Morrisons – time to give it a try

[Harters]

I often take the FiL for his weekly shop at Morrisons. Invariably, I sit in the caff with a coffee and a bacon barm till he's finished.

However, Mrs H suggested that we go and do some actual shopping. And how right she was.

There's an excellent range of herbs and unusual leafy vegetables, kept fresh by a misting device. There was veg that I had never even heard of. There was even a range of about half a dozen different beetroot. And more than that by way of chillis. And it was all very reasonably priced

The fishmonger's stuff looked good, as did the help yourself salad bar.

The range of bread was superb. As were the offerings on deli counter (which had Palma & Serrano ham on sale at £1.99 per 100g).

Now, of course, there's a lot of cheap crap on offer as well. I doubt if I'd buy much cheese there. And you wouldnt find free range or organic stuff amongst the meat (although tell me another supermarket that will sell you a pack of lamb bones for 50p, or have sheets of pig skin just to make crackling). So, you'd have to exercise some thought but go give it a try.

[bethesdabakers]

How many of the superb range of breads did you try?

Mick

Edited April 12, 2012 by bethesdabakers (log)

[thampik]

I think their fish counter is the best of the big supermarkets - they (apparently) get stock in every morning and have a pretty good variety of fish on offer.

Can't say I am enamoured of their bread at all - in fact, I think the only supermarket with decent bread is Waitrose.

[Harters]

How many of the superb range of breads did you try?

Mick

Two so far.

Far more extensive range than our usual Sainsbury's. And, without doubt, these two are better quality than anything turned out by the independnet baker in the village.

We don't buy too much bread as my partner bakes most of what we need. And, on that subject, I think Morrisons is the only supermarket where you can reliably get fresh yeast (as opposed to the packet yeast)

Edited April 12, 2012 by Harters (log)

[Al Nicol]

My local Morrisons has just had the 'refit' with the misting for vegetables. The selection of vegetables is amazing ... lots of things I have never heard of but want to try (and lots of things I've needed for recipes but never been able to source). I hope that they keep selling all of these things ... many of the vegetables are not 'everyday' ingredients and one has to wonder whether some of the more obscure things make any profit.

[Jenni]

Can you talk more about the veg on offer. Are any Caribbean and South Asian vegetables offered? Would be interested to know as the Tescos close to my family in the UK used to do an ok range but has gone down hill and it is now a pain to go and get such things from way into town.

[thampik]

Saw fresh turmeric (!), Okra, cassava/tapioca, scotch bonnet chillis at ours recently.

[Sidney]

John you are right they are worth a visit. Their fresh fish counter is good, they don't sell 'previously frozen' unlike Tesco and Waitrose. Their bread is properly seasoned unlike Waitrose where the 'food police' have moved in. A lot of their pastries are good, their cheese counter is crap and their wine buyer has no palate. When they took over Safeways they lost an excellent wine buyer who bought lovely wines at low prices, unfortunately I can't remember her name.

Edited April 15, 2012 by Sidney (log)

[PoppySeedBagel]

I have always avoided Morrison's since I grew up in Leeds, and in the 80s their shops sold lots of biscuits and not much else. Then they took over Safeway in our Surrey town about 8 years ago. I tried some of their fruit & vegetables, found them tasteless, so unless I really needed anything at short notice, always avoided shopping there.

However, it is surprisingly good for garden plants (superb clematis £1.79!), so I do still pop in and recently noticed they have increased & improved their fresh ranges - last weekend, I got some fresh galangal, & lots of chillis of different strengths, for example. Mind the flat leaf parsley was half yellow (cleverly packaged so I didn't notice too). And in season it's the place for Yorkshire forced rhubarb. Waitrose usually sells Dutch forced rhubarb - upon which, as a Yorkshirewoman, my opinions are unprintable.

[MaLO]

I quite like Morrisons. I did use Sainsbury mostly until they extended the store and started selling all sorts of clothes, electricals etc. It became a pain in the arse with families of day trippers so I only go if I have to.

Morrisons new veg range has some interesting items. Not sure how the produce will sell in the West Kirby branch though.

I picked up a couple of the dry aged British beef fillets yesterday - they were very good. I would think they were the best supermarket beef I have ever had. They were about £15 per lb and the two I bought cost £12ish. Very good.

I also order Turbot from time to time. I think it is farmed from Norway - it usually costs about £10 a kilo.

Not forgetting the Christmas Champagne offers - Bollinger under £20, Pipier £15.

[MartinGill]

Like PoppySeedBagel I too was traumatised by Morrisons in Leeds, especially when the Merrion Centre branch was my local supermarket in the 90's, shudder..... I certainly can't imagine a positive thread on egullet from those times.

But this thread and a billboard on the way home from my sons swimming lesson made me try the revamped Huddersfield branch this afternoon. Now 3pm on a rainy Sunday afternoon with 2 small children isn't ideal browsing time, but I'll be back one evening next week after their bedtime for a proper look.

Not sure if the water misting on the veg is a gimmick, but I loved the range of vegetables and herbs on offer. I'd always rated their fish and bread counters, but in the past the "market street" full of pre-packed veg and meat hadn't appealed, especially as it normally went off in a day or so. But they are now competing with my local Asian store for interesting ingredients but with easier parking, and the veg at the entrance is so enticing that I probably hunted out other ingredients that bit harder, whereas in the past I bought fish and bread and left as quickly as possible. Lots of interesting cuts in the meat counter which I'll explore in the future.

I hope the range on offer lasts, I'll certainly be visiting a lot more often if it does.

[Kerala]

Yeah, after years of snobbishness I have had to accept that actually at the moment it offers a more interesting range than the other supermarkets. Still love Waitrose, but I wonder if I'm letting them coast on past glories. Don't know how they make a profit on some of the stuff- fresh octopus and squid sold in a store smack bang in the middle of a (white)inner city. And at least their canned fish section isn't the usual wall of tuna.

[antdad]

Blimey, must look harder.

[Sidney]

Does anyone know the name and location of the wine lady that was working for Safeways when Morrisons took them over she was great on taste and price.I have tried at least twelve of Morrisons wines and not a good one amongst them?

[Chelseabun]

Morrisons is one of the better supermarkets in the UK. I do my regular shop there. I agree with the comments above and would add that it has improved greatly over recent times. I dont know why, but they do seem to have a very wide range of tinned rice pudding. Different brands / low fat / creamy /extra creamy / value / own brand etc.

[liuzhou]

Does anyone know the name and location of the wine lady that was working for Safeways when Morrisons took them over she was great on taste and price.I have tried at least twelve of Morrisons wines and not a good one amongst them?

Liz Robertson.

[thampik]

They also seem to be trialling a different store layout from the usual - I recently (briefly) stopped at the Aldershot Morrisons "Market Street" and wondered whether I had wandered into a French supermarket by mistake! There was a much wider set of produce and meat than at the usual Morrisons - lots of deli type counters, big bread selection, interesting varieties of tomatoes, beetroots, potatoes etc. Merits a full fledged shop soon...

link : http://www.morrisons.co.uk/market-street/

Edited June 12, 2013 by thampik (log)

[Sidney]

Thanks for that Liuzhou ,trouble is since she moved from Safeways she seems to have disappeared into the ether as an independant consultant a great loss very few of these MW are able to locate good wine at reasonable prices.

[PSmith]

Interesting. I only tend to use Morrisons for their excellent dry cleaning service. Next time I will have a good look round.

We went there only last month. The OH and I were lounging around in our track suits at home and then decided to take the dry-cleaning to Morrisons. Normally my tracksuit only gets worn indoors or at the gym, so I was just going to change into my jeans when the OH suggested we went as we were, as we would fit right in with the rest of the customers. LOL

[Michael S.]

Morrisons also stock some of the Natoora range of fruits/vegetables depending on if you're in a fancy enough store. I think also their deli counter stocks some Natoora stuff. Similar sort of range as what's on offer at Ocado.

I noticed the weird misting devices. I'm not sure they do much to benefit most/any of the vegetables and when I buy stuff my bags-for-life always end up with puddles in them after I grab some. I'm thinking they're mostly there for the "wow" factor as surely a chiller unit would function better at keeping things cool and fresh than the mist.

[Chelseabun]

Since i last posted on this topic, my local branch had a refit. I'm not sure it has improved though. I have given up on it and shop at Sainsbury's now. They ended a number of products i really like. Basically, i had no choice but to shop elsewhere to get what i wanted. The customer service in Morrisons can be variable too. The mist over the vegetables is baffling.

[Kerala]

My local Morrison's is rather confused at present. The misting devices are just a distraction and seem unhygeinic, but they still have proper chillis, root veg etc. The butchger's id s OK by UK supermarket standards- you can get pork cheek, ox tail, lamb shanks, duck and so on.The wine selection's gone downhill. The fish section's still more interesting than Tesco or Sainsbury's- octopus, squid, mackerel. The mega Tesco a little further away has a much better choice of ethnic foods (Japanese, SE Asian, Indian, Caribbean, Polski...) I can't really champion it as well as I hoped a couple of years ago.

(Wine selection's terrible in Tesco too now- it's all Tesco Finest!)

[Chelseabun]

My local Morrison's is rather confused at present. The misting devices are just a distraction and seem unhygeinic, but they still have proper chillis, root veg etc. The butchger's id s OK by UK supermarket standards- you can get pork cheek, ox tail, lamb shanks, duck and so on.The wine selection's gone downhill. The fish section's still more interesting than Tesco or Sainsbury's- octopus, squid, mackerel. The mega Tesco a little further away has a much better choice of ethnic foods (Japanese, SE Asian, Indian, Caribbean, Polski...) I can't really champion it as well as I hoped a couple of years ago.

(Wine selection's terrible in Tesco too now- it's all Tesco Finest!)

Thats interesting because i pretty much agree with that. If you have noticed it and i have noticed it, why cant they?

If i could make some changes, the first thing i would do is stop that mist nonsense. I would look at it's (morrisons) strengths such as the fish and butchers and strengthen them. I would reduce the range of the alchohol but make what is offered better. I would also make sure that the usual brands that people buy are stocked and boost the range of 'ethnic' and exotic groceries and vegetables. I cant always guarantee that i can buy corriander for goodness sakes!

Lastly but most importantly, i would get them to focus on customer service. It shouldnt be 'them and us'. they should listen to their customers. Just my opinion!