Can you guess which basket belongs to which shopper?
Your groceries reveal so much about you. So ...
MIDDLE-CLASS MOTHER
Jenny Brewster, 41, is a stay-at-home mum and lives in richmond Hill, Middlesex, with husband neil, 45, who owns a digital agency, and their children emily, 13, and Josh, five. she says: I’m a full-time mum living in a middle- class enclave. If the food doesn’t give the game away, my daily ‘uniform’ of workout gear and trainers certainly would — like many mums around here, I shop between gym classes.
We all have identical, healthconscious baskets. It’s a badge of honour. I’d feel so embarrassed to fill my basket with ready meals.
Yes, I go to Tesco, but the upmarket Whole Foods market in Richmond is my regular haunt. There, I pick up organic fruit, vegetables, raw honey, crisps made from protein and kale, and chicory coffee.
I cringe at how middle-class my shopping habits have become, particularly as, until three years ago, my basket was filled with microwave lasagnes and pizzas. Convenience foods were my go-to while I worked l ong hours in logistics management.
But I gave up work after having Josh in march 2011 and when I still hadn’t l ost my 3st pregnancy weight 18 months later, I overhauled our family diet.
Since then I’ve cooked from scratch and bought organic food wherever possible. Within eight months of ditching our old habits I’d shrunk to 8st. But organic comes at a price and my weekly food shop now costs around £170, £50 more than previously.
my own non- organic guilty pleasure is ordinary chocolate, especially Lindt eggs.
ANSWER: BASKET C
Lima Yannoh instant coffee substitute — £7.99 Organic yellow peaches — £2.49 Bear Alphabites cocoa cereal — £2.39 Organic mixed beans and sprouts — £2.49 Organic lemons — £1.49 Bananas — £1.69 Organic kale — £1.25 Lindt chocolate eggs — 3 for £1 Rude Health organic sprouted porridge oats — £3.99 Luke’s organic blue corn and red lentil multi-seed chips — £2.39 Mountain Bread Chia wraps — £4.69 Hilltop raw honey — £5.99 Raspberry probiotic drink — £3.99 Taste of Nature Muddy Chocolate Bears — £1.89 Rude Health organic almond milk — £2.59
TOTAL: £46.32
THE BARGAIN HUNTING OAP
sandra Hope, 66, lives in north London. she is widowed and has two grown-up children. she says: I RaReLY buy anything that is full-price. I like to think of myself as a canny shopper with an eye for a bargain and I usually buy only reduced items.
I am a big fan of ‘Woopsies’ — the term given to items that have reached their sell-by date — and because I have the time to shop daily, I can often pick these up for a song. I like shopping at discount s upermarkets s uch as aldi, Poundland and asda as I’ve done here. I can spend only £15 a week.
I’ll also use coupons that I pick up from the newspaper. my family joke that I’m the best bargainhunter they know and I’m often buying cut-price items for them, too. I’m on a State pension and since I retired from hairdressing, I’ve had to watch the pennies.
But if I’m honest, I’ve been a lifelong bargain-hunter and I always feel pleased with myself to think I’ve got something for a knockeddown price that someone else has paid full price for.
I have a dog, Taz, and usually get all his f ood and i tems f rom Poundland, too. I was very pleased with two tins of dog food reduced to just 15p — and he won’t know the difference!
ANSWER: BASKET D
Weight Watchers curry — £1.87, reduced Asda butter — 79p, on offer Morliny chicken breast slices — £1, reduced Turkey slices — £1.86, reduced Asda potatoes — £1.38, reduced Asda minced beef — £2.67, on offer Tin of artichokes — £1.15 Ski mousse yoghurts — 63p, reduced Asda kiwis — 75p, on offer Asda broccoli — 38p Japanese teriaki noodles — 75p Chicken frankfurters — £1.50, reduced Two tins dog food — 15p each, reduced
TOTAL: £15.03
BACHELOR ON A DIET
stuart MattHews, 42, is a single youth worker from Guildford, surrey. He says: anYone peering into my shopping basket would easily guess I’m a single bloke on the cusp of middle-age and possibly a mid-life crisis. You don’t see many coupledup men buying pizzas for one, cans of Guinness and men’s hair dye to keep the grey streaks at bay.
I shop every day, spending around a tenner each time. Since turning 40, I’ve become more aware of my weight and what I eat because I know I’ve got the kind of build that could easily turn tubby. I love my dairy, which can easily add a few pounds, so I’ll always throw in a few bits of fruit to make up for it.
I’m a member of a gym, but never go. I’ve tried to turn vegetarian in the past year, but failed. While I’m not a problem drinker, I do enjoy a Guinness most nights.
In a bid to keep the weight off, I’m a big believer in eating a large breakfast and letting it burn off throughout the day. I’ll usually have two breakfasts — porridge with honey followed by eggs. That keeps me going most of the day.
If I’m seeing a girlfriend, I don’t tend to cook at home, preferring to take her out for meals.
I wouldn’t say I’m a bad cook, but sometimes I’ll just tuck into some baked beans.
ANSWER: BASKET E
Gressingham whole duck £5.34, reduced from £8 Smoked sockeye salmon — £5 Bernard Matthews breaded turkey escalope — £1.34 Jar Heinz baked beans — £2 Pizza Express Sloppy Giuseppe — £2.50 Pilgrims Choice extra mature cheddar — £3.50 Guinness 4 pack — £5 Anchor butter — £1.80 Large farm eggs — £1.95 Head & Shoulders 2 in 1 — £3.50
Just For Men medium to dark brown — £7.29 Hovis granary bread — £1.25 2 x Royal Gala apples — 55p 3 x bananas — 30p Loose new potatoes — £1.82
TOTAL: £43.14
MUM OF TWO ON A BUDGET
Laura Diton, 32, is a stay-athome mother. She lives with partner robin, 32, a pilot, and their children Sienna, three, and George, seven months, in Sunburyon-thames, Surrey. She says: I know people look down on the junk food I buy. As the mother of two children under three, I’m well aware that there’s an expectation for me to fill my basket with tons of fruit and vegetables.
when they were first born, I started out with the best intentions, pureeing vegetables and fruit and avoiding sugar.
now, after one too many tantrums from my daughter about what she will and won’t eat, I’ve relented and now my typical basket, such as this one from Asda, is full of children’s convenience food.
There’s so much pressure today for mums to feed their children well-balanced meals, but the truth is, I haven’t got the time.
with a partner who works away from home for several nights at a time, I’m often the lone parent and I’ve had enough of making homecooked meals only for my daughter to turn up her nose at them. I also want to stick to a strict budget of £30 a week for all four of us.
My feeling is, that as long as my children have the occasional vegetable or piece of fruit, then I’m doing the best I can. Do I feel guilty? Yes, of course.
ANSWER: BASKET A
Mini Scotch eggs — £1.75 Cocktail sausages — £1.75 Dairylea Dunkers — £2.25 Nesquik milkshake — £1.50 Fruit Shoot drinks — £1.89 Spaghetti hoops — 50p Baked beans with sausages — 50p Mixed miniature breakfast cereals — £2 Smash instant potato — £1.95 Fish fingers — £2 Mini pizzas — £1.25 Chicken dippers — £3 Mini Potato Waffles — £2 Tomato Ketchup — £1.20 Rolo desserts — £1.30
TOTAL: £24.84
AFFLUENT GRANDPARENTS
Martin richeS, 53, owns a building company and lives near Fareham, hampshire, with wife rachael, also 53, who owns a hairdressing company. they have two daughters, aged 25 and 31, and three grandchildren, aged eight months, four and seven. he says: MY guIlTY pleasure is a trip to waitrose on Sunday. now we are in our 50s, with more disposable income and two fewer mouths to feed, buying delicious food has become a real indulgence.
while our daughters were growing up, Rachael always did the family food shop at Sainsbury’s and it’s incredible to think the weekly bill was only around £ 30. But we wouldn’t have dreamed of buying wine and pricey treats back then.
now, we spend around £150 a week on food. our tastes have become more discerning with age so a few years ago we defected to waitrose, lured by the various treats on the deli counter.
we spend our holidays in Spain and love to recreate tapas- style spreads at home, and uncork our favourite wine.
we’re not extravagant enough to buy champagne regularly, but if it’s on offer, we’ll splash out.
we’ve reached a stage in our lives where it’s the quality of the food that’s most important to us and we’re prepared to pay for that.
ANSWER: BASKET F
Ghillie & Glen Scottish smoked salmon — £5.99 Waitrose fillet steak (2) — £12.92 Unearthed Serrano ham — £2.99 Waitrose Manchego cheese — £5.25 Frigata pitted Halkidiki olives — £2.99 Waitrose sun-kissed tomatoes in olive oil — £3.49 Waitrose smoked salmon parcels — £2.95 Waitrose mini dressed Orkney crabs — £3.25 Waitrose creamy salmon terrine slices — £3 Bonterra organic Chardonnay white wine — £11.99 Cairanne Cote du Rhone Villages red wine — £9.99 Charles Lecouvey Champagne — £14.99 (was £22.99) Duchy organic pittas — 79p Duchy organic wholemeal seeded bloomer — £1.82 Duchy organic muesli — £2.85 Nescafe Azera coffee — £4.99
TOTAL: £90.25
SINGLE GIRL ABOUT TOWN
Emma Lane, 28, is a music teacher and lives with two flatmates in West London. She says: MY shopping basket may be befitting of Bridget Jones, but you won’t find any ready-meals-for-one in there. I prefer to eat more sophisticated food, which, although still falling into the category of the single woman, is at least healthy.
At weekends I head to any of about five nearby supermarkets — I’m not loyal to any of the big names — to do a weekly shop and if I fancy a treat, such as an indulgent chocolate dessert or delicious pre-made salad, I’ll go to M&S.
That tends to be at the start of the month when I’m flush. Come the final week before payday I’m more frugal, ditching luxuries so that I can afford the essentials such as fish, eggs, fruit and vegetables — bags of frozen veg tend to go much further.
on average I spend £30 a week on food, always writing a list to help with budgeting. I avoid carbohydrates, such as pasta, rice and potatoes because eating them makes me feel lethagic, but I do buy lots of lentils, chickpeas and quinoa.
I rarely eat out because of the expense and although I like wine or fizz as a tipple, I save alcohol for weekends when I have friends over. After all, I need a clear head when teaching in the week.
I love going to the supermarket and am quite the basket voyeur. not that I judge people. I’m more i nterested i n seeing i f there’s anything I might try myself.
ANSWER: BASKET B
Lindt Excellence 70% dark chocolate — £1.99 Bleiker’s smoked salmon — £4.20 Canti dry Prosecco — £6 Haagen-Daaz ice cream — £4 Whole Earth Crunchy Peanut Butter — £2.68 Waitrose anchovy fillets — £2.12 Elderflower cordial — £3.15 Courgettes — £2.35 Tzatziki (Waitrose deli) — £1.29 Spanish black olives — £1.49 Dr Oetker Ristorante frozen cheese and tomato pizza — £2.50 Galbani mozzarella — £1.50 Taiko sushi set — £6 Six free-range eggs — £2.40 TOTAL: £41.67