So you'd never buy a wine based on the fact that it had won several awards, or anything else because it came top in taste tests because, as you say, taste is personal?

I'd agreed with that to a degree but I'm sure you'd agree that when a chef at a Michelin-starred restaurant is tasting a dish to seasoning etc, he is making a more informed decision with better judgement than most people.

I guess you ignore restaurant reviews too?

http://www.srf.ch/sendungen/kassenst...den-hersteller

Found a clip on how one can trace origins of one's meat purchased in Swiss shops.

The contents within the oval are apparently the important bit, not the wording/address on a product's packaging.


Above link also contains the links with which one can trace imported, Volg and Spar eggs, as well as the phone number one can call to trace Coop eggs.

No, I wouldn't buy a wine based on those criteria. That's not me, but that's personal. Do I read restaurant reviews? Yes, I do. But that doesn't mean I always agree with the review once I have been there.

And yes, I agree that a chef is making a more informed decision than most...

Thanks
According to the article only two thirds of eggs sold in Switzerland are marked.

The ones I've seen (Migros, Coop) are marked - I always open the boxes in store and check if there's a stamp on the eggs. If they aren't marked, I don't buy them.

As for meat packaging, I'd like it to be mandatory for all places to be clearly mentioned on the packaging - where was the meat sourced (which farm is the animal from), how was it brought up (organic, bio, caged, battery farmed etc.), where was the meat treated (converted from hunks of meat into e.g. ground beef, sausages etc.)

Wishful thinking probably - but I think Swiss regulations are going in the right direction.

Why the groan, BM?

(me, complaining about a groan, ok)

But really, buying from the local farmer or at a shop selling his stuff, it's all the same price around here, and makes sense for the farmer.

He gets a better deal, and doesn't undercut his customers, win-win I'd say.

Tom

Except that there's no incentive for the retail customers to buy from the farmer, which usually comes with the inconvenience of going to multiple farms rather than conveniently buying at a single spot. I want my fair share of the cake.

The incentive is that you feel better about it.

There is certainly no financial incentive.

Tom

Accidental scrolling groan.


But how do you know how much the shop paid for the produce?
It's not much of a win for the farmer if they're paying significantly less than the customers buying directly from him. The shops are not going to sell it for the same price they I paid for it so it stands to reason that be is selling it to them much cheaper. The only thing he gets from it is a bigger volume of sales in one hit.

I'd rather buy directly from the farmer and know that be was getting the whole amount personally.

Probably the farmer sells more to Denner (volume-wise) and does so in more reliable/stable frequencies and amounts than an individual customer would buy/order eggs from the farmer.

The fact we don't always know the origin of the ingredients is one thing.

What bugs me more is you can buy food here without having the ingredients stated, at all. I look everytime and sometimes I look at products I make myself at home, too. Not to buy it but to see how the ingredients vary from my recipe. Denner sells hummous of mystical ingredients. They can put anything they want in it, as long as there is a bit of chickpeas mush, garlic and cumin which can cover any fillers.

Can you give a few examples? AFAIK listing the production land (of the final product) and its ingredients is mandatory for all food. List of nutrients is voluntary though.

Coop milk bottles are funny - the ingredient list states: Milch. Uh, wasn't that obvious from the fact that it's a MILK bottle?
On the other hand, Coop solely listing milk as an ingredient leads me to believe that they don't add thickeners etc., which is a good thing.

Migros also lists (on Bio milks, don't know if they do it on others) that the milk comes from mountain regions. Not sure if Coop does that, will need to check.

Urs - hummous, about a month ago. Past ten years I have been here, I have found medicin/food, without ingredients. These laws are recent, compared to EU, where they have been implemented long time ago. Whether they are reinforced here, or there, is another thing. I also find expired food products routinely (Manor seems to be worse, prices aren't the only reason I don't shop there). At least the cashiers now don't sneer but thank and report. I will list food without ingredients if I find it again.

"I also find expired food products routinely " True, that is really tedious; now I just hand them to the cashier without any additional comment!

Is that the chickpea paste you mentioned? Sorry if I'm being thick but I only find hummus (no "o") for that.

I would disagree with the ten years, food ingredients have been listed since I was a child (ie since the dark ages)(don't ask me about medicin). Perhaps not due to law but clearly in practice.

However, there's an exception:
If the largest printable area is small enough (less than 10cm^2) the ingredients listing may be omitted.
The amazing thing is that there's no prescription on how to arrive at that date, effectively it's just a guess - probably part of the reason why you can consume most stuff till much later as the retailer would rather be too restrictive than too lax to avoid being held liable.

"The amazing thing is that there's no prescription on how to arrive at that date, effectively it's just a guess - probably part of the reason why you can consume most stuff till much later as the retailer would rather be too restrictive than too lax to avoid being held liable"
True, but how I behave at home and my risk evaluation is different from the shelf policy behaviour I expect from a major retailer.

I think Best By date is not trivial, there's science put in it. Just like prezentation, food styling, where in the store it will be offered...etc. I don't really care so much to get so wrapped up in it, I think it is mostly the price that makes one wonder if things should be a bit more professional. For expiry - I think if it's exprired it shouldn't be offered. And if it's nearing the expiration date, my thrifty part of me imagines the magic discount word

I got amazing (Swiss) porkchops in Denner for 2fr the other day, totally unplanned.

One thing about different chains in different countries, have you noticed how different the food locations are in different countries? I am not talking about Lidl in Germany or Lidl in CH. But say Casino offers stuff in different order..and the one in Divonne has the overpriced international specialties right at the entrance, obviously. Actually - that just changed, it is wines now.

I think after a while of shopping internationally your brain routes you intuitively, but it is interesting. Carrefours are so big (and cold), it is a workout, I miss my local little cozy (overpriced) shops.

__________________
"L'homme ne peut pas remplacer son coeur avec sa tete, ni sa tete avec ses mains." J.H. Pestalozzi

“The only difference between a rut and a grave is a matter of depth.” S.P. Cadman

"Imagination is more important than knowledge." A. Einstein

Agreed. But it takes manpower to act on it which runs counter aggressive pricing - one of the not-so-nice effects of Lidl and Aldi perhaps.

15-25 years ago there seemed to be a lot more "Letzter Verkaufstag" stuff than nowadays. To be honest, I don't even look at the date when I'm shopping, although I do miss the corner of the cooler where they used to have all that kind of stuff.