Outrageous price of ready meals in Australia

[hatguy]

Has anyone else noticed how outrageously ready meals are priced in Australia? And how little nutritional value they have - even the 'fancy' ones? Why do the supermarkets think they can get away with serving this crap, especially in high-income, high-education Metro format locations?

I compared the following items at M&S in the UK vs. Woolworths in Australia. Theoretically M&S should be higher quality food given it's positioned somewhere between Woolies and the DJs food hall.

In summary, Woolworths is 25% more expensive when considering the total meal including fats/carbs, and 35% more expensive when you look at the nutritional value - i.e. protein content.

Item
M&S price/100g
Woolies price/100g
M&S protein/$
Woolies protein/$

Spaghetti Bolognese
1.5
2
4.8
3.9

Beef Lasagne
1.5
2
5.6
2.5

Fettuccini Carbonara
1.5
2
4.9
3.2

Chicken Tikka Masala with Rice
2.2
2
3.7
3.5

Macaroni Cheese
1.5
2
5.1
3.7

Cottage Pie
1.5
2
5.1
2.8

Chicken Korma
2.2
2
4.0
4.6

Bangers & Mash
1.4
2
3.4
2.9
Average 1.6 2 4.6 3.4

And then looking at the so-called 'premium' ready meals:

• Three Blue Ducks new range offers 350g meals at an outrageous $14 ($4/100g; 1.7g protein/$) for their Sri Lankan chicken curry
• In the UK, if you're willing to spend around that, you could dine on M&S slow cooked beef ragu for $18.43 ($3.90/100g; 4.38g protein/$)

That's 2.5x the protein per $!!

No wonder everyone is a prolific Uber Eats customer. You can get a Double Bondi Burger from Oporto for $10.95 ($4.08/100g; 3.6g protein/$).

I would love to be able to buy a ready meal for dinner after a long day, but how can anyone justify ingesting this?

 

[feelingunloved]

@hatguy If you want quality food on a budget you have to learn how to cook for yourself. There is no other way

 

[annelie]

@feelingunloved They did mention they wanted the ready meal for after a long day, completely understandable if you have long work hours and a busy life.

The other option is meal prepping, trying to plan for busy days and make sure there’s something ready to heat and eat when you finally get to sit down.

Edit: I already mentioned meal prepping

 

[jmacdona2]

@annelie I tried the Soulara ready meals for the very reason of being a bit time poor in the evenings. They were garbage.

 

[f4leggin]

@jmacdona2 Good to know - I was tempted to try them.

 

[jmacdona2]

@f4leggin I'm not completely veggie but I really like good veggie/vegan food and they weren't good. Very bland, with little textural interest. The chia puddings were the best of the breakfast offerings. I find that some of the supermarket frozen veggie ready meals are more satisfying.

I do the cook from scratch meal kits and enjoy the process of cooking but I'm not quick in the kitchen and we end up eating quite late, which is a pain as it 'eats' into the evening (and I'm not a late night person at all).

 

[ladylittle]

@annelie Make mi goreng noodles with a fried egg , or scrambled eggs on toast, or meal prep. Aldi has nice butter chicken curry in their instant meals section

 

[resjudicata]

@ladylittle I normally just add a couple of diced chicken breasts to the Aldi butter chicken to boost the protein content

 

[mhartwig]

@resjudicata Yeah they give way more sauce than meat, might as well add more meat/veg to beef up the content.

 

[annelie]

@ladylittle I already suggested meal prepping lol also Migoreng isn’t very nutritious and I don’t trust their noodles, they make me feel sick, but I do eat them occasionally, I’ll add some frozen veggies and an egg to add nutrition

 

[david_m]

@annelie I started doing this recently when the microwave lasagnes I bought changed from $3 to $4, and I decided I could do it cheaper myself. Made myself 4 different dishes that came out to 18 meals for $52.

 

[annelie]

@david_m Nice! Drop your recipes?

 

[david_m]

@annelie Typically Shepherd’s/Cottage pie depending on what mince is on markdown, spag bol with a bunch of grated veg, sausage and veg curry with rice and tuna mornay pasta

 

[annelie]

@david_m Some good ideas, thank you!

 

[jennc03]

@annelie Not an excuse unfortunately, I'm the busiest person I know, two kids, family, two companies, studying part time as well, if I can do it anyone can. You simply wake up earlier e.g 430am every morning or you batch Cook and freeze so you have ready meals to go. Sorry if I sound harsh I loathe excuses such as busy or don't have time, nothing against anyone personally.

 

[tesswales]

@jennc03 Ah if you can do it anyone can. Let’s forget about the single mum with a job and kid, let’s forget about the disabled person who experiences difficulty cooking, let’s forget about parents with disabled children that need intense care

Heaven forbid someone want an easy night or two per week because @jennc03 potentially doesn’t appreciate the work and support that their partner and family obviously give to make this possible.

 

[kimcf]

@tesswales Tbh I think most of those people you listed are less sensitive about this than your acting about it , they all sound like people who know life's tough and they have to put the extra effort into getting shit done

 

[markmelancon]

@kimcf I'm disabled and found the comment offensive. It's not as simple as meal prep and waking early.

Sometimes I have migraines constantly for over a week, and I'm incapable of moving, let alone meal prepping at 5am.

 

[tesswales]

@kimcf I’m one of these people.

Life is tough, I do get on, however that doesn’t make this any less offensive and it doesn’t make me any more lazy because preprepared meals mean I can eat something that isn’t a sandwich due to my inability to use a knife or handle hot things safely

 

[sleeplesslullaby]

@tesswales I have multiple disabilities and even with spare time can struggle to meal prep ahead of time. I actually have NDIS support to help with it. Yes, some people can do it, but there’s many reasons why others can’t.