An easy way to cut your food bill

More and more websites are offering services allowing you to buy in bulk. But does this really save you money?

With food prices continually on the rise, it’s no wonder that more and more of us are trying to find ways to slash our food bills.

Of course, one of the most obvious ways is to buy in bulk – after all, if you’re buying more of a particular item, surely you should get a better price for it. And the good news is that over the last couple of years, an increasing number of websites have sprung up offering bulk-buying opportunities online.

So just how good are these websites and do they always save you money?

Marvellous meat

An online supplier of meat to restaurants, Westin Gourmet, has recently started selling its meat directly to the public. This should mean you can get a bargain if you're prepared to buy in bulk. 

Here's how the prices stack up. At Westin Gourmet, you can pick up a bag of 22 chicken breast fillets (227g each) for £29.75. That works out to be £5.95 per kg. In comparison, using mySupermarket.co.uk, I found that this 600g pack of chicken breast fillets costs £8.02 at Tesco, or £13.36 per kg – considerably more!

Similarly, this pack of smoked streaky bacon costs £11.34 (55 x 41g servings) at Westin Gourmet, which works out to be £4.99/kg. At Tesco, this pack of smoked streaky bacon costs £1.64, or £6.56/kg. So again, it’s more expensive at the supermarket. And at Sainsbury’s, a pack of smoked streaky bacon costs even more at £2, or £6.67/kg.

However, while these are pretty decent savings, shopping on Westin Gourmet won’t save you money every time. I found this Great British Hereford ribeye steak costs £54.84 (10 x 225g servings), or £24.38/kg, at Westin Gourmet. In comparison, at Tesco, this British ribeye steak costs £4.75 for 340g, or £13.98/kg. So in this case, Tesco is considerably cheaper. Of course, you'd have to try both to see which is better quality.

Just bear in mind that if you do want to order through Westin Gourmet, there’s a fee of £7.50 for orders under £75. However, if you order before 12pm Monday-Thursday, your order will arrive within 24 hours.

Overall, I do think this is a website worth checking out – particularly if your household does consume a lot of meat. Just make sure you do your homework first to ensure you’re getting the best deal. Comparing prices on mySupermarket.co.uk is a really easy way to do this. And of course, you may need a fairly big freezer to make the most of the best deals at Westin Gourmet!

If you decide to try it out, let us know what you think using the comments boxes below.

Amazing Amazon?

A few months ago, Amazon launched a new food department offering around 22,000 items, including fresh produce, cupboard essentials and beverages. And again, there’s an emphasis on buying in bulk. So will this save you money?

I compared a basket of goods with Tesco to find out.* Some of the items at Amazon come in packs of four or five, so I have entered the equivalent price at Tesco for the same number of items. I have ignored any special offers.

As you can see, in this instance, buying in bulk at Amazon does work out to be cheaper. That said, the difference isn’t huge, and some items are still cheaper at Tesco.

However, there’s one vital charge missing here – the delivery fee.

At Tesco, your delivery charge depends on the time of day and which day you want your delivery. Fees range between £4 and £6 – if your delivery is on a weekday, the fee will be smaller.

Amazon is more complicated. With the above shopping, if I select the First Class Delivery option (up to two business days), the fee is a whopping £17.48! That’s a lot for one shop. This drops to £11.03 with the Free Super Saver Delivery option (2-4 business days).

A better option is to sign up with Amazon Prime. This costs £49 a year, but you'll have unlimited, free one day delivery on eligible Amazon purchases. So if you were to place an order twice a month, your delivery fee would work out to be £2.04 each time – even less if you placed an order each week. Of course, this is only worth signing up for if you’re really going to get your money’s worth.

Overall, however, I’m not convinced doing your grocery shopping on Amazon is really worth it. For a start, your choice of groceries is limited, and the savings you make aren’t considerable enough. That said, if you’re after more specialist items and products that are gluten and wheat-free, Amazon does have a good selection.  

Out of date bargains

Another option to consider is out of date food websites such as Approved Food and Food Bargains. These fabulous websites sell short-dated and out-of-date food and drink, and as a result, the prices are a lot lower than you’d find in the supermarket – particularly if you’re buying in bulk.

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• Rachel Wait writes:

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  Out of date food might cost less, but will it taste as good? We put it to the test!

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But before you get completely put off by the idea of eating food out of date, we conducted our own taste test at lovemoney.com and found that in many cases, the food tasted exactly the same as food that was in date. It’s also worth noting that in some cases, you will still get items that are in date by several months. One can of soup I looked at was best before 31 October 2012!

Again, let’s take a look at how prices compare with Tesco:

As you can see, it works out considerably cheaper to shop at Approved Food. And the good news is, the delivery fee isn’t far off that charged by Tesco. Approved Food charges £5.25, providing the box weighs no more than 29kg, and Food Bargains charges £4.99 for the same weight. Deliveries take two to three working days.

Of course, the drawback to these websites is you’re unlikely to be able to buy everything on your shopping list there. However, personally, I think they can be a great way to save the pennies and help to combat food wastage.

A final word

So does buying in bulk really save you money? Unfortunately, there are no hard and fast rules. In some cases, it will, in others, it won’t.

However, providing you do a bit of your own research, you will find that you can pick up a bargain here and there. Just be warned that you may still find yourself at the supermarket picking up a few more essentials. And unfortunately, buying in bulk at the supermarket, can be riddled with catches, as I explained in Avoid this sneaky supermarket rip-off. So stay on your guard when hunting for those bulk bargains - take a calculator with you if necessary!

*I've used Tesco for comparison purposes purely because that’s where I shop.

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