Barnsley wrote:
Its a pity TESCO didnt have a crack at the Singapore supermarket scene ... if only for a short while.
The logistics and cost of supply-chain management must be immense. Plus they need huge sales-volume (which isn't there) to pay the rents for shop-space, places where the clientèle are likely to frequent.
Tesco are quality but non-fancy and sensibly priced (no vast margin). M+S are fancy, and come with a premium sized margin. Ditto+ Waitrose. This is why I think mainstream western supermarkets can't find and keep a market out this way. Either it's premium stuff, or it goes bust.
Waitrose (a high premium but no poncey-nonsense brand in the UK) 'JV'ing' their products via Cold Storage, is probably one way to go.*
*Example: If I want to bake say a Marmalade Cake to have with ice cream as a dessert at a dinner party, would I pay say $12 for said jar of Waitrose jam? Yeah... probably, as I know it will be perhaps the best supermarket marmalade in the world, and as that ingredient is the pivot of the recipe, hence it's worth it. And whilst I'm down the shop, I'm bound to want to grab a dozen other unplanned/impulse buys...
p.s. I used to have a mantra - 'never go food shopping in M+S when you're hungry' ...