Dee#s unrealistic price range

paky

Was in Dunnes there today, got myself a 'butternut squash and bean' ready to eat meal from dees. i wasn't surprised that the price had been slashed from 3.99 to 1.99. seems to be the case with dee's products that they're way overprised. i can't see how she can keep the prices at the level theyre at. who wants to fork out 3.99 for two veggie burgers? thats ridiculous. does anyone else think her products are overpriced?

schemingbohemia

I think her burgers are overpriced but I don't think the ready meals are.

They're cheaper than the Innocent pots and about the same price as similar type ready meals that I've seen in Tescos. And I would think the quality/taste is better than other ones I've tried. Plus they're Irish made and owned.

loueuro2

ya i totally agree, very expensive, only got them2/3 times cause of the price, where as u can get linda mccarthy pies 4 pk for 2.89, that i go for instead, way better value..;)

DeesWholefoods

I just wanted to comment that the prices haven't been 'slashed' we just started with Dunnes Stores and are on a special, introductory half price offer to encourage trial of our new meals. Because even though Small food companies make a substantial loss on each of these type of promotions and each of the large supermarkets expect you to promote your products the same way larger food companies do. We just hope that once you taste them, you will like them and buy them again. Thanks to all our loyal customers for the support, we really appreciate it. Dee

paky

DeesWholefoods wrote: »

I just wanted to comment that the prices haven't been 'slashed' we just started with Dunnes Stores and are on a special, introductory half price offer to encourage trial of our new meals. Because even though Small food companies make a substantial loss on each of these type of promotions and each of the large supermarkets expect you to promote your products the same way larger food companies do. We just hope that once you taste them, you will like them and buy them again. Thanks to all our loyal customers for the support, we really appreciate it. Dee

can i have your autograph?

paky

DeesWholefoods wrote: »

I just wanted to comment that the prices haven't been 'slashed' we just started with Dunnes Stores and are on a special, introductory half price offer to encourage trial of our new meals. Because even though Small food companies make a substantial loss on each of these type of promotions and each of the large supermarkets expect you to promote your products the same way larger food companies do. We just hope that once you taste them, you will like them and buy them again. Thanks to all our loyal customers for the support, we really appreciate it. Dee

tbh, i wouldnt pay 3.99 for something which is of mediocre standard.

if its irish made, it should be cheaper. i cant see how u can justify such high prices. what motivates your price range? greed?

Slaphead07

paky wrote: »

tbh, i wouldnt pay 3.99 for something which is of mediocre standard.

if its irish made, it should be cheaper. i cant see how u can justify such high prices. what motivates your price range? greed?

Steady on there. You may not like the burgers but they're certainly not "mediocre standard". If you think something made in an industrial factory in the UK would be dearer than something made on a small scale in Ireland I have to believe you don't know what you're talking about.

Tar.Aldarion

Have you tried the innocent healthy pot thing? E4.88. was quite bad compared to what you would expect something that expensive to be, and they are a huge company. Still, that is personal taste.
Why would a small scale production line be cheaper than a big one. Why should it be cheaper if it is Irish made? If anything cheaper ingredients always come from outside the country.

Health foody type things are a niche area with expensive products, go find em some frys food food less than 5-6 euro?
I would imagine it is much harder for a small company to reduce prices, you need to expand to be able to. There is a reason Tesco is cheaper than a local shop, to use a bad analogy.

paky

Slaphead07 wrote: »

Steady on there. You may not like the burgers but they're certainly not "mediocre standard". If you think something made in an industrial factory in the UK would be dearer than something made on a small scale in Ireland I have to believe you don't know what you're talking about.

i havent tried the burgers, the price is excessive

Tar.Aldarion

Post deleted, another post like that will be a ban from the forum, no personal abuse.

Thanks.

Slaphead07

Tar.Aldarion wrote: »

Post deleted, another post like that will be a ban from the forum, no personal abuse.

Thanks.

In fairness post #6 directs personal abuse towards Dee. Implying her motives are greed when plainly anyone in that part of the food sector is scraping by.

Tar.Aldarion

I don't think a direct insult with a rolleyes smiley is the same as asking if somebody is motivated by greed, and not understanding economics of scale. If it was worse I'd have warn/banned him.

schemingbohemia

Apologies for my earlier comment, I just found it incredulous that someone could call a product mediocre in one post and then admit that they'd never tasted it in the next.

Steven81

The dees burgers are there 2 types, one a spicy one and the other a grainy one, had these about a few months ago, thought they were a bit dear alright but would always try something new and i think she was one that went onto Dragons Den.

What currently is on offer in Dunnes?

Peanut

€3.99 is not a great price for two of something because it's very easy for a potential customer to make the mental connection that it's €2 per burger. €2.99 sounds better but I guess with a niche market they may not sell enough to justify it.

paky

schemingbohemia wrote: »

Apologies for my earlier comment, I just found it incredulous that someone could call a product mediocre in one post and then admit that they'd never tasted it in the next.

i said i tasted the ready to eat meal and not the burgers. with a price of 3.99, i wouldnt eat them out of principle. less of the abuse too, if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen!

Slaphead07

paky wrote: »

if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen!

Eh? What do you think that means?

westkryveggirl

I totally understand why the prices have to be higher for locally produced food from small companies. Its hard for them to compete with big companies and corporations. I didnt find the burgers as tasty as I had wished though...I know the company is trying to focus on wholefoods, which is great, but a bit of salt realllly would make all the difference in the world, especially when our population here is sooo used to salt that anything without just doesnt taste as good. Our tastes need time to adapt, so I think it would be better to wean people off the salt slowly rather than just leave it out entirely

Peanut

westkryveggirl wrote: »

I didnt find the burgers as tasty as I had wished though...

I tried them a while back and liked them, but I think it's a bit like making something with tofu, the burgers don't really work by themselves but taste great as a traditional burger substitute with soy sauce, onion/lettuce/cheese/mustard or relish etc.

schemingbohemia

westkryveggirl wrote: »

I totally understand why the prices have to be higher for locally produced food from small companies. Its hard for them to compete with big companies and corporations. I didnt find the burgers as tasty as I had wished though...I know the company is trying to focus on wholefoods, which is great, but a bit of salt realllly would make all the difference in the world, especially when our population here is sooo used to salt that anything without just doesnt taste as good. Our tastes need time to adapt, so I think it would be better to wean people off the salt slowly rather than just leave it out entirely

But surely you could just add salt yourself? Thereby having the option, those who don't want a heavily salted item can buy this, those who do can add salt themselves, simple.

westkryveggirl

Sure, I guess, but if I guess I kind of like things to taste good, as bought, without requiring doctoring up. Also, if we want to show people that a plant-based diet is tasty, it would be great to have the products tasty as bought, rather than requiring additional stuff. *shrugs* just mho

Slaphead07

I didn't really like them at first but they grew on me. Salt really isn't a good idea in a healthy diet. We get enough 'by stealth' anyway.

dominiquecruz

Just want to add my 2c and proclaim my love for Dee's omega burgers; I have been eating them regularly since they came on the market (not affiliated with Dee's in any way, shape or form by the by ) and I've always thought they were really tasty. It's an added bonus knowing they're not full of crap, as it were.

Yeah, I do think they can be expensive - but when you're using quality ingredients that are locally sourced and supporting irish industry, E4 is hardly the end of the world. I've also noticed regular special offers on these burgers, if you feel like holding out.

Tar.Aldarion

Thanks to the free publicity Dee got here we went and bought a couple of Dee's health pot things in Dunnes, we never go to Dunnes. Had the coconut one so far, was quite nice, it was just exactly the massaman curry we make anyway.

For 1.99 they are good, it is nicer than the innocent ones I've had, although they tend to be a fuller meal with leaves/rice etc. Just feels fuller. Doesn't taste as nice as Dee's one. We had noodles with it to flesh it out, to use a very unvegetarian term. Am interested in comparing them nutritionally with the innocent ones, which are even more expensive.

I'm not sure who these are aimed at, we make the same thing for cheaper here but they are also very handy, people's lunches at work or something? Would buy them for 1.99, would buy them for 2.99. Would not buy them for 3.99, dunno if many people would.

Looking forward to trying the Mexican one.

--LOS--

I really loved the thai Dee's quick meal pot

Tar.Aldarion

Texmex one was lovely.


Saw a few more brands of these pots now:

Quorn chicken one, doesn't look too good for you. E3.99. only 300g
tesco range, 400g, E3.76
innocent range, 400g I think, E4.50ish
dee's range, 400g, 3.99

Out of the ones I've tried dee's are the nicest. Certainly not dearer than the competition either.

Raminahobbin

I bought the chickpea and potato pot the other day as I thought maybe I hadn't given the range enough of a chance. I was a pretty disappointed tbh, it was basically a watery soup with a few lumps in it. Not particularly flavorful- in fact, the carrots and veg were weird and a bit rubbery. I ended up throwing out half of it, but I love chickpeas, so I was making sure I got them all at least- there was (I know it's sad that I counted, don't judge me ) a grand total of EIGHT chickpeas in the pot.

Innocent pots are, IMO, a much better buy. I've never been disappointed with them. Full meal in a pot.

DeesWholefoods

Hi there. Sorry to hear about your experience, we were actually getting complaints that there were too many chickpeas in the Moroccan prior to this, so I will investigate what has happened with this batch. It would be helpful if you could let me know the best before date, that way I can trace back production records and see if there were any issues that day. I went to great lengths to ensure that the products are not watery by using a high tomato content. So I am very disappointed to hear about your experience. We also use unsulphured apricots and raisins in our meals, so our products do not contain any preservatives like sulphites. Maybe the unsulphured raisins and apricots have a different texture to the ones that contain sulphites - if you wish to email me my address is infoATdees.ie Thank you, kind regards, Dee

Raminahobbin

Hi Dee, thanks for your reply. This was a few days ago so I don't have the packaging unfortunately. The tub I got was about 6 spoonfuls of veg in total and just mainly a watery soup and it was more the carrots that were rubbery. I'm willing to accept that maybe it was a fluke/bad batch and that maybe the flavour just didn't suit me or something, so I'll try one of the other varieties in the next couple of weeks and see if I like it. If I do I'll let you know!

blatantrereg

Tried the Thai one the other day and really liked it. Preferred it to the Innocent pots too.
Haven't seen these in Limerick at all. Are they sold anywhere there?

DeesWholefoods

Raminahobbin wrote: »

Hi Dee, thanks for your reply. This was a few days ago so I don't have the packaging unfortunately. The tub I got was about 6 spoonfuls of veg in total and just mainly a watery soup and it was more the carrots that were rubbery. I'm willing to accept that maybe it was a fluke/bad batch and that maybe the flavour just didn't suit me or something, so I'll try one of the other varieties in the next couple of weeks and see if I like it. If I do I'll let you know!

Hi Raminahobbin,

We have taken your feedback on board, and are now adding the chickpeas in stages to the mix just to ensure that the bottom of the pot has as many present as the first pots that are filled. We hope you enjoy your next pot. The batches with the improved procedure have a Best Before Batch Date of end of May. Kind regards, Dee

DeesWholefoods

blatantrereg wrote: »

Tried the Thai one the other day and really liked it. Preferred it to the Innocent pots too.
Haven't seen these in Limerick at all. Are they sold anywhere there?

Hi there, thanks so much, that's great to hear. Dee's have 22% coconut milk that's the creamy difference! You can find our meals in Dunnes in Limerick - Childer's Road, Jetland, Harvey's Quay and Parkway. Also in Shannon. You may have to look around for them sometimes they are hiding in with the Rustlers. We will soon be available in Centra's too and SuperValu. I'll let you know what Limerick stores. Kind regards, Dee

blatantrereg

DeesWholefoods wrote: »

Hi there, thanks so much, that's great to hear. Dee's have 22% coconut milk that's the creamy difference! You can find our meals in Dunnes in Limerick - Childer's Road, Jetland, Harvey's Quay and Parkway. Also in Shannon. You may have to look around for them sometimes they are hiding in with the Rustlers. We will soon be available in Centra's too and SuperValu. I'll let you know what Limerick stores. Kind regards, Dee

Oh great some of those shops are pretty convenient for me. Cheers

plasmin

Hi Dee,

Are veggie burgers available anywhere in Tralee area?

Zombienosh

My 2 cents ...

I've tried Dee's products and I'm mixed about them. I find the prices to be fine, they are competitive for an Irish brand considering the amazing ingredients they use.
The meal pots were really nice and handy for lunches or if you don't feel like cooking.

I was really excited to try the burgers mainly and when I finally got around to finding some they were really disappointing.

The bean burgers were unlike any bean burgers I've had before, They came across a bit bland after cooking but what annoyed me most was the texture, they were way too soft and flimsy, It was a challenge to keep it in a burger shape as it fell apart.
I used the frying method, maybe the oven works better?

I'm back to using Tesco vegelicious bean burgers 2 pack @ 2.38 I believe.


PS. also, Can I just add how awesome I think it is that Dee has taken the time to respond to posts here and take feedback on board, I think its a great thing to see and wish more people would do the same.

gracielooks

Zombienosh wrote: »

My 2 cents ...

I've tried Dee's products and I'm mixed about them. I find the prices to be fine, they are competitive for an Irish brand considering the amazing ingredients they use.
The meal pots were really nice and handy for lunches or if you don't feel like cooking.

I was really excited to try the burgers mainly and when I finally got around to finding some they were really disappointing.

The bean burgers were unlike any bean burgers I've had before, They came across a bit bland after cooking but what annoyed me most was the texture, they were way too soft and flimsy, It was a challenge to keep it in a burger shape as it fell apart.
I used the frying method, maybe the oven works better?

I'm back to using Tesco vegelicious bean burgers 2 pack @ 2.38 I believe.


PS. also, Can I just add how awesome I think it is that Dee has taken the time to respond to posts here and take feedback on board, I think its a great thing to see and wish more people would do the same.

I feel the same way, I was so disappointed with the burgers, both kinds. I'll try the ready meals though, and I think the price is fair for their products, even though I don't like the taste or texture of either burger.

Wurly

I tried the omega burgers a few weeks ago and i was really disappointed. They didn't taste of anything at all, even when I smothered them with sauce.:)

I hate saying this because I really really admire Dee and think it's remarkable what she has managed to do. I hope her business continues to go from strength to strength and wish her the best of luck. I don't think i'll be buying the burgers again though unfortunately.:(

Lia_lia

Try the Omega burgers with a runny poached egg on top...amazing!!

fillefatale

Wurly wrote: »

I tried the omega burgers a few weeks ago and i was really disappointed. They didn't taste of anything at all, even when I smothered them with sauce.:)

I hate saying this because I really really admire Dee and think it's remarkable what she has managed to do. I hope her business continues to go from strength to strength and wish her the best of luck. I don't think i'll be buying the burgers again though unfortunately.:(

Agreed, I found them to be utterly without flavour, though i like the concept.

--LOS--

I was in tesco the other day and noticed there wasn't any Dees or innocent pot meals there anymore

DeesWholefoods

cais wrote: »

Hi Dee,

Are veggie burgers available anywhere in Tralee area?

Hi Cait, yes - they are stocked in Tesco Tralee and Killarney Park, we also have meals and new Quinoa Pots (which are just available in Tesco for now). Thanks for the query, kind regards, Dee

DeesWholefoods

--LOS-- wrote: »

I was in tesco the other day and noticed there wasn't any Dees or innocent pot meals there anymore

Hi there, the new plans for Tesco didn't start until October so most of the fridges should have stock now. I hope you are able to find them

Here is a link to stores http://www.slideshare.net/DeesWholefoods/tesco-stockists-of-dees-new-quinoa-pots for our pots (and the same stores should have our meals too)

DeesWholefoods

Hi Everyone, thanks for all the feedback here. We realise our burgers aren't for everyone as we have kept them really pure and full of healthful ingredients, without adding salt/sugar/gluten/soy etc.

We are working on some taste-tastic new products that we would love posters here to come on board our taste-team when we need to get final feedback on flavours. Just email infoATdees.ie with TASTETEAM as the subject and I will add your name to the list. We will be posting products out and conducting feedback via Survey Monkey online surveys. Thanks for the support, hope some of you are enjoying the new Quinoa Pots too : ) kind regards, Dee

Zombienosh

DeesWholefoods wrote: »

Hi Everyone, thanks for all the feedback here. We realise our burgers aren't for everyone as we have kept them really pure and full of healthful ingredients, without adding salt/sugar/gluten/soy etc.

We are working on some taste-tastic new products that we would love posters here to come on board our taste-team when we need to get final feedback on flavours. Just email infoATdees.ie with TASTETEAM as the subject and I will add your name to the list. We will be posting products out and conducting feedback via Survey Monkey online surveys. Thanks for the support, hope some of you are enjoying the new Quinoa Pots too : ) kind regards, Dee

Sounds awesome.

boomerang

The quinoa is gorgeous - properly spicy!

planetX

I always pause to look at the omega burgers, they look so good.... then I pick up tesco bean burgers instead. It all comes down to price these days:(

blatantrereg

boomerang wrote: »

The quinoa is gorgeous - properly spicy!

The one with lentils is very nice. The one with chickpeas is a bit bland for my taste.

Noticed one or two very tiny bits of grit in it once. Found that before with quinoa from certain suppliers.

DeesWholefoods

planetX wrote: »

I always pause to look at the omega burgers, they look so good.... then I pick up tesco bean burgers instead. It all comes down to price these days:(

Just out of curiosity do any of you compare nutritional value when comparing price. In terms of nutritional value for money. Looking for micro-nutrients like iron, magnesium, b vitamins for energy. Essential amino acids etc omega oils etc. presence of anti-nutrients like salt/fat/sugar. Own brand products might be cheaper but what value are you getting in terms of nutrition. I feel it's an important point. Also our burgers are 115g so if you wanted to make them last longer you could always half them in a pitta. They'd still be filling. I think all the other burgers are smaller in size?

DeesWholefoods

blatantrereg wrote: »

The one with lentils is very nice. The one with chicpeas is a bit bland for my taste.

Noticed one or two very tiny bits of grit in it once. Found that before with quinoa from certain suppliers.

Thanks for reply. We use fair trade quinoa so will get back to our suppliers on this. If you have bb dates I can trace back batch? Kind regards Dee

blatantrereg

No dates sorry. I got it a few weeks ago in Limerick.

Eviledna

Just want to say well done to Dee for coming on to boards and conversing with the consumer - it's nice to know you care about the feedback!

I've recently begun a low-gi diet and I find your bean burgers both delicious and a great alternative to meat. Though I'm not a vegetarian, I really enjoy them and they have become a regular part of my diet. I'm glad they don't have more salt and aren't loaded with potato like the tesco alternative. It might be worth advertising the gi rating of your food for those on the diet, which may include diabetics as well as those seeking to loose weight