I can no longer shop happily

[venta]

A while ago, the mother (who reads the business pages and pays attention) mentioned in passing that Tesco was going to ditch its long-running Value brand. The red, white and blue packaging which saw me through my days as a poverty-stricken student was to be retired and something new (and as yet unspecified) was to take its place.

Now that I am no longer so poverty-stricken (or, for that matter, a student), and do a large chunk of my shopping in local independent shops, I actually buy remarkably little from the Tesco Value range. However, on my quick sprint through the supermarket yesterday I did spy that some products had got new outfits on. The value sparkling water (19p for 2 litres, if you're curious) now has a snazzy green label. Not only does it look a little more upmarket, it's now much more easily visually distinguished from the unfizzy kind (which I believe is blue).

The first value brand I ever remember encountering was the "Yellow Pack" range sold by the (now defunct) Fine Fare when I was a kid. The packaging was bright yellow, with stencilled-look lettering. It didn't actually say "War Deparment" on it, but seemed designed to appeal to a generation that remembered the post-war "Utility" goods. It was an aesthetic that was subsequently adopted by Kwik Save's "No Frills", and then by the chains which are still big players today. Plain labels, no pictures, very stark and very clearly marking itself out as a product which was not going to waste its customers' money on all that design nonsense, thank you very much.

Then, earlier in the year, Morrisson's abruptly raised the bar on value packaging. OK, so it was still clearly recognisable as a value brand, but suddenly the labels didn't seem to be designed to make the purchasers feel they were living in some weird alternative Soviet future. I remember idly speculating that this might prompt a bit of a re-brand elsewhere.

While searching yesterday for Tesco's own (not value) orange-squash-with-added-sugar-you-bastards[*] I happened to spot a shelf which had both old and new packaging on it. Compare and contrast:



The "Everyday Value" label design seems to be the same on all products I've seen thus far, though the colour varies. It gives the products a consistent, branded feel whilst looking a little more upmarket than the old one. The labels are cheerful, and I like them.

Clearly we are in an age where we want our austerity to look a little less... austere.

[*] It seems to be increasingly difficult to find squash which doesn't cheerfully trumpet "No Added Sugar" at you. Which is a shame, because no-added-sugar squash is almost invariably vile. Tesco's own-brand squash comes in small or large bottles in every flavour - except no-added-sugar orange, which comes only in large bottles.

Comments

[vicarage.livejournal.com]

I often start with the Value stuff, and only if its horrid will move up til I get to finest. Value tomato Juice was amazingly glutenous, lovely, but they stopped it. I think the blue/white label make it much easier to stop, but being the key Tesco colours I bet some brand manager hated the idea.

[venta.livejournal.com]

I guess that's what I did in effect, because I mostly bought Value stuff as a student and graduated upwards when I could for some products. I can't think of a 'new' product I've started buying in Tesco in recent years, so haven't had cause to try anything out.

I reckon the 'worst' Value products are long-grain rice and pasta (or they were some years ago, I guess they may now be new and improved).

[vicarage.livejournal.com]

I always have a downer on value peaches, as the cheapo coring machines always leave shards of core that ruin the whole experience.

[ar-gemlad.livejournal.com]

The value long-grain rice is brilliant! It's one of the few brands that isn't easy-cook, so doesn't have that strange waxiness to it. You just have to rinse it before cooking.

[venta.livejournal.com]

You're correct that easy-cook rice is an abomination... and I'd rinse any rice before cooking! To be honest, I haven't bought supermarket rice in years, so maybe it's improved. I tend to buy a 10kg sack of basmati from my nearest Asian grocer, as it's usally about the same price as a tiny bag in Tesco :)