Dear But OK For The Essentials (Co-Op)

Member Name: CheekyCharlie08

Product:	Co-Op
Date:	01/11/09 (14 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A good range; Brill reductions on the fruit and vegetables

Disadvantages: Expensive

I go into the Co-Op sometimes because there's one quite near me and sometimes if I just want a couple of things I'd rather go into one of their smaller shops than traipse round the massive Tesco round the corner just to buy 5 items.

The main thing with the Co-Op is that they are quite a lot more expensive than the other supermarkets on basic foods and I don't think a family could afford to do a weekly shop there very easily. Some of the bigger stores are a bit cheaper because they have a bigger selection but the smaller ones have a take it or leave it attitude so they can afford to take the mick a bit with their prices.

There are big stores and smaller ones that aren't much bigger than a corner shop. One of the main reasons I use the Co-Op is for their Fair Trade chocolate because it's yummy and also because they are the only shop by me that still sell Cadbury Snaps!!!

They're always laid out well and if you go into one of the big stores you'll find anything you could buy from any of the other supermarkets. The 2 by me (one massive and one tiny) have both got a massive selection of ethnic ingredients and that comes in mega handy when I'm doing a curry or a Jamaican dish. I did go into a Co-Op in Wales though in the summer and their ethnic selection wasn't half as good so I reckon they stock this stuff in areas of the country where there is a larger ethnic population.

The fruit and vegetables are always good in the Co-Op and even though they're expensive, when they reduce them they bring the prices down drastic so you can get a bag of apples for like 59p or something like that instead of £1.99. It's always dead fresh and well packed as well.

The meat looks nice but is stupidly expensive, I was looking at some lamb chops the other day and they wanted £7.00 for 4 tiny chops that looked proper pale and were so small that the meat off the 4 of them would have only made one butty probably!

The bigger Co-Op shops have got quite a good range of frozen food and you could probably get everything in here that you would in Tesco. The price is the main thing though and everything I've ever looked at in the Co-Op freezer has been at least 20p and usually about 50p dearer than in the other supermarkets, that doesn't bother me because I don't do the family shop but if you were doing a trolley full then your purse would deffo feel emptier when you left!

Summary: A Nice Shop But Mega Expensive