Stumble It!Bad Tesco.
I like cooking, and I prefer Olive oil or sunflower oil to blended oils or generic vegetable oils. I do most of my shopping in my local market and in local shops. I have a fabulous local cheese shop and local butchers as well.
But Tesco does fill gaps and their online ordering and delivery has proved a life saver now and then, and they are where I tend to get my cooking oil. The sunflower oil has always come in a plastic bottle. It’s a pain as our kerbside collection won’t take plastic and I freely admit that there are times when I simply can’t find the time or energy to take plastic to a bring site. But Olive oil was always in a glass bottle.
Which brings me back to tesco. Ours was always a large one and it had a large set of recycling bins at the back of the car park – it was often over full and it meant a few extra minutes for shopping but that’s ok. I could take my milk bottles and oil bottles and some other plastic.
But Tesco got rebuilt and it’s now the size of a small country….. With an enormous car park, hardly any bike space and the recycling bins have shrunk! To be fair I haven’t yet properly investigated their new techno recycling facilities that mean a convenient stop on the way in and look like you can pop your club card in and get some extra points for recycling. But the fact that there’s only space for about 3 cars, it’s often got carriers split and spilling beside it – doesn’t bode well. Still, now Christmas is over I’ll investigate it. Soon, I promise.
Now then, olive oil. It’s wonderful stuff, so useful and the flavour is lovely, and it often comes in glass bottles – which are so much easier to recycle as I can chuck them into my kerbside box and they just get taken away. Various brands of olive oil still do come in glass but they tend to be the extra virgin, premium brands. Tesco own brand used to come in glass, from the cheaper version to the super extra virgin variety.
Yesterday I needed to buy olive oil, so I put it on my list and we went shopping. We went into town and got most and then on to tesco for the last few bits, including the olive oil. I stood in the aisle with a look of shock, holding my bottle of olive oil, which squished in an unpleasantly plastic manner…..
It was a nasty plastic bottle. I decided I can cope without any until I can get to Lidl and get some of theirs, unless they’ve gone plastic as well (but I suspect not.)
But why? Why switch *to* plastic? Glass can be recycled into new glass bottles, why not promote your glass containers as recycled? Why not make it a selling point?
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January 5th, 2010 at 10:59 am
Totally agree Sarah, and this exact thing happened to me the other week, so I got the Filipo Berio brand instead. Costs more I know but the glass bottle will be collected from our kerbside. We still get sunflower oil in a plastic bottle though but I’ve started looking into where I can take these extra things – and started collecting things for a big drop off in a month or two – see http://www.sharonpavey.org/tetrapak-recycling-in-east-devon-2/
January 5th, 2010 at 11:18 am
Hi Sharon,
Thanks for dropping in. I was just so annoyed yesterday – the own brand is cheaper and we try to be careful with money as well as other things. I expect they were thinking no-one would notice.
January 5th, 2010 at 12:00 pm
I will no longer shop at Tesco unless I’m about to faint from hunger and every other shop in the world is shut! (which they soon will be if Tesco get their way!
If you have a Waitrose nearby they now sell their ‘Essential’ olive oil in a BIG glass bottle. Otherwise I buy olive/veg oil in bulk at a local Turkish Cash & Carry (ok if you live near London or city with ethnic communities) – but there are loads of companies who deliver online (just google ‘olive oil 5 litre’ or vegetable oil 5 litre’) – or if you REALLY want to save money you can buy a 20 LITRE BARREL!!
Only small gripe is the plastic handle and spout, which I lovingly (and carefully) cut off before recycling.
January 5th, 2010 at 12:03 pm
Hi Barney,
I don’t have space to store huge amounts, and no Waitrose – but I do have a wholesaler nearby and I’ll give them a try.
Thanks.
January 6th, 2010 at 10:12 am
What a pain; I hate it when things like this happen. Mornflake suddenly popped a see through plastic window in their cardboard boxes of oats. Grrrr; my call told me it was to make the product more competitive and attractive on the shelves. At least they were honest.
I think these manufacturers change to plastic because it’s lighter – so they play that up as the ‘green’ packaging aspect – it costs less to transport :/
January 6th, 2010 at 11:58 pm
Yep, I’m right there with you Sarah. However, lately I’ve switched to rapeseed oil. It comes in glass bottles the main brand (Hill Farm)is sold locally is based in Suffolk but I think you can get it nationwide. It’s great for roasting, dressings and baking too and makes a brilliant local substitute for olive oil, reporting to have 11 times more natural omega 3. And even if it’s in a heavy glass bottle, at least it hasn’t travelled as far as olive oil.
Have just found the website: http://www.hillfarmoils.com
January 7th, 2010 at 12:11 am
Ah, I have a quandary regarding oilseed rape – apart from hating the name, I mean, why call a plant Rape??? Rape is a violation, not a living thing. Anyway. The flowers make me sneeze and I loathe the acres and acres of mono crop that it generates.
Mind you I’m not convinced that sunflowers are that different in terms of mono cropping but they’re prettier.
January 7th, 2010 at 11:10 am
I’m glad I’m not the only one who’s had an issue with the name. I really had thought it was just me. I’ve just checked the wiki entry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapeseed and I think Brassica Napus is a much nicer sounding name. Interesting article, showing the pros and cons. Really feel for you re the sneezing. I’m convinced I’m a late hay fever sufferer since we moved to Suffolk. That might just be the link.
January 15th, 2010 at 5:39 pm
Grrrr, I hate plastic packaging! I think Sainsburies might do glass bottles in it’s larger stores under the ethnic food ranges, it’s worth a try if there is one near you. I’m lucky enough to live near a couple of Turkish greengrocers (I live in Tottenham) so I can get big glass bottles and even cans of olive oil – never have to go to the supermarket for the stuff. If I had my way there would be a Turkish greengrocer on every street in the land – though finding a plain old fashioned Brit one would be even more fabulous
My pet hate is how so many ketchups and other sauces are now in those stupid squeezy plastic bottles. I will shop around for ever it it means I can avoid buying those! (I am partial to a bit of brown sauce on my weekend fryup)
January 15th, 2010 at 5:42 pm
Hi Bird, welcome to my blog!
Ah, ketchup, the kids love it and perversely the tesco value one is in glass and not squeezy. Squeezy plastic honey is evil too…..
February 8th, 2010 at 10:24 am
I’m so glad others have been annoyed by this. I too went to tescos last week with olive oil on my shopping list and couldn’t believe they’d swopped to plastic bottles over glass. It’s just wrong – olive oil needs to be in glass!