/tesco-...arity-5746659/

Regards.

[Harold Gough]

Re: Easter Feasting

Rather than indulging in ill informed speculation you could try asking your local store manager what happens in his store. Alternatively, this report from last month tells you what they are now doing.http://metro.co.uk/2016/03/11/tesco-...arity-5746659/

Regards.

Lamb, but not ham or chicken, which were reduced? Something fishy? How could a charity benefit from raw meat after its use by date?

Harold

[DerekW]

Re: Easter Feasting

was it best by date
or
sell by date
or
eat by date
or
do not display after date

[Harold Gough]

Re: Easter Feasting

was it best by date
or
sell by date
or
eat by date
or
do not display after date

None of the above.

The only legal one for raw meat/fish, etc. is use by date.

Harold

[Wee man]

Re: Easter Feasting

Got a Turkey crown from Tesco a fridge section full of them dated 29th a lot still there late 29 th fridge restocked 31st with lamb shanks. The Turkey must have flown or frozen for Christmas?

[Harold Gough]

Re: Easter Feasting

Anyway, what about this Easter feast? Has it crept up on us slowly or is it, as it feels, very recent?

Harold

[PeterBirder]

Re: Easter Feasting

To answer the first question in your OP, statistics show that there is a traditional peak in demand for lamb around Easter. Something to do with "spring lamb" ? However fresh British lamb is not available between January and June (the lambs are only just being born now) and current supplies will probably be imported.

Lamb, but not ham or chicken, which were reduced? Something fishy? How could a charity benefit from raw meat after its use by date?

Harold

For reference, after retiring from the "day job" I worked for Tesco part time for a few years on the Customer Service desk.

Tesco is (or at least certainly was) the UK's biggest user of IT Systems. Everything to do with stock control, including when and by how much to reduce the price of dated products is dealt with entirely automatically by the central computer system in Dundee. No one in any store has any say in the matter. Statistical analysis of every single item's sales and stock level is carried out on an hourly cycle by store, region and nationaly. Any increasing sales trend of an item during the morning automatically triggers a "top up" delivery during the afternoon, (the strategic "main deliveries" take place during the night). Of course we all know that there are "lies, damn lies and statistics" so occasionally apparently odd things may happen. In the case of your "disappearing" legs of lamb I surmise that one possibility is that as the dates you quote are the end of the week and the end of the month (when people tend to spend more money because they've just been paid) the computer would know that there was a larger strategic delivery due to meet the weekend demand and calculated that there would be a smaller loss and less congestion in the warehouse if the stock was sold (yes sold) for animal feed or to an anaerobic digestion plant which uses it to produce methane used to power electricity generators.

As to how a charity could benefit from food "past its use by date", that is the whole point of the link in my earlier post. Since 1980 when the food labeling requirements were introduced the waste of food (both by retailers and consumers) which is still actually perfectly useable has increased astronomically.

The "use by" dates set by retailers are ultra cautious because of a fear of legal action and consumers no longer know how to make their own judgement regarding the suitability of food for consumption. Food does not suddenly become unfit for consumption on a set date, it deteriorates slowly from the moment the animal is killed or the fruit/vegetable is picked. In fact of course some meat and poultry is deliberately "aged" or "hung" to improve its flavour or tenderness, it's a natural process.

Whilst retailers are prevented by law from selling this food, causing them to waste it there is nothing to stop them donating it to charities who can make their own informed judgement on its suitability and use it to feed the needy people they support. All sounds like a bit of common sense for a change to me.

On another lighter note (perhaps) we had an interesting situation regarding "reduced items" in the store in which I worked. We had three "retired gentlemen" who systematically abused the system whom the staff eventually dubbed "the three ar**holes". They had observed the times (twice a day) at which staff applied the reductions and would turn up as a group (seven days a week ) and hover around the staff member and grab every item as he/she applied the reduction label filling whole large trolleys with their loot. What they did with it all we never found out but when it got to the point that they were jostling other customers and physically preventing them from picking up reduced items they were instructed to "take their business elsewhere". You can get a very jaundiced opinion of "Joe Public" working in a supermarket.

Regards.

[Naughty Nigel]

Re: Easter Feasting

On another lighter note (perhaps) we had an interesting situation regarding "reduced items" in the store in which I worked. We had three "retired gentlemen" who systematically abused the system whom the staff eventually dubbed "the three ar**holes". They had observed the times (twice a day) at which staff applied the reductions and would turn up as a group (seven days a week ) and hover around the staff member and grab every item as he/she applied the reduction label filling whole large trolleys with their loot. What they did with it all we never found out but when it got to the point that they were jostling other customers and physically preventing them from picking up reduced items they were instructed to "take their business elsewhere". You can get a very jaundiced opinion of "Joe Public" working in a supermarket.

Regards.

I have seen this in our local Co-Op, although I have to admit I enjoy 'grazing' the reduced stock myself.

There is nothing wrong with the short dated stock, even a day or two after the Use By date, and in most cases it freezes perfectly well.

However, to answer your question about the disappearance of price reduced, short dated stock, are certain items, such as Prawn Cocktail and Smoked Salmon that seem to be snapped up by a local hotelier / catering establishment, and I suspect are added to their evening 'specials' board!

As for the Easter feast, it is late now but I will try to answer that one tomorrow.

[PeterBirder]

[Harold Gough]

Re: Easter Feasting

Peter,

Thanks very much for the insider view. Very informative.

I am very much a believer in using my own judgment as to fitness of food.

Of course, when you cook (aka "use") the meat, a new period of fitness for consumption starts.

With some very gamey meat/poultry, the sniff test is somewhat ineffective!

Of course, there is the practice of some "small shopkeepers" purchasing for resale.

Harold

[DerekW]

Re: Easter Feasting

I thought Passover was a Christmas thing ie when you Passed over unwanted presents from last Christmas to someone else this Christmas.

[Graham_of_Rainham]

Re: Easter Feasting

Anyway, what about this Easter feast? Has it crept up on us slowly or is it, as it feels, very recent?

Harold

We have been having Family Good Friday Feasts for close on fifty years.

The last two years there have been four generations at the table.