It's well known among date consumers one of the superior types of dates are the Medjool variety - the 'crown jewels'. They are large, dense and absolutely delicious. Tesco have their own variety of a pack of 9 for £2.00 (£11.12/kg). On average, this works out to 22p a date.
This may not seem too bad especially given the lack of competition in the date-selling space as it's a mildly popular product that sells very well with certain ethnic groups and much less so with the general population.
However, going to a much smaller store - on that you'll find perhaps in a small town or village - and the unwarranted price exaggeration becomes quite apparent. One such store is Ecklee in Motspur Park (who don't have a functioning website currently, hence the lack of a link). The same Medjool variety there retails for exactly half that price - 11p a date. The dimensions and taste are, on average, the same. A minor difference - and it should be pointed out if we are to be fair - is the Tesco variety is about 5-10% softer than the small-store variety (note though that the taste is the same) and this adds to the excellence of the date. I'm not sure if I got lucky with that particular harvest for the Tesco variety or if they are consistently softer but I will try to verify this at another time in future.
Shopping around can certainly save a pretty penny !
This may not seem too bad especially given the lack of competition in the date-selling space as it's a mildly popular product that sells very well with certain ethnic groups and much less so with the general population.
However, going to a much smaller store - on that you'll find perhaps in a small town or village - and the unwarranted price exaggeration becomes quite apparent. One such store is Ecklee in Motspur Park (who don't have a functioning website currently, hence the lack of a link). The same Medjool variety there retails for exactly half that price - 11p a date. The dimensions and taste are, on average, the same. A minor difference - and it should be pointed out if we are to be fair - is the Tesco variety is about 5-10% softer than the small-store variety (note though that the taste is the same) and this adds to the excellence of the date. I'm not sure if I got lucky with that particular harvest for the Tesco variety or if they are consistently softer but I will try to verify this at another time in future.
Shopping around can certainly save a pretty penny !
