TUESDAY 31 JULY 2007 - CHICK TRICK

Well, here I am again and when tomorrow comes (1 August) I will be in my last month of my Year at Sainsbury's! When it's all done whatever am I going to do? How about a Year at Waitrose or a Year at Tescos? I'm open to offers! Maybe I should get this published (if I can find anyone insane enough to take it on). Perhaps Sainsbury's would be interested? I'm sure they would take it all in good heart - if nothing else it must be the most comprehensive customer survey they have ever had or, indeed, are likely to get. I could see it this Christmas nestling next to the magazines at the checkout and being snapped up by shoppers as a stocking filler. And making me a fortune! I can dream. And then there's the film rights! A bit dull I must admit but it has to be better than Big Brother ... Anyway, on to this week's shop. First, David Baarda. 'Who?' I hear you ask. Well, Dave (as I will call him) grows tomatoes for Sainsbury's all year round according to the huge sign above the vegetable aisle. And a good, honest grower he looks with his moustache and body warmer. Quite why he has to wear a body warmer if he can grow tomatoes all year round I'm not sure! And also, is he British? 'David' is okay but I'm not sure about 'Baarda'. Whatever, I looked closely at the tomato packaging to find that they come from Yorkshire so they must be Dave's! With regard to where Dave comes from, all is well though as an internet search reveals that David runs a tomato business on Teeside. Now, there's been a lot in the press recently about the floods and the effect on food prices and Sainsbury's have started to warm us up to this by posting a notice saying that some vegetables are in short supply as a result of 'harvesting difficulties'. Must be the understatement of the year! It will be interesting to see whether S puts up another notice in due course to tell us that their prices have gone up as a result of the 'harvesting difficulties'. Somehow I doubt it ... Next, small chickens. Regular readers will recall that many months ago I asked how all Sainsbury's small chickens can always weigh exactly the same amount week in week out, without any real conclusion other than to suspect skullduggery! Anyway, I haven't bought one for ages but this week chicken was on my list again and I noticed that the small chickens had 'New' stickers on them and that the price has gone up! Quite how they can be new as they've always been there I'm not sure but there you go. And I have no problem with the new price of £2.14 as it still seems ridiculously cheap but ... yes, you guessed it, they are still all exactly the same weight and price. If anybody knows the answer as to how this can be please let me know asap as my diary will be closing soon! Whilst passing the cheese & ham counter I noticed that the pork & egg cutting pie is back! It is, however, following the return of 'elle' from France no longer allowed so tempted as I was I had to pass it by. Whilst in the queue for the checkout I noticed a couple pouring huge quantities of coins into the Coinstar machine much to the interest of everyone in the store. Money laundering perhaps?? This week I remembered to ask for a Nectar game card only to be told that Sainsbury's have run out! How can this be? I thought of lodging a complaint but decided against it - if they have still run out next week I will though. You have been warned!

Items bought 29

Cost £49.55

Cost per item £1.70

Checkout no 10

Nectar points 2559