Mar
15

$4.50 for a loaf of bread?

Just went shopping for some basics and noticed that the Helga’s bread we normally buy is $4.50.

$@*!

The much nicer Alpine one that we don’t buy because it’s too expensive was almost a dollar cheaper. So I bought that instead.

Is the bread Helga’s? Not any more.

Filed under: Home by Marty @ 6:55 pm |

7 Comments

  1. dad - March 15, 2008, 9:08 pm

    I agree, it’s very frustrating. We tend to use the Coles at Manor Lakes (probably the same everywhere) and the price of many things varies enormously. We’ve had Helgas down to two loaves for $5.00 and as you say up to over $4.50 for one. I guess I’m tending to shop by price as much as brand quite often (except for Birds-Eye frozen peas!). Bear in mind that in many cases the different label products come from the same factories anyway! So many things go up and down with “specials” that you really have to keep your eyes open. Things like baked-beans and spag also vary enormously, from ~ 85c up to $1.40. The other week “skin-off” chicken breasts were ~$9.00/kg at the deli counter on special and the same thing was $16/kg in a plastic pack about 10m away!
    Whatever you choose the total seems to keep going up anyway!

    Dad

  2. Kate - March 15, 2008, 9:39 pm

    That’s crazy! If we were to spend that much on bread we’d go broke (well, more broke than we already are lol). We get through 1.5 to 2 loaves of bread a day, plus 3 litres of milk a day (2 full cream, 1 lite) so we just get the $1.20 bread from the local servo and the Woolworths brand milk.

    I recently went to buy Napisan and wasn’t keen on paying almost $8 for the stuff. We get through a lot of it because of Matt’s greasy/filthy work clothes. Anyway, I compared the ingredients on the proper Napisan with the ingredients on the Coles brand and found they were exactly the same, even the same percentages! The price difference? The Coles one was selling for $2.98.

    Now I compare the ingredients in everything and you’ll be surprised how many generic items are exactly the same as the branded ones, and even made in the same factory. And by doing this we save about $50 a week off our grocery bill. With some things there is a taste/quality difference, but with the majority of products they are exactly the same.

  3. sim - March 16, 2008, 12:31 am

    We buy “You’ll Love Coles” everything! Our bread = 89c most of the time. I think Bek and I will soon be asked by Coles to be on their packaging…

    ‘These pretzels are making me thirsty’ - Bek, loves a good pretzel after dinner.
    ‘Just what I need in the morning’ - Simon, up and running early!

    mmm.

  4. Marty - March 16, 2008, 4:11 pm

    Reasons not to eat white bread:

    “White bread is made is from wheat flour from which the bran and germ have been removed. This is where much of the nutritional bread value is. White bread is lower in zinc, fiber, thiamin, niacin, trace elements and “good” fats and oils. White bread in many countries has to be fortified with vitamins and minerals *by law* during the bread making process. These are usually sprayed into the mix. It’s somewhat ironic that the nutrients that are removed from wheat are re-added by this means. Nature provides, we destroy, then add it back in via a man made form.

    Once the bran and germ is removed, the flour is bleached using potassium bromate, benzoyl peroxide or chlorine dioxide gas. Potassium bromate is also known as Bromic Acid or Potassium Salt. It’s an oxidizing agent, can be fatal if swallowed, is harmful if inhaled or absorbed through the skin and may also cause kidney damage. Benzoyl peroxide is another irritant that can kill animals, birds, or fish, and cause death or low growth rate in plants. Chlorine Dioxide is also a pesticide and even though it breaks down very quickly, it is ranked in the USA as one of the compounds most hazardous to the environment.” - Green Living Tips

    Yup, it’s cheaper, but it doesn’t sound good when you know what goes into it. Here’s more:

    “When grain is made into refined white flour, more than 30 essential nutrients are largely removed. Only four of those nutrients are added back in a process called “enrichment.” Using this same logic, if a person were robbed of 30 dollars and the thief then returned 4 dollars to his victim for cab fare home, then that person should be considered “enriched” by 4 dollars, not robbed of 26 dollars. How would you feel in that situation? You should feel the same about “enriched” white flour and bread?

    Only vitamins B1, B2, B3, and iron are added back. Nutrients which are removed and not returned include 44% of the vitamin E, 52% of the pantothenic acid, 65% of the folic acid, 76% of the biotin, 84% of the vitamin B6, and half or more of 20 minerals and trace elements, including magnesium, calcium, zinc, chromium, manganese, selenium, vanadium, and copper. If consumers would just educate themselves in the principles of good nutrition and show an educated preference at the checkout counter, the food industry would be forced to respond with more nutritious products.” - according to some bloke called Dr Cranton

    We don’t mind paying a bit more for better bread. The point of my post was more that Helga’s are pricing themselves at the very top of the bread pile, so we’re saying stuff ‘em.

  5. Kate - March 17, 2008, 8:02 pm

    Ooh, I better not mention that my kids have all worn disposable nappies then

  6. Marty - March 17, 2008, 8:17 pm

    ???

    Why not?!

  7. mum - March 18, 2008, 12:26 am

    all very interesting but I’m hanging out for news about Alan and his mates. Let’s prioritise here!

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