The price to slice
Just a short post today. This afternoon, I was carefully doing my grocery shopping (sticking to the list, of course!!). Whilst darting purposefully from shelf to shelf, I saw someone with pre-sliced carrots in their basket. No big deal, huh?
Strangely, it REALLY annoyed me! To me (completely over-dramatically) it represented everything about the publicโs inability to make smart financial decisions. How hard is it to pick up a knife people? Seriously?ย Ok, time to calm downโฆ
But, it got me thinking. Every supermarket now sells EVERYTHING already sliced, chopped, diced, grated or peeled already for you and charges you for the pleasure.
This seems crazy, but the supermarkets keep selling and the consumer keeps filling up the basket with them.
Letโs have a look at a comparison of some everyday products to determine the actual price to slice:
An average mark-up of 101% to save you getting out a knife.
Should we buy ready prepared?
Based on the cost, no. But, can anyone explain to me why you would do this?
The only argument I can think of is time-saving and the monetary value of time.
For instance, to peel and cut 500 grams of carrots maybe takes 5 minutes. From the figures above, this means that you are valuing your time at ยฃ12.84 per hour. Therefore, I suppose that if you can prove that you can generate more than ยฃ12.84 in income per hour, and in the time you would be usually cutting carrots, then itโs worthwhile to buy ready sliced.
What do you guys think? Waste of money or a good way to save time?
* Interesting to note that sliced bread IS the best thing since sliced bread!!
DC @ Young Adult Money says
I know that the supermarkets that I go to have pre-sliced fruit and veggies. I can’t bring myself to pay for it, tho, because it’s at least twice as expensive.
moneystepper says
I don’t think I know a supermarket which doesn’t sell these in one form or another now.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who won’t buy them!
Leslie says
First of all, I absolutely LOVED how you broke all of this down to figure out logically the ‘why’ behind why in the World people choose to buy these in the first place.
I think the same thing when I go to the grocery store! Plus, I feel like once I cut something up, it will go bad faster if I don’t use it quickly. I like my fruits and veggies in tact thank you! :p
Granted, I truly believe most people do not realize how much more they are paying for pre-sliced produce, but I have to say, if I was debt free with a large passive income coming in each month, I may get some pre-sliced produce every once in awhile. Why not indulge?
Glad to see that I’m not the only one this strikes a nerve with! ๐
moneystepper says
Thanks Leslie. I was completely against it and I didn’t even think about the pre-prepared fruit & veg going off quicker as well!
I’m personally debt free and have a passive income, but I can think of about a trazillion things to indulge on instead of this. Like, you know, ANYTHING else. ๐
Jeremiah says
Yea I definitely just slice it myself. It’s way too expensive for them to do it for you.
Mrs. Pop @ Planting Our Pennies says
I think sometimes it comes down to how much you’re going to use. If you’re just you (or even two people) and want some fresh fruit salad, are you going to buy a watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, bag of grapes, a pineapple, and lb of strawberries? No way. Most of it would go bad before you could eat it all. So you indulge occasionally and buy a prepared fruit salad every once in a while (for us, when it’s BOGO). Eating single serving fruit (apples, bananas, pears, etc) can get boring and every once in a while we get the fruit salad as a treat. By having them do the work, the treat ends up being less wasteful and thus less expensive.
moneystepper says
Thanks for the comment Mrs Pop and good point.
Especially if the fruit salad is on offer and the original isn’t, making a mix for one or two people could indeed be a sensible option.
Kevin @ Growing Family Benefits says
I can hear my mother growling at me! She is the ultimate penny-pincher and never buys anything pre-sliced for the very reasons you suggest. Bottled water is her favorite rant.
Of the list you presented the mashed potatoes seem like the best trade-off between time and money. You have to peel the potatoes, boil, and mash them. The markup on the carrots is almost comical.
moneystepper says
She seems like a good role model!!
Yeah, I guess so with the mash. However, they are probably loaded with extra butter to make them taste better and salt to preserve them, so we have to think of the health factor as well.
Laurie @thefrugalfarmer says
What a terrible waste of money!!! This bugs me the most when I’m at parties. I see the prepared trays of sliced veggies and fruits, or cheese and meats, and I just cringe! Honestly, I’d rather spend an hour chopping everything up than waste that cash. And now you’ve shown that it really does make a huge impact on your budget! Great stuff!
Holly@ClubThrifty says
I don’t buy the precut stuff anymore because it’s more expensive. And since there are four of us, we almost always eat all of the produce we buy. My kids are used to it and they love walking around eating whole carrots (not the baby kind!).
moneystepper says
I’m pretty sure that eating whole carrots bugs bunny style is cool for kids these days!! ๐
Grayson @ Debt Roundup says
This is simply the cost of convenience. People pay big money for convenience and each supermarket knows this. They test these products out, see if they sell and then they expand. It is the same reason why fast food is so popular. People want things easy.
moneystepper says
That’s true. If they didn’t sell well, the supermarkets wouldn’t sell them. However, I’m still going to remain annoyed at the people who buy them!! ๐
Andrew@LivingRichCheaply says
I feel the same way…just pick up a knife, it’s not that complicated. I can kind of see it if you are buying it pre-sliced and eating it right then and won’t have the opportunity to cut it yourself. But I still don’t do this for sanitary reasons. Recently, here in NYC, there was a hepatitis warning at a supermarket because a worker who sliced the fruits had hepatitis. My co-worker bought pre-sliced apples and had an allergic reaction…he thinks that the apples probably weren’t cleaned properly
moneystepper says
Yet more reasons not to… thanks Andrew.
Simon @ Modest Money says
Rarely would I buy pre-sliced! To me its an assault on the joys of cooking ๐ (Big fan). There is something just therapeautic about dicing, slicing, pounding, cutting and doing other kitchen stuff, there is a joy to it and I can almost swear you can feel the love and dedication that have gone into a meal! (just saying)
Its cheap and fun doing it yourself or doing it with family.
moneystepper says
I couldn’t agree more Simon. The closer you are to the source, the better everything tastes (at least mentally)!!
And that is the first time I’ve heard “pounding…in the kitchen” as being therapeutic!! Hahaha….
Budget and the Beach says
I’ll buy pre-sliced/prepared stuff if I’m heading to a potluck or some other kind of party and I don’t have time to do it myself, but otherwise yes it just costs too much.
Lyle @ The Joy of Simple says
I guess the consumer is paying for the convenience, especially if one is in a hurry to get a meal on the table. And to be honest, except for a few consumer conscious like yourself, I actually wonder if people give it two thoughts. Those who do, will be non-prepared produce, fruits and vege’s while others will grab what’s right there in front of them. This is obviously what the grocers want and unless everybody stops buying prepared foods, there’s always going to be a “healthy” mark-up for the business.
Thanks for an interesting post moneystepper and I liked how you broke it down into a “wage” value ๐
Take care and all the best.
Lyle
moneystepper says
Thanks for stopping by Lyle and I’m glad you enjoyed the post.
I don’t really blame the supermarkets as this is clearly something people want. Like you, I just don’t think that people consider the cost of this practically pointless want.
mochimac @ save. spend. splurge. says
Time saving is the only thing I can see, but I am loathe to pay for it (in fact, I never have…) It just seems so ridiculous unless I were starving, on the road, a tourist without a cutting board and knife or a home, and craving fruit.
Marissa@Financetriggers says
I’m all for saving time and all that convenience stuff but there’s a limit to that especially if it will cost me money I worked so hard for. If it’s as simple as cutting or peeling produce then definitely a big NO! Why should I pay for something I can easily do and actually have the time to do it.
moneystepper says
Thanks for the comment Marissa. A big NO! I like it!!
Financial Independence says
It’s not technically sliced, but I normally buy grated cheese in addition to a block of it. It’s more expensive, but I find that pre-grated cheese lasts far longer in the fridge than a block or personally grated cheese. I think it might be due to them loading it with more preservatives – probably not good for you but definitely convenient when you don’t need to frequently throw out mouldy cheese.
moneystepper says
Yeah, it always worries me even more when the sliced or grated products last longer. That’s not what my science class I took when I was 8 taught me should happen….
dojo says
WASTE OF MONEY ๐
We cook everything from scratch at home and purchase our produce as it is naturally. It doesn’t take too much to slice it, not to mention most of the time it’s more fresh. I have seen sliced apples in small bags. My little experience with this shows that an apple oxidizes in MINUTES where it was cut. So, instead of having it ‘treated’ with various things to keep it fresh, I’d rather pick one up and slice it myself. It’s cheaper and healthier.
MakintheBacon says
The only time I would ever buy pre-cut sliced veggies and fruit would be for a potluck. Other than that I would do it myself. The only two things I think that would be worth buying sliced on the list are watermelon and pineapple, because I find those kind of hard to slice. ๐
Jon says
The markup for pre-sliced fruit is just outrageous… it boggles my mind that people actually buy that stuff! I suppose though that lots of people do, or else they wouldn’t do it. In some cases, it seems like you might pay as much as double… even if it’s really easy to cut yourself!
S. B. says
Clearly that is quite a markup just to slice produce. On the other hand, I suppose for people who really dislike cooking, it’s still a whole lot cheaper than eating out at a restaurant.
JMK says
We’re a DIY gang in the kitchen. I’m just too frugal to spend the extra for someone to do something so basic.
The only time we make an exception is when we travel. When camping, a bag of prewashed mixed lettuce greens is the easiest way to have a salad without proper kitchen. When we’re on holiday in a strange city we often assemble a picnic lunch from items in a grocery store. Sometimes we hit the bakery and deli for buns, meat and cheese. Other times we’ll get a variety of premade salads at the deli and some crackers or bread and pate or dip. We’ve never bought premade fruit salad, instead we all just choose a piece of fruit that doesn’t need cutting or washing (bananas usually).