Cost of Food

[Lillythepink<STRONG><EM>Lillythepink<EM><STRONG>]

I would be grateful for all you who have visited France and who are living in France to give me your opinion.

We have visited France for the last 3 years: North, Loire and this year Limousin and Auvergne.  We were taken aback last year by the cost of food shopping.  This year we were shocked! Especially considering this year we went to two of the cheapest areas in France.  We even drove miles to try a Carrefour, which was even worse than the local supermarche.  Not just the shops but the markets were astronomical!  We are very disappointed as all our detailed plans of moving out to France have now been squashed as these were based on my partner retiring and only pension income coming in.

We are great vegetable growers and would be as self sufficient as possible, but the meat, sauces, bakery items, frozen food, tins, cheese, and dairy products etc are all substantially more.

I understand prices vary throughout the UK (we live in rural Lincolnshire), however Asda prices are more or less the same throughout UK and some of the French prices are way above those in London.

I would love to hear from you and whereabouts you are/have been. Thank you.

[Cassis]

I'd say cost of food is about the same overall as the UK - or it was 2 years ago when we came here. I can't compare directly any more.  We have found supermarket own brands (e.g. Leclerc's  'Marques repères') can be very good quality and value, economy labels (e.g. Leclerc's 'Eco+') are generally crap.  Don't know for other outlets.  Meat we find more expensive, veg less expensive.  Buy in season and veg is very cheap.  Overall, I think the cost of living here is not dissimilar to the UK if you ignore property prices.  Others will probably disagree.

[Patf]

We hardly ever buy meat but have our own chickens and ducks which give us eggs and also we kill and eat them. Otherwise as Cassis says prices are similar to uk. Market prices are not cheap. But I think food prices have gone up here relative to the uk in the last few years, as I seem to remember that at first food prices were about the same in euros as in uk in £s. Pat.

[Eslier]

Cassis has got it right. Overall the cost isn't much different to the UK but it depends very much on what you are comparing.

If, in the UK, you shop on a careful budget in places like Tesco and Asda then you will probably find it difficult to find as wide a variety of budget priced foods. There are budget ranges in most supermarket chains but the range isn't as wide as say "Tesco Value". In this case you will probably find yourselves spending more on food but will probably enjoy greater quality.

If, on the other hand, you regularly shop in places like Waitrose or M&S for your food then you will find that similar quality food here (much of what you find in the supermarkets) is quite a bit cheaper and your monthly shopping bill will probably reduce.

Markets here are more about fresh local - and often "bio" (organic) produce than being cheap. Most offer a fantastic selection of great produce and the trick is to buy what's in season.

I think it did seem as though prices went up quite a lot here when the Euro came in, but also remember that, at that time, the exchange rate to the £ was about 1.6 compared to 1.4 now so that too will have had an effect upon visitors from the UK. Prices have been fairly stable here for the last couple of years which is surprising really given the hug increases in oil (and therefore trasportation costs) over this period.

[Jeanneclaire]

Hi,

I am replying to your email, because this was a discussion I was having with a friend, also retired like ourselves.  The cost of food is marginally more expensive, the meat except pork and duck breasts are usually less expensive, however, I have never been shopping when I have not found some meat on offer, the quality is usually excellent.  Having not shopped for dry goods for some time in England, I cannot compare like for like, but think it works out at similar prices, I used to shop at Waitrose which was my nearest supermarket when we lived in London.  We grow a lot of our own vegetables, but as we are not as yet in full production, must supplement it for variety, as we buy seasonal vegetables, we do not find this too expensive.  Going out for meals on the whole is a lot cheaper than in England, though I would sometimes kill for a decent curry or Carluccio's nearby.  I hope this helps, it is not easy moving from two full time wages to pensions, but we live well and comfortably and have friends and neighbours round several times each month for lunch or dinner and of course there are not many months in the summer when we don't have visitors from England.  Generally in France, families spend more of their income on food, though like you we do think the markets are very expensive, but it is local producers selling local produce, similar to Farmers Markets in England which are also expensive.

jeanneclaire   

[Beryl]

I find that joints of beef are astronomical but beef fillet cheaper than in the UK, perhaps it's not a popular cut?

I only buy lamb chops when they are on offer but a small joint (not a leg) isn't too bad.

Pork fillet is plentyful and not too dear but what I would give to find some organically / humanely reared tasty pork [:(]

Rabbit is a lot dearer here but then its more popular. I could buy one for practically the price of the shot in England.

[zeb]

Hi Lilly - You'll be OK if you have a dishwasher! Tablets and rinseaid are much cheaper than in the UK. Agree with everyone else regarding general shopping though. I bought my fruit and veg from the village market last week and I spent three times what I normally spend for the same stuff. Great quality, but tres cher, so never again!!

I'm not too bothered about my food bill as we have people round a lot (no other form of entertainment here unless we travel), and I have no mortgage or c/cs as opposed to past life in the UK (only a thrid of the income though!). But, the bulk of my shopping is done in Lidls or Leader Price as it's good stuff and much cheaper than the large supermarkets. I get pet food in bulk (and wine) from the agri co-op, but have to visit Intermarche or LeClerc for toiletries and cheese. I grow zillions of courgettes, tomatoes and beans, have my own eggs and reckon on spending 100 euro a week absolute max(and that usually includes feeding guests at least once a week).

[Unknown]

We are a family of 5 and I find we spend maybe a little more in euros than we did pounds for our food shopping, also our UK budget was increased by take aways and eating out.  Where we live now there are no take aways, unless you want to drive 8 miles for a Mcdonalds, no thanks, so therefore our shopping bill is reduced.  However, we do buy/drink more wine, so that pushes the shopping up.

I have to say the quality of food is miles better than the UK and because I'm not in employment I have time to 'cook' rather than reheat something from the freezer department. 

My kids, young boys in particular, used to be very fussy with their food, but since living here they eat a number of things they would never have touched with a barge pole.  We tend to eat fresh food, rather than processed or frozen, this is partly to do with me having more time.

I have to say we are a lot healthier on it, as we have been living here for a year now and not one visit to the doctor as yet.  The only ailment we've had is a varruca.  Maybe verrucas like fresh meat. [:D]

Hope I haven't gone and given us the kiss of something nasty.

 

[Alexis]

Don't forget too that the French don't eat the same as we do.  I have told you before about French friends asking my husband what he would eat married to an Anglais.

I told them a pork chop was the same the world over!  They never refused a dinner invitation though.

If you have a veg garden in production, the typical four course meal around here is very cheap.  You might start off with a few prawns or haricot vert/leek in vinaigrette.  A piece of meat/fish with another vegetable, dressed lettuce eaten either with or after, cheese and yum yum one of those yoggies or other tinned dessert...

No potatoes, gravy, Yorkshire pud....sigh.

In winter, I make huge pans of stewed beef when it is on promo and freeze it in portions.  Cassoulet.  Petit salé.  Sausage and cabbage.

I too go to Lidl to buy water, flour, eggs, fruit and veg, cheese, etc. I wouldn't touch their pasta though. 

Of course, if you get up early enough, you can buy marked down meat because of the date in some supermarkets which can be frozen for later. 

[Meg]

    I think it is possibly about the same, although you don't seem to get many promotions in the supermarkets as you do in the UK (buy one get one free etc).

Prices for Alcohol and eating out are a lot cheaper over here though!

Louise

[MargaretD]

I came from the Isle of Man so found shopping cheap in France, but then I'm always amazed at the cheap prices in the UK as well.

I haven't been impressed with our local veg supply, so now grow all veg ourselves, which has meant that our food bill reduced considerably.  We don't eat much meat, but I have been pleased with the prices.  Pork I find very cheap, and we bought lots of salmon when it was about 2Euros a fish.  We just look out for the special offers.  Cassis said that she doesn't do Eco at LeClerc - we do, well on some things, though not on everything. (washing up liquid for the appartment, cloths, bin bags etc)

Our local market is very expensive.  2.50Euros for a lettuce.  That's crazy pricing.  I bought two packets of seed for less!

But when I think that I also want farmers to get a fair price... 

I make a weekly trip to our hypermarche, as the 10 euro trip is worth it for my sanity.  I love looking at, if not buying, everything.  I also use their deli counter a lot.  Buying for one or two is cheaper that way.  My freezer is being filled with nice things that only make an appearance once in a while.  Then there are the things I can buy only in the UK - salt and vinegar crisps, marmite, good soy sauce, curry powder, or the ingredients for a good curry powder, lime pickle,

[Iceni]

[quote user="Cassis"]  Buy in season and veg is very cheap.  Overall, I think the cost of living here is not dissimilar to the UK if you ignore property prices.  Others will probably disagree.
[/quote]

Agree totally.

Leclerc in Capdenac sells fruit and veg from around the world, just like Tesco, so if you want that sort of thing it's available.

We buy meat when it's on promo and have found the quality as good as, if not better, than UK supermarkets. Local butcher sells better but at a higher price. Most of our veg comes from our garden but we do buy rice etc, the occasional tin of peas but lots of tinned toms as Di prefers those for bottling with our courgettes etc.

As regards fruit we buy what is in season supplemented by our own figs and vine peaches plus blackberries and apples from the hedgerows.

Anyway, why should food be cheap ? Or don't farmers deserve to make a reasonable living ?

John

not

 

[Iceni]

This week we got 2 chickens for the price of one - and the quality is good as I cooked one and froze one (Carfour). If it had not been so far away and hot we would have bought more. On occasion in Le Clerc we get boxes containing a small roasting chicken, small pintard, small boiling fowl (which is the reason I buy the box) and 6 or more large whole legs of chicken - cost - €11. If you buy wisely you can save a lot of money. Large bottles of water come from LeaderPrice as does local veg and fruit when they have that in. They actully buy from small local producers and some of their frozen veg is cheap and good quality. All dry produce seem to come from Spain, France and Italy and not Outer Mongolia.

I am bottling veg as this is far superiour to freezing it - it has a shelf life of years not months and the veg tastes better. I tend to do most things with tinned toms until ours come fully on stream, not only does this make the bottled food safer but men at least should eat cooked toms as much as possible. On a cold winter night I go to the larder and choose the meat and veg and just heat and eat.

To be honest I was horrified the last time I went back to the UK. The food might be cheaper but the taste of everything was similar to sucking a cardboard box - the thing I remember was we were in mid plum glut in the UK but Tesco only had Israeli plums - chilled to within an inch of their lives and only suitable for using at Wimbledon. The cost was awful. My daughter has no option to buy where her carer can take her and I drove round and bought a huge bag of Victoria plums from a house selling them from a table outside.

Price never had anything to do with quality and I would rather do without and have the occasional piece of quality produce than just have low quality cheap all the time.

Our local farmer has one week off a year - he works every other day - no weekends off for him. He has baled hay at 2am when the weather was turning and this year spent €3,000 on a borehole as the wells are running dry - and that is probably just for the pump and materials as his brother is a civil engineer and is doing the work. When you work out the hours farmers work and the result if they do not bother to tend the land it is not surprising that good food costs money.

You get what you pay for and I for one don't think it is any more expensive than the tasteless rubbish I got in the SE of the UK.

[Cassis]

[quote user="Iceni"]

men at least should eat cooked toms as much as possible.

[/quote]

1. What's that, Iceni?  Is this a prostate thing?
2. Jude says, do you bottle tomato sauces, and if so what is the method?

[Anton Redman]

Very difficult - our base point was Home Counties, loads of ready meals. Occasionally feeling very hacked off with for instance Sainsburys in Sittingbourne who were selling air freighted cherries for double the price you could buy them locally. I suspect in Norfolk you may be able to buy locally and eat in season. In Coutras (33) we buy vegetables  from a shop which sources locally and has imported fruits for less than Leclerc. We find Geant/Casino better than either Leclerc or Carrefour for both prices and variety. A lot of the time the poorer parts of a country do not have the cheapest food.