UK food and wine in France?

[cooperlola]

Returning to your original post, Swissie, I see that the £ is strengthening again and is around 1.23 today.  I cannot help but wonder whether, should the £ resume its former strength and return towards the 1.40 mark, how many of these services would remain in business.  It seems to me that much of the value of them is because many of us are paid in steling which  for the moment makes the favourable exchange rate skew the difference in prices and thus an extra 15% still makes it good value as against shopping here.  I think this may have a lot more to do with why people shop in this way than their preference for baked beans.

[Will]

I quite agree Coops.

These services have always struck me as a nice idea for the present, but being controlled totally by the pound-euro exchange rate, are not really a sustainable business model.

[cooperlola]

[quote user="Will"].

These services have always struck me as a nice idea for the present, but being controlled totally by the pound-euro exchange rate, are not really a sustainable business model.

[/quote]Well I certainly wouldn't invest either my pounds or my euros in such an enterprise.  However, a hedge fund against their failure might lay the bet quite nicely......

[Richard51]

I raised the point of the changing exchange rate with one of the owners of the UK to France delivery businesses at our last pick up and he seemed to think that there was sufficient differential in pricing for the service to continue.  Indeed he was talking of a adding a new depot and additional vehicles.  (Apparently the business has increased eightfold since they started a couple of years ago).  Not sure if this was just corporate bravado or if he genuinely felt that demand would continue but he was certainly being very bullish.

Mrs R51

[cooperlola]

Mrs R, this thread and other related ones did interest me as just the other day I got an e-mail from another Brit saying that one of these companies was sounding out the Brits round here to assess whether it was worth doing this in this area.  My feeling is that the further north you get, the more people are inclined to return to the UK in their cars so the margins get even dodgier.

I'm glad there's one person on the planet who's confident about what will happen on the international money markets in the next few months at any rate.  Maybe a few economists should consult these delivery business chaps for a few tips.[:)]

[NickP]

[quote user="Richard51"]NickP - I suggest you re-read your post and see if you can spot the contradiction [;-)]

Mrs R51
[/quote]

Can't see it from my end, so maybe you could be kind enough enlighten me? [:D]

[Swissie]

It seems clear that the French have not yet cottoned on to the fact that Brits in France are buying more and more food, electrical goods, clothes, etc, etc, from UK and having it all shipped over. Articles have appeared in Connexion and other ex-pat newspapers - but have not yet hit the French Press- but it won't take long.

Question is, what will happen when they do? Especially in areas where there are many many Brits, like Dordogneshire- where there is already some resentment and some locals already feel overwhelmed? It is debatable whether buying food in UK is cheaper when you had the 15% charge - I am sure it is if you want to eat British foods - but I am convinced it is cheaper if you adapt to eating local/French foods. However, even if importing turns out to be a bit cheaper - is it worth it if it creates resentment in the communities we have CHOSEN to live in? Personally, I am not sure. What do you think?

[cooperlola]

I think altruism is possible if you're reasonably well off but not so much if you are living on the margins.  Just the same as shelling out for, say, free range poultry as against cheaper factory farmed stuff.  Great if you can afford it.

[Swissie]

Yes, I can see that Coops, but don't you think huge savings can be made by adapting how one shops and cooks? Of course if one wants Heinz baked beans and Kelloggs cornflakes, etc, it is much more expensive in France. If I'd insisted on buying Gruyère (my home cheese) when I lived in UK, instead of learning to appreciate Cheddar, Stilton and other wonderful cheeses, we would have been very short. Same with some of the veg I liked, like chicory, fennel, ceps and morels - which cost an arm and 3 legs in UK - or some of the fruit, like apricots, black cherries and nectarines- or some or my local sausages, etc, etc. I adapted - learnt to cook with British ingredients- and actually enjoyed it + kept our budget afloat (well, most of the time... I used to spend days cycling around richmond Park picking mushrooms when we were in the red).

The free range versus factory farming is a very different issue, I perso feel. Again on perso level, would much rather eat much less but better and more humanely farmed meat- but this is of course much easier now it is just the 2 of us. We use much less, but much better, meat now. Our bolognese tomorrow will have more veg than meat in it - and will taste all the better for it.

[Russethouse]

 I think a little of what you fancy does you good ! And as Coops says, there are some that don't have the  luxury of choice

 

[Swissie]

We all like treats from back home - of course we do. Friends are coming at the week-end and bringing some for us. And the only other Brits in the area (who have a holiday home near here) will be bringing more when they next come- and we are very much looking forward to getting some of our favourites. Very different to buying upwards of 70% from UK and getting shipped by agents, which is bound to create resentment. Choice is not necessarily about luxury, but about adapting to what is CHEAP just where you are, to some extent- and with all the enjoyment of trying new produce, fruit, veg, meat cuts and recipes. Great fun - and part of the joy of (choosing) to live abroad.

[woolybanana]

If the local French were able to reduce their shopping bills significantly by shopping elsewhere and getting it delivered, they would be at it like rabbits on speed, and I wouldn't blame them a bit.

[cooperlola]

[quote user="woolybanana"]If the local French were able to reduce their shopping bills significantly by shopping elsewhere and getting it delivered, they would be at it like rabbits on speed, and I wouldn't blame them a bit.[/quote]I told a friend of mine about Chemist Direct and their policy of charging just one rate no matter how much you buy (sadly changed recently as they appear to have cottoned on to what's going on!) and she is very happy to order her soap/shampoo and other toiletry supplies from them as she saves a packet.   She also joins in on my bulb orders (about £15 for a 25kg sack of daffs) in the autumn - also from an English firm.  Sorry, but when money's tight you buy cheaply.

For foodstuffs I do shop locally (I don't eat much fruit and veg' I admit as I don't care for them much) but most other things I'd shop internet and get the best deal.  My cats' food, for instance, comes from Germany but is paid for from the UK, in sterling, straight out of my o/h's bank account - no fees for exchange into Euros and   I pay nearly half what I would if I bought this in the local supermarket or farm shop.  Blank DVDs cost me 15p or less each - have you seen what French supermarkets charge for them?  I bought a camera from Amazon UK for £300 less than the best French price (including Amazon France!)  I know it would be nice to just shop locally but given some of the savings it's hard to put ethics before price at times!

[Swissie]

OK, there is a very insular community in London. But most of the French I've known in the UK where there because they relished the job opportunities in the UK, both in education and business- which are much more based on merit, experience and ability/talent - than on exams as in France- and loved living there, by choice- and like me, adapted to British food + adding 'un petit je ne sais quoi' (I used to add a few herbs and a dash of pepper to baked beans for instance) and grew my own rosemary for roast lamb, etc.

Even learnt to make 'spotted dick'- a favourite with visiting colleagues. lol. Of course now it is much easier than for me in the early 70s - where practically no foreign foods were available, at whatever price. Each to their own, of course.

[cooperlola]

I'm not sure it works backwards when it's not only more complicated but more expensive to import from France to the UK yourself.  Not to say totally unnecessary as there's little that's unavailable in supermarkets in the UK now (often more cheaply than in the country it's grown in!)

[mint]

[quote user="cooperlola"]I'm not sure it works backwards when it's not only more complicated but more expensive to import from France to the UK yourself.  Not to say totally unnecessary as there's little that's unavailable in supermarkets in the UK now (often more cheaply than in the country it's grown in!)[/quote]

Coops, did you have to say that last sentence?

I live in the Charente and I know for a fact that a Charentais melon is over twice the price locally than in a UK supermarket![+o(]

[Chancer]

Ha!

You wont find a Nord / Pas de Calais / Picardie endive (chicory) cheaper in the UK they are much more, I pay around one euro per kilo in season.

Mind you if the UK knew how to cook them and they gained popularity I am sure that it would be like the melons.

Every man and his dog were selling cherries at the rédéries today, they all seemed to be asking €2 per kilo and surprise surprise no-one was buying any, I myself and snowed under with ones given to me, I guess it must have been a good year for them.

I bet if I had gone to the arab market today they would have been 5 kilos for one euro, those guys know all there is to know about marginal pricing and never leave with any product unsold.

[mint]

Chancer, I quite like them braised, do you?

I first had them braised at a formal dinner party so I knew it must be one of the things to do with them.

[woolybanana]

I eat them raw

 

[Gemonimo]

[quote user="woolybanana"]

I eat them raw

 

[/quote]

Which is why you are now so svelte, Wooly[Www]

[cooperlola]

Of course, Chancer, I know it's not always true.  However, I could imagine that if chicory/endive gained any popularity in the UK (only needs some trendy chef there to sing its praises) then the giant supermarkets like Asda would suddenly do their thing and screw local producers down so hard that they'd be selling it to Britain more cheaply than they would to their own countries.

I have a friend who manufactures plastic sheeting (bear with me - it's relevant I promise).  He got a big contract with a well known DIY catalogue which he just could not turn down as it offered him massive turnover.  At first the prices he was offered were reasonable, even if they did screw his margins down to the limit.  After a year of this and having stepped up production accordingly, the catalogue producers came back with a price for the second year which he could barely meet but once stuck with the production commitment that was that, they had him where they wanted him.  Loads of people use this catalogue in the UK and elsewhere and boast at how wonderfully low the prices are.  They are probably also aware of how those prices are achieved but they'll still continue to use them because when you work to a budget, you save where you can and you don't always think of the consequences to the economies these decisions affect.  Nor of the child labour/the animals which suffer and all the other consequences we must ignore when it's the difference between fixing up your house/feeding and clothing your family - whatever - and not being able to afford it.  Then I reckon ethics and principals are inclined to go out of the window for those living on tight budgets.

I understand what Swissie feels and why and I applaud her sticking to her principals.  Personally, I try to buy food locally but I'd still treat myself to something from the UK if I saw it on the shelves and fancied a change - but I wouldn't want the fuss and bother of having it brought over from the UK - and I'm pretty well off by most standards so price isn't something I struggle with much for weekly groceries.  I'm just not sure that's a choice which everybody has.

As for Heinz Baked Beans - well I like them but 8 tins a year brought over by friends when they visit is quite enough thanks (and the Super U alternative is horrid!)

[Swissie]

Yes, raw is good- cut in thin slices and lightly tossed in a good vinaigrette. We like my mum's old recipe 'endives au jambon gratinées'. Boil chicory whole for about 8 mins and let cool a little in colander. Squeeze out excess water and wrap in a slice of ham around each 'chicon' and lay in baking dish. Make a white sauce (béchamel - I make mine with cornflour and skimmed milk to save a few calories - add a few herbs/salt/pepper) and pour over the top- and grate a little Gruyère or other fave cheese- and into the oven for 15-10 mins. Delicious.  Another excellent cheap veg is Swiss chard- wonderful au gratin too.

[cooperlola]

Swissie, that was a staple of my rehab' place - used to be fed it on average once a week for dinner.  But I think they used to miss out the "squeeze out the excess water" bit!

[Swissie]

Institutionalized food is rarely at its best, sadly.

[Chancer]

The only two ways that I have eaten endives are braised and boiled, I now eat them au gratin and its my favorite.

The biggest problem I had was getting rid of the biter taste especially when braising, I find the ham and gratin tends to mask this.

Thin slices with vinaigrette I can picture but eaten raw? Wooly you aint kidding me are you dogsbreath [:-))]