Bulk grocery purchasing - where's best

L1011

In the past I've had to go through NI for work, with them paying mileage, so trips to Asda were free on a fuel basis and I used to buy 3kg bags of pasta, rice, 4l tanks of later-pressing olive oil (the stuff that you're meant to cook with rather than using virgin, etc).

These are simply not sold in these quantities in Tesco.

I went to Buy Lo who were mentioned on another thread and what they sell in bulk is quite limited. What is useful is that a lot of the items which have frequent discounts in supermarkets - toilet roll, cleaning products, dishwasher tablets etc - seem to be permanently that price there. Also have catering sizes of perishable once opened canned items which are not any use to a two person household - could be great for families.

Does anywhere actually do non-perishables in the kind of bulk Asda does? Or am I just going to have to figure out if its worth a trip to Enniskillen to buy an entire years worth in one go?

rubadub

Larger sized items are not necessarily cheaper per unit. In most cases tesco larger size jars of sauce cost more per gram/ml.

No doubt you know this but I did come across a thread where one person thought it was actually against the law to sell larger items at a higher price per unit.

My point is more that it is very common, and I have also found that many shops have incorrect prices per kilo listed under products.

Some €2 shops do massive tubs of branded detergent, there is one in dun laoghaire. I would make use of the very robust tubs too, they are food grade and to buy an empty tub of that quality in woodies might cost more than the full tub!

I met the owner of the local chinese takeaway shopping in tesco around 3am one night, he was loaded up with litre bottles of veg oil, much cheaper per litre than the bigger ones and presumably cheaper than his own supplier.

These are simply not sold in these quantities in Tesco

If by this you mean there is not enough on the shelves for you then ask for more, I have gotten them to go out back to get stuff many times.

In my local health food shop I got them to get in 3kg bags of grain for me, they were FAR cheaper than 6x500g bags would have been, exact same brand too.

Also have catering sizes of perishable once opened canned items which are not any use to a two person household - could be great for families.

Aisan supermarkets often have cheap catering size products, nothing to stop you freezing the opened canned foods. THey may also keep larger sizes out the back, I got a 1kg tub of peanut butter in holland & barrett which was kept out back with no info at all on the shelf (i.e. it was not just ran out on the shelf).

I use tesco online a lot as you can view just the current offers, and it says when they end. I stock up on things like toothpaste & detergent when its on offer. Some things are not advertised as offers though, possibly mistakes, I got loads of washing up powder tablets a while ago which were not advertised as being an offer.

L1011

rubadub wrote: »

Larger sized items are not necessarily cheaper per unit. In most cases tesco larger size jars of sauce cost more per gram/ml.

I check price per volume/item thoroughly each time - not only are larger packs sometimes dearer, offers often only apply to smaller.

rubadub wrote: »

If by this you mean there is not enough on the shelves for you then ask for more, I have gotten them to go out back to get stuff many times.

No - they simply don't sell them. Pasta is in 500g or 1kg bags, not the 3 or occasionally 5kg sacks Asda sell.

L1011

Tesco have made a partial liar of me - they now have 2KG bags of spaghetti, 2.99 which I think is cheaper than others out there - usually 89c or 99c for 500g.

Now for them to do it for shaped pasta, rice, cooking oil, herbs, spices...