How Much?!

How much is food, in pounds, in the UK?  Basics like cheese, bread, milk, fruits and vegetables, meats, ect.

Thank you.  We're moving in June '05 and would like to know.

I think it all depends on the area...just like here in the US. I live on the east coast, but lived in northern CA two years ago...and I found the prices about 1/3 more in CA than here! When in the UK (northeast England) I noticed that some foods were really much more expensive than here, but then some were less. Also, my fiance goes to a wholesale fruit/veggie shop and we get great produce for really cheap! I found a big difference between the smaller Safeway near the house and a large store, like Tesco or Morrisons...or even a larger Safeway. To me, everything seemed "cheap" anyway because it costs twice as much in US dollars as pounds...until I got used to converting automatically etc!

It might be a good idea to take an online cruise through some grocery stores. For instance, you can look at lists and prices on their web sites. I don't find food here tremendously expensive and some things (like non-generic bread and baked beans) can almost be laughably cheap. And I love going to the corner green grocers and butcher shops where you can get really really fresh food.

Some grocery store web sites (you may have to register at some to enter):
Tesco: http://www.tesco.com/
Sainsbury's: http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/
...and a bunch more...
Other food retailers: http://www.on-the-line.co.uk/foodretailers.htm

Lisa's advice (as always) is excellent.

But don't forget that a lot depends on whether your salary is going to be paid in UK Pounds or US Dollars, as well as whether you intend to convert US savings/assets.  Although a rough conversion like 50p = 1 dollar is fine for getting very rough equivalences here (for example, to get some idea of value while shopping over here) , if you're you're doing a household budget exercise, it's worth checking out online currency conversion sites which track the relative exchange rates, for example the one at:

http://www.document-records.co.uk/currencyconversion.htm

So, to compare your US food budget with a forecast for a UK budget, go 'virtual shopping' at one of the sites Lisa recommends for your typical purchases over, say, a month, fill your 'basket' (or 'trolley'=Britword!) then convert your virtual checkout total to dollars using the conversion site I've mentioned above.

Let us know the results!

We go shopping weekly (at Tescos) and not including Julionas things we spend 50 pounds or less a week unless we are after meats which we usually do monthy and that is at the meat man in the market.

basically, if you take the food prices that you are used to paying in the states, multiply by 3.723, and change the "$" to a "£", that is what you will be paying...

please feel free to read more in the food section of this site to know what to pack  (things that you won't find here)...  

basically, you should just wear the clothes you have on your back, and fill your bags with American snackfood.   you won't be sorry, and the $80 per extra suitcase is well worth it.

oh, and please leave a detailed map here, so that the rest of us can find you and raid your pantry when you arrive.   (that's the custom here in England...)    

...and please don't forget the Mountain Dew, Guacamole flavoured Doritos,  and JIF.  thank you.

oh, and hot bath water seems to be quite expensive as well, so you better bring a few buckets of your own, as we don't seem to have enough to go around.   thx.

I've been doing an excercise like the one suggested by Lisa and me above.  I went "shopping" at Safeway in a San Francisco zip code area, and filled my cart with the following:

1 20oz Homepride Carb Action bread; 1 8oz Kerrygold butter; 12 Grade AA Medium Eggs; 1lb purple potatoes; 1lb ground beef (20% fat); 1 3lb whole fresh chicken; 1 Romaine lettuce; 1 7oz jar Nescafe Mountain Blend instant coffee; 1lb C&H granulated white sugar; 1lb yellow/green bananas.

At the "checkout" I "paid" 29.56 USD. 

Then I went "shopping" at Tesco's online shop for what I thought were the closest Brit equivalents (if not identical), and bought:

1 100g Nimble Carbs So Low (bleah!) bread; 1 250g Kerrygold butter; 12 Tesco assorted sizes barn eggs; 1kg Desiree potatoes; 1kg beef mince; 1 3lb whole fresh chicken; 1 Romaine lettuce; 1 100g jar Nescafe Gold Blend instant coffee; 1kg Silver Spoon white granulated sugar; 1kg standard bananas.

For all of these items I noted the price in UKP per kg or per item (eg. the eggs).  I then calculated the equivalent weights in ounces for my metric weight items.  The next step was to calculate what the British items would have cost at American rates. I used today's exchange rate of 1 UKP = 1.79361 USD.

The overall total for my British "trolley" worked out at 23.90 USD.
Those items which were more expensive in Britain were:eggs, lettuce and coffee; everything else was cheaper.

Now, obviously I am not sure whether the American equivalents I chose were "fair" ones; nor am I sure whether the American store factored-in a proportion of the delivery charge (Tesco doesn't).  And of course I cannot be certain how typical the San Francisco store's prices are. 

But if I had used Angel's calculation I would expect to pay (3.723 x 29.56 = 110.05 ) UKP!!!!   So I don't know where Angel is doing her shopping, but she should stop doing it there immediately!!!! 

Note:  the American Safeway was at

http://shop.safeway.com/

and Tesco was at

http://www.tesco.com/superstore/

I am very willing to e-mail my spreadsheet to anyone who wishes to check it.

Ooh, Howard! Great illustration!

Howard, my head is spinning from your post and all the complications you went thru to arrive at a comparison!  At the same time, I'm thinking you're brilliant!      LOL 

I've been confused since I got here, but it hasn't held me back a bit.    heehee  I think my brain still sees the pound and pence numbers and thinks dollars and cents...but it hasn't mattered.  After trying to sort out dollars to dirhams (moving from US to the UAE),  then dirhams to pounds (from the UAE to the UK), and pounds to dollars (trying to think ahead to a visit to the US)and so forth...ummm...where was I? 

Anyway, seems to me groceries are pretty reasonable here in the UK. 

And if anyone comes over here bearing Diet Mountain Dew...I am raiding your suitcase!   

Wow, Howard.  That's amazing!  And oh, so terribly English.      

One thing that I've noticed when I go home is how expensive things like cereal and biscuits are.  They seem to cost much more there. 

Thank you all very much!!!

I must add, though, that although my "shopping" was slightly more expensive at the American store, I did at least get a nice smile from my checkout person, my groceries packed for me, and a "Have a nice day now!" 

 

I was thinking, if this really were a valid excercise, and helpful to those making the transatlantic trip in either direction (the questions to do with the cost of living do seem to come up reasonably frequently), would it be useful if I updated it, say, twice a year?

If so, may I put out a call for help on some things:

a) other staple things you'd like to see in the standard cart/trolley (but omitting luxury items, or foodstuffs that are peculiarly American or British)

b) help from those familiar with foodshopping in both countries (which I *am* not!) to suggest items/products/brands which are "fair" comparisons.  For example, was it fair to equate Mountain Blend with Gold blend (is one too much more regarded as a "quality" item), or purple potatoes with Desirées? Are there any items which, though staple, are regarded in one country more of a luxury than in the other?

c) advice as to any American store which I can use as a comparator to Tesco, in a region where prices are "average", i.e., reasonably representative of the whole country.  (So far as I know, Tesco's prices are uniform throughout the UK, but I'm going to log on as if I were in Dudley, not Lewes, in a moment, to make sure!)

d) advice as to "faux amis" i.e., standard commodities which sound as if they should be the same thing in both countries but actually aren't, like baked beans, and bacon.

If I could have help with those things, I'd really enjoy doing this comparison as a regular feature (perhaps in a "sticky" thread), particularly if it would be of assistance to Americans coming to visit  or to live here.

Howard

Hi, everybody

I've not been on the uk-yankee site for at least a year. We were planning on moving to scotland sometime in 2008 but have put plans on hold until Georgie Bush (aka 'Dubya') leaves office and the dollar recovers from the Republican depredations of the last couple of years. Please, please, please God...!

Anyway, I thought I'd pass on a dynamite website for anyone out there who'd like to do a grocery cost comparison between US/UK. You can put together a basket of groceries practically identical to what your current US grocery list looks like and the site will generate the total cost of the basket in GBP. You'll also be able to see differences in pricing between, say, Sainsbury's and Tesco and others. You do have to allow for some differences in packaging size and different manufacturers, in some cases, but you'll end up with a 98% accurate comparison if you're careful.

The site is:  http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/FirstTimeHome.aspx [nofollow]

My estimate for a monthly basket of groceries for a couple (exc. wine, alcohol, cigarettes - we're really boring!) for 2008 is about GBP180 - GBP200. Which is about the same as our current grocery bill in Boston, Massachusetts. However, since it is an estimate, I'd be interested in feedback from UK-Yankee folks as to whether this amount sounds reasonable.

Best regards.