Asda Re-launches Its Value Range, But Armchair Warriors Aren't Impressed!
This post is heartfelt; it's not just an important post about a way to save money on your food shop; it's also a rant from me about being self-righteous and, frankly, a know it all armchair warrior!
You may well have seen that Asda has recently re-launched its Smart Price range of its value, own brand products, and changed the name to Just Essentials, with a distinctive packaging re-brand, showcasing a new bright and cheery yellow design.
The supermarket has launched nearly 300 products into its Just Essentials range, and at an ideal time, with the cost of living price increases kicking into family's budgets and the looming increase in the price of gas and electricity, meaning more and more people are trying to cut back on their expenses, with food being of a particular focus.
Not everybody seems as positive about the range as Asda hoped they would be. The yellow design has drawn a large amount of criticism online, with many people saying that the new colours will identify those shoppers who are on a budget and have resorted to having to buy the value products rather than bigger branded items, which they felt would somehow degrade the buyer and embarrass the customer while shopping in the store.
Several social media posts I've seen have been pessimistic about the packaging and have ended with the 'You'll never see me buying value ranges' comment.
I've also seen many posts stating that the food range is nothing but junk food and will only contribute to an unhealthy lifestyle and an increase in UK obesity.
These armchair warriors seem to be living the perfect life, able to fund a kitchen cupboard full of big brand, reassuringly expensive food products, with no need to worry about rising prices and shrinknation (the reduction in the size of a product whilst the product stays at the same price). I, for one, am very happy for them. However, I think we are on a different page, but I wasn't always!
I used to be of the opinion that value brands were rubbish, poor quality knock-offs of the brands I knew and enjoyed and was in a position financially not to worry about the cost of a food shop and was in a pretty good place.
In 2017 My business went bust, and I was bankrupt, and my life and view about money changed dramatically. I couldn't afford the big brand items; I lived on yellow stickers and value ranges, as that's genuinely all I could afford. I've lived the penny pinching, not sure where the next meal will come from type of life, and it's frankly horrific. So when a supermarket launches a value brand at prices that will make a big difference as to how well people will be able to eat, it makes my blood boil that a select number of people think it's acceptable to 'slag off a range' that will make an impact on the budgets of hundreds and thousands of people.
So why is the packaging yellow? It's not yellow for the upper class; I'm only buying Heinz baked beans to be able to watch and comment on poor people in the supermarket; it's been designed with such striking colours to make it easier for the shopper to quickly identify the Just Essentials range of products, making it easier to shop for the best-priced food for the shoppers family.
The comments regarding the 'junk food' element of the range are, as most of these types of comments often are, un-researched and generic, it takes just 1 minute to hop over to the Asda website and view the range of products available, and this will show a wide range of products, which most certainly aren't all junk foods at all, there is a wide range of fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, dairy, cereal, fish as well as the more processed foods, that every family might buy for fast dinners on a school night etc.
Eating healthy is just as possible with a value range as it is with a big branded product range. When your main focus is feeding your family on a strict budget, rather than worrying about the branding, product ranges such as Just Essentials are incredibly important.
Deals like the below bundle offers below, with spaghetti Bolognese ingredients for £3.91, meaning dinner for under £1 a head (for a family of 4), you have a hearty meal that won't break the bank!
Frankly, with a very uncertain few months ahead of us, with millions more people likely to be pushed into poverty, many more of us will likely be starting to rely on these types of value ranges, and having been there, I can assure you any savings you can make to keep food on the table, will make all the difference and be gratefully received.
To those ridiculing the products and cheap nature of the food items, frankly, shame on you; just remember, those that go up can also come down... I've done this, and I've learned the hard way. I pray that you don't have to experience the desperation of poverty, but remember what you said about value ranges when you are the one with bright yellow packages in your trolley, and be grateful for them.
For now, let's just shhhhh, let's stay quiet if we don't have anything constructive to say or anything that's going to solve the issue of poverty; I think we all have enough going on right now; additional negativity isn't helping, and if you are on the opinion that big brand is best, I'm sure the needy would be very grateful for you buying a couple of extra big brand items, and popping them in the food bank collection, to help share the wealth... Go on; I dare you...
You can view the full Asda Just essentials range HERE
I eat all the cheapest own brands but Asda is in my mind the worst quality. However, when budgets are tight it will get you through and that's pretty much all that matters going forward. Not sure about the colour problem although yellow is generally an odd colour choice in marketing terms. I thought all own brands stood out from their branded counterparts anyway.