r/newzealand • u/NotDumbJustDyslexic • 1d ago
Opinion $11/kg for bones!
Beef bones were $8/kg a month ago. They take hours to cook then you have to pick the beef off the bones so it's not exactly convenient. But I could put enough meat into a stew or a soup for a meal and the kids could get some iron that's not plant based for a change. Meat shouldn't be a luxury. Offcuts shouldn't cost $11/kg when most of it are bones.
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u/Civil-Doughnut-2503 23h ago
Back in the day they gave them away.
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u/pepperbeast 23h ago
Yup. Not that long ago, if you bought meat at the butcher and asked for some bones, they'd pretty much just shovel some into a bag for you-- and you could eat pretty cheaply if you knew how to cook OK and liked shins, shanks, and the like.
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u/Aucklander1996 22h ago
I remember growing up and chicken wings/nibbles costing next to nothing. Dad would buy them by the kg and cook em up on the bbq.
Now they cost $15 for a small tray
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u/LordHussyPants 11h ago
yeah because no one wanted wings/nibbles when you were growing up, and now everyone things wings are a fashionable bit of chicken fare because that's what the yanks do. but there's only two per bird, so they're not exactly cheap are they?
get thighs instead, skin on, bone in. $5/kg if you're lucky, but always $10 or less at paknsave. more meat, tastier, and won't break the bank.
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u/Civil-Doughnut-2503 23h ago
Yeah lol.
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u/pepperbeast 23h ago
Everything we used to rely on to be cheap is so pricey now... you can't even scrounge.
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u/grenouille_en_rose 23h ago
If we made it more expensive for supermarkets to waste food than to sell it at prices people could afford we'd have so much more food security in this country
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u/Drongo365 23h ago
Good idea. Although remember the countdownnshaming recently where they were selling deli shorts etc and people lost there minds. So they stopped that and now probably biff them.
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u/moist_shroom6 23h ago
Hardly any food goes to waste in supermarkets.
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u/Sun-Rabbit 22h ago
I have worked in supermarkets. A lot gets wasted.
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u/moist_shroom6 12h ago
I've worked in dozens of supermarkets over a few decades and the waste is really fuck all. Both Woolworths and Foodstuffs have food diversion programmes. A huge amount of food goes to food banks, the rest goes to green waste, worm farmers or pig farmers. Food doesn't go into the skip unless it's out of temp or has damaged packaging.
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u/SUMBWEDY 19h ago
Meat waste though?
I get bread, but a supermarket wouldn't overorder expensive shit like meat just to throw it away.
The reason beef is expensive is because the climate is changing (and huge droughts in the Americas) and it takes a fuck tonne of resources to get beef.
Chicken drumsticks is still $7/kg much more reasonable.
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u/AI_moderated_failure 22h ago
I seriously doubt this. Maybe in terms of volume but my local has huge bins of just baked items at the end of the day. I imagine the seafood and deli bins are much worse on a $/kilo of waste.
Some supermarkets seem much more proactive at marking down food that will expire soon, I will give you that, some don't bother at all.
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u/Chiralistianity 14h ago
I seriously think each step in the supply chain should have to show just how that $10.99 was made.
Pak'n'Save should show how much they bought it for, show what costs they've added, how much profit they're taking, and how much they're selling it for.
Then whoever they bought it from, should show theirs.
We should be able to track down the biggest contributors to the cost of all these things.
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u/Weird_Grapefruit2226 6h ago
Theyve published a general overview of how every dollar is spent:
A database showing their evil nature wouldn't stop them. The only way would be government regulation, or a non profit competitor
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u/Chiralistianity 4h ago
A database would mean they can't hide it. We would know exactly where they're trying to screw us over.
They like to hide behind "Oh we only make $2-3 per family" which I believe disguises that some products make little profit while others make a lot. A database shows that.
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u/Lord-of-Fools 20h ago
I remember when beef cheeks were 50c each. I made so many delicious stews with them. Now they're $12 a kilo 🙃
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u/NotDumbJustDyslexic 19h ago
$26 at our supermarket. I was so irrationaly mad at the likes of Annabelle Langbild (how ever it spelt) for making them trendy. They were my go to as a student and they went from $6 to $18 what felt like overnight
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u/Maus_Sveti 18h ago
Annabel Langbein I think. The weirdest thing is, I was in a taxi in Prague last year and when I said i was from NZ the driver started going on about how great Annabel Langbein is! No idea if it’s just him or she’s secretly huge in Czechia.
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u/LordHussyPants 11h ago
why would you be mad at a cookbook author for helping people cook better with what's available to them
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u/nzedred1 23h ago
We have a mobile butcher that drives round the local rural towns, sells bones for 5 bucks for about 10kg. Shop around if your able there's better than the supermarkets out there.
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u/Much-Chip-2648 1d ago
Most of these will end up in the bin out back, and that’s a hell of a lot better than just selling them for 3/kg
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u/Own_Round_7600 23h ago
And thats why im always afflicted by temporary blindness whenever i see someone skipping a scan at the selfchecks. The supermarkets started playing bad faith money games first.
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u/Esquire_NZ NZ Flag 19h ago
I just assume that as a non employee they haven't been correctly trained to use the equipment.
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u/Much-Chip-2648 22h ago
I’m normally fairly pro law and order in a society but I could care less about seeing someone steeling from these big corporations that rip us off everyday.
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u/NotDumbJustDyslexic 23h ago
That is terrible. I imagine someone calulated that having no cheap options means over all higher profits as people don't really have much options.
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u/Rhinosus13 23h ago
The supermarkets only make a million dollars a day, how can the expect to keep the doors open we should feel honoured they let us pay that much /s
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u/zxspectrum_16k 16h ago
Noticed a stark increase in the number of scraps being sold to us, as the proper cuts are being priced out of reach for many.
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u/torolf_212 LASER KIWI 4h ago
Even mince is becoming a luxury item, and that's just ground up scraps.
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u/Pendulum_Heart 23h ago
good for making broth though
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u/coela-CAN pie 13h ago
Yeah when I make beef stew and broth I buy bones specifically. Annoying that they are so expensive though. I can't justify paying that for bones albeit meaty bones.
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u/ploarbear 22h ago
I recently stopped buying my meat during the supermarket shop and use the local butcher now. Feel so foolish for not doing this all along. Better price, quality, service, the lot. Support your local butcher and f these supermarkets.
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u/ChetsBurner 19h ago
Better price? Nahhh, all our local butchers sell for significantly more than the supermarkets. They are much nicer quality though.
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u/adj_n_no 17h ago
Eh. What's your local butcher? We have The Mad Butcher who is really no better value... Or a bunch of bougie places that are even more dear!
I still find the best value is between the Asian supermarket and Pak N Save... The former only recommended if you're actually cooking asian food though. Because fatty mince in a dumpling is delicious (and below $10 a kilo!), but fatty mince on spag bol? Not so much!
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u/OfficeEquivalent6385 12h ago
My local butcher way cheaper than woolies. Dont buy any meat from wools unless a heavy special
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u/Lopsided-Toe-8440 5h ago
Our mad butcher generally has a rotation of specials like chicken breast around $10 kg legs or thighs around $5 pork belly around $10 and minced around $10. We stock up on whatever is on special and put it in the freezer. Usually use about $5 meat per meal for three people.
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u/torolf_212 LASER KIWI 4h ago
Nearest butcher to me is about 20 minutes out of my way on my drive home from work where I drive directly past two supermarkets. The extra cost in gas and time make a butcher really not worth it
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u/aggravati0n 21h ago
Yeah they're taking the piss. Having said that wifey gets good results including $4/kg chicken frames
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u/Brickzarina 23h ago
My supermarket has had a fancy shelving upgrade and expensive landscaping, so pissed off that they had the huge profit to spend on it.
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u/Feetdownunder 23h ago
Gosh we really need to freshen up our soup skills in these “gruel”ling times
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u/standard_deviant_Q 20h ago
Yeah... I'd just buy chicken breast on sale for $12kg instead.
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u/theinvisablewoman 6h ago
So gross woody and flavourless, if im really struggling i sometimes buy it and mince it for chicken meatballs but mostly avoid over a vege based meal
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u/i_love_mini_things 19h ago
Whole chicken legs are on sale for $5/kg at my local PnS this weekend
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u/harmlessharold 18h ago
Garbage quality though
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u/theinvisablewoman 6h ago
Absolute garbage, but if you strip them off the bone you can turn them into tasty meals with essence of meat, slightly better than what passes as chicken breast. I like using them for curries and soups.
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u/steev506 23h ago
Unsold or expired supermarket items are officially written off in accounting terms, meaning their recorded value is reduced or removed from the store's books as a business loss. Writing off unsold inventory helps a supermarket by lowering its tax bill, which is why you see trash selling at huge makeups all the time.
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u/OdoLegIt 23h ago
Expired items are a loss as the product has to be thrown out. Dunno why you're lying
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u/DislikeTurtles 23h ago edited 22h ago
Correct. The bones were going to be thrown out as waste. Instead, mark them up at $10 a kilo and put them on the shelf. Nobody buys them, they get thrown out but now they're not a waste product, they're expired stock and can be written off as a taxable expense.
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u/PalpitationGreen 22h ago
This makes zero sense. Not selling something at $10/kg at best saves you $2.80 in reduced company tax if you're profitable (and assuming they can fully write off expired inventory at the price they set, which I doubt).
Selling them at $3/kg is more profitable than not selling them.
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u/Spoommam 21h ago
Bro people just genuinely believe that if a super market doesn't sell something, they just get to pretend they never paid for it. These guys are the type of people who probably still believe the classic "a undercover cop has to tell you if they're undercover"
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u/mpledger 14h ago
Bones aren't a waste product. You roast them and then put them in a big pot with water/vegetables/spices to create stock. Stock is used for stews and soups.
Homemade stock is way better than store bought but it takes so much time.
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u/Crovalli 23h ago
Ah yes, a Facebook accounting degree! This is so so so misinformed to the point its toxic that you're saying this
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u/Nickillaz 22h ago
Are they wrong? And if they are, what is the right info?
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u/JamesWebbST 22h ago
Somehow the first poster seems to think writing stock off means tax losses, but selling those written off stock at high mark up attracts no taxes.
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u/PalpitationGreen 22h ago
Even if you can write off the full value of expired inventory it's only saving you the 28% of the value of the sale you would have paid in corporate tax (assuming they're profitable).
Any business is objectively better off selling at cost price then throwing out inventory.
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u/Crovalli 19h ago edited 19h ago
You can't just "drop inventory" and call it a loss. Changes in inventory value don't even make it down to the expenses line(s), they live in the COGS line. Now to preface this I am not an accountant by trade (i.e., a CA/CPA), however have a degree and the add-ons in the subject, and work in an analytical role where we pick apart financial statements to determine lending suitability.
Writing off inventory would make it to the P/L by being a COGS item, but wouldn't be an OPEX item, so wouldn't be deductible for tax purposes. Writing off inventory would change your COGS, however this just adjusts your (gross) revenue line, not your gross profit line, thus not really having the same implication on tax OC meant.
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u/Leading-Recover-154 16h ago
According to accounting standards, inventory must be valued at the lower of cost or Net Realisable Value.
So marking up inventory doesn’t work like that because the most they can do is cost price, which is below their regular selling price.
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u/Consistent_Look8058 19h ago
Yes, they’re wrong. The amount of waste in comparison to volume that moves through a supermarket is extremely minimal. Less than 1.5%.
They don’t have the time or capability to engage an accountant to manage the accounting exercise of writing off stock for tax purposes, unless the amount of stock in question is materially significant.It’s literally cheaper to reduce it to clear before just throwing it in the compactor out the back.
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u/DirectionInfinite188 21h ago
That’s not how it works… You can’t write something off for more than it cost you…
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u/kevlarcoated 12h ago
That's not really how accounting works. Anything that expires and doesn't get done gets written off sure but that meat outright has near 0 book value anyway. If they buy 100kg of meat for $1000 and then sell 90kg of meat for $1200 and scrap the last 10kg they still pay taxes on the $200 profit. If they sold that last 10kg for $50 then they would have made $250 and would pay tax on that but they would better off. Selling the meat for any amount makes them more money unless they have agreements with their suppliers that mean they only pay for what they sell or something similar, then selling extra would need to meet that cost at least to be worth while, but even then selling it at cost could be beneficial for cashflow
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u/NotDumbJustDyslexic 23h ago
Far out I didn't know this. That shouldn't be legal for supermarkets especially given the huge profits, and there market share.
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u/JamesWebbST 22h ago
And now you'll perpetuate a lie because you believe a random person on the internet
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u/Routine-Ad-2840 23h ago
crazy because this just means they can put any price they want on it and if it sells or not then they make money......
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u/DislikeTurtles 23h ago
They couldn't put *any* price on it. The taxman is going to raise an eyebrow about bones being sold at a price a hundred times that of the nearest competitor. Putting a price on it that's "reasonable" is completely legal.
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u/Routine-Ad-2840 21h ago
yeah and who defines what is reasonable? the average price of all the supermarkets? because the prices today would seem pretty unreasonable 5 years ago, but they are not due to all the supermarkets shifting public perspective by raising prices at the same time, sure they won't say the meats worth a million to write it off as tax.
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u/m0u55eboy 13h ago
This is because people used to get them for very cheap or even free with their shop.
Then the owner finds out….
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u/Low_Negotiation_3629 11h ago
Meanwhile, lamp bones...
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HUpnNmabYAA7Gt-?format=jpg&name=medium
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u/C-3PO-TheBoxer 3m ago
Try this place if you are in Auckland https://maps.app.goo.gl/cFGZWxyJhH4mUGf98?g_st=ic
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u/4milepoint 21h ago
Just make sure you get 5 batches of soup out of them. Add oxo cubes x batch number to improve flavor. $11 is a bargain then.
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u/Maximum-Catch-6135 23h ago
They’re a for profit business, they will sell at whatever price people are willing to pay 🤷♂️
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u/Kiwi_Tekno 23h ago
All business are "for profit". Doesn't mean gouging is excusable.
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u/Maximum-Catch-6135 23h ago
Ehh, beef bones aren’t exactly a necessity, so I personally don’t mind in this instance… things like milk, bread, sanitary products, fuel… sure
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u/AI_moderated_failure 22h ago
If the rest of the meat is expensive then you are left with chicken and vege as your entire diet. I think it's pretty shitty we have this attitude that poor people aren't even allowed nice things to eat anymore.
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u/Maximum-Catch-6135 22h ago
Their comment was beef bones shouldn’t be a luxury… you’ve taken my comment in the wrong direction so apologies for that!
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u/AI_moderated_failure 22h ago
You may not have intended that but it's part of a wider trend I am seeing where people act like people on lower incomes aren't supposed to be buying enjoyable food items. Not being a luxury doesn't mean it automatically is a necessity, but my point is that poorer people typically treat themselves with food because they're unable to afford the treats wealthier people use like travel and experiences/live entertainment. We are approaching the point where even some good food is out of reach from the genuinely poor and attitudes like they shouldn't be spending on meat products if they're poor is quite cruel when they may not have anything else to look forward to that month. It genuinely feels like how are you going to diversify your investments if you keep spending all of your money on avocado toast.
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u/seamusclesplease 23h ago
Worth $2/kg. Pretty sure they used to sell these as “dog bones”