And this week, we ticked off another item on the frugal checklist, also food waste related.
You might be familiar with Approved Food, "the UK's biggest online seller of clearance food and drink". The company sells food close to or past its sell-by date, that would otherwise be discarded, so it's a valuable weapon in the UK's war on food waste. Lots of frugal bloggers write about Approved Food, and on checking it out I could see that the company indeed offers bargains galore, but also temptation galore (e.g. currently you can buy regular Cadbury's Crunchie bars at 20p each). The stock changes all the time as items sell out and new stock arrives, and prices sometimes change too; often, the more out-of-date a product is, the cheaper it is.
I've never got round to placing an order, partly because I feared I'd end up ordering everything on the website! In the end it was the tinned mandarins (10 tins for £1) and wholemeal scone mix (3.5kg for £1.49 making 98 scones) that persuaded me to make my first tentative order...I'm still a Devonian at heart and the thought of 98 scones - just right for filling up hungry children after school - was just too tempting. OK, and maybe, just maybe, the cheap Crunchies also caught my eye...
I tried to stick to food we would usually put on the menu, and to not go too wild with the sweets and treats. Notable bargain highlights of our first order?
2 packs of Discovery Mexican Large Tortillas x 6 - £1,
900g black olives - £1.20,
Patak's Mango pickle - 60p,
4 packs onion bhaji mix for £1
and lots more.
The only surprise was these:
You might be familiar with Approved Food, "the UK's biggest online seller of clearance food and drink". The company sells food close to or past its sell-by date, that would otherwise be discarded, so it's a valuable weapon in the UK's war on food waste. Lots of frugal bloggers write about Approved Food, and on checking it out I could see that the company indeed offers bargains galore, but also temptation galore (e.g. currently you can buy regular Cadbury's Crunchie bars at 20p each). The stock changes all the time as items sell out and new stock arrives, and prices sometimes change too; often, the more out-of-date a product is, the cheaper it is.
I've never got round to placing an order, partly because I feared I'd end up ordering everything on the website! In the end it was the tinned mandarins (10 tins for £1) and wholemeal scone mix (3.5kg for £1.49 making 98 scones) that persuaded me to make my first tentative order...I'm still a Devonian at heart and the thought of 98 scones - just right for filling up hungry children after school - was just too tempting. OK, and maybe, just maybe, the cheap Crunchies also caught my eye...
I tried to stick to food we would usually put on the menu, and to not go too wild with the sweets and treats. Notable bargain highlights of our first order?
2 packs of Discovery Mexican Large Tortillas x 6 - £1,
900g black olives - £1.20,
Patak's Mango pickle - 60p,
4 packs onion bhaji mix for £1
and lots more.
The only surprise was these:
 |
| Next to a 5p so you can gauge the size! |
Which were not quite what I was expecting. I'll make sure I read the product descriptions better next time. Can you guess what they are? (If you can't tell, I'll let you know in the comments over the weekend!)
Have you ever used Approved Foods and had any surprises?!
Food Waste Friday was dreamt up by thefrugalgirl.com, to encourage people to use up food instead of waste it.
I cannot believe I have never heard of approved food. I'll be checking it out. My guess is going to be rice related...but to be honest not a clue!
ReplyDeleteI meant to put the link to Approved Food and I've done it now so it should be easier to check out!
DeleteMy mum raves about Approved foods and gave me a food hamper for Christmas full of lovely unusual things - she gets good cheap olive oil from them. No good ideas about your mystery food - sugared nuts of some kind?
ReplyDeleteSugared nuts...that's the closest guess so far!
DeleteThey kind of look like miniature brains!
ReplyDeleteThat was my first thought too! They even have left and right hemispheres!
DeleteI've never heard of anything like Approved Foods over here. How long does it take the food to get to you? That could make a difference depending on the food.
ReplyDeleteMy order took 5 days. The nature of what they sell is nearly all packaged and tinned, and because a lot of it's past the sell by date anyway the delivery time isn't really an issue!
Deletei do like approved food-only prob i ever had was with packaging-a catering sized tub of gravy powder exploded over everything in that box.nightmare!that seemed to be a one off though and they did give me discount of a next order x
ReplyDeleteOoh dear, that must have been a bit messy!
DeleteThose look like puffed oats.
ReplyDeleteI haven't found anything quite like Approved Foods, here in the US. But there is a chain discount grocery, Grocery Outlet, with many items close to, or past sell-by date. A lot of what they sell is packaged foods, so I rarely go there. But for occasional treats of crackers or cereal, it can be a bargain.
That's great that you can get these items delivered, and not have to drive out of your way. Are the delivery charges reasonable?
Not puffed oats...Approved Food's stuff is mostly packaged and tinned. My order was £5 delivery for a very heavy box. They said my £33 order would have been £85 RRP, and because I was curious I actually went online to see what it would have been if I'd bought it at Sainsburys - and it would have come to £65. I wouldn't use them regularly, I reckon a big order every 2-3 months could mean some good savings without going overboard on the treats or excessive waste.
DeleteAre those soap nuts?
ReplyDeleteNo they're not soap nuts...
DeleteThey were sugared chick peas! Bit too sweet for my taste. I thought they were the usual dried ones for soaking so I've got three packs...If anyone wants to try some out-of-date sugared chick peas let me know!
ReplyDeleteI thought they were puffed chick peas!
ReplyDeleteThat was a really close guess. I shall bring some with me next time I see you...
Delete