3 ms·

IMHO the popularity of packaged sandwiches in the UK is largely driven by three factors: (1) English people have famously bad taste when it comes to food, and

IMHO the popularity of packaged sandwiches in the UK is largely driven by three factors: (1) English people have famously bad taste when it comes to food, and most of them are truly willing to eat crap. (2) Many English people are cash or time poor, and this stuff is everywhere for $cheap. (3) Grab-and-go style sandwiches in boxes are made using industrial processes in which high initial investment results in small margins per sale which are often maximized at the expense of taste, eg. waterjet cutting, commercial standardized ingredients (eg. heavily processed industrial cheeses and meat slices), etc. As purely commercial operations, they don't care about quality until it limits sales.

mattmanser 9y ago
No offence, but (1) hasn't been true for literally decades now, showing you to be a out of touch about the UK, which begs the question are you even vaguely right about 2 or 3?
- contingencies 9y ago
  Sorry but your comment does not accord with recent first hand experience.
  - louthy 9y ago
    Sorry but your recent first hand experience isn't compatible with the phrase "English people have famously bad taste when it comes to food". One person's experience doesn't usually make something famous. I agree with the GP that this isn't a fair characterisation any more.
    - heimidal 9y ago
      Like it or not, it's a prevailing stereotype in the US. After a trip to London a couple years back, I know that's not true, but the stereotype is going to take a long time to wear down.
      - louthy 9y ago
        Not arguing that it's not a stereotype that persists. I'm agreeing with the poster that said it's not a fair characterisation any more, which was then disputed.
      - eru 9y ago
        US food isn't really better than the British stuff. Go to South East Asian (or Asian in general?) to meet some peoples obsessed about food. Continental Europe might also count.
  - switch007 9y ago
    The second half of (1) is mostly true IMO. Greggs is immensely popular and does huge turnover (£835m in 2015). It is full of greasy, salty, sugary crap. Others in top 10 revenue include KFC, Dominos, Pizza Hut, Subway, Nandos (tasteless, pre-cooked chicken, overpriced, small side portions)
    - foldr 9y ago
      Sure, but Americans eat a lot of crappy fast food too.
- deleted 9y ago
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erasemus 9y ago
Check out Paul Robinson's comment for a general refutation. Given the popularity of 'artisanal'-type portable food preparations in both the UK and the US I think it unlikely the market could get away with such standards even at the low-end. I find your comment valuable though for the insight that bread products may be cut by waterjets: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrhThBHOGrU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrhThBHOGrU This is astonishing: surely sogginess ensues? Bonus bready humour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRq_SAuQDec https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRq_SAuQDec
- contingencies 9y ago
  He discusses how the packaged sandwich industry has improved in his perception based upon a single store (M&S). I was discussing the IMHO base reasons for the popularity of packaged sandwiches. Chalk and cheese. Regardless, on cost as a driver we explicitly concur.
  - erasemus 9y ago
    IMO the scandal here with these triangular containers is the 'three slice' sandwich, for example: https://img.tesco.com/Groceries/pi/441/5051140265441/IDShot_540x540.jpg https://img.tesco.com/Groceries/pi/441/5051140265441/IDShot_... The naive customer felt that he was getting two traditional sandwiches but course he only actually got 1.5
  - foldr 9y ago
    >He discusses how the packaged sandwich industry has improved in his perception based upon a single store (M&S) Britain has a lot more food chains with national reach than the US does. M&S has a huge share of the 'food to go' market in the UK. But in any case, the overall quality of prepackaged sandwiches definitely has improved over the past couple of decades, as I can attest from personal experience. Americans eat plenty of equally cheap and gross foods for lunch. I would personally much rather eat a prepackaged sandwich than something from this: http://8-food.com/product.php http://8-food.com/product.php
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mattmanser 9y ago

No offence, but (1) hasn't been true for literally decades now, showing you to be a out of touch about the UK, which begs the question are you even vaguely right about 2 or 3?

contingencies 9y ago
Sorry but your comment does not accord with recent first hand experience.
- louthy 9y ago
  Sorry but your recent first hand experience isn't compatible with the phrase "English people have famously bad taste when it comes to food". One person's experience doesn't usually make something famous. I agree with the GP that this isn't a fair characterisation any more.
  - heimidal 9y ago
    Like it or not, it's a prevailing stereotype in the US. After a trip to London a couple years back, I know that's not true, but the stereotype is going to take a long time to wear down.
    - louthy 9y ago
      Not arguing that it's not a stereotype that persists. I'm agreeing with the poster that said it's not a fair characterisation any more, which was then disputed.
    - eru 9y ago
      US food isn't really better than the British stuff. Go to South East Asian (or Asian in general?) to meet some peoples obsessed about food. Continental Europe might also count.
- switch007 9y ago
  The second half of (1) is mostly true IMO. Greggs is immensely popular and does huge turnover (£835m in 2015). It is full of greasy, salty, sugary crap. Others in top 10 revenue include KFC, Dominos, Pizza Hut, Subway, Nandos (tasteless, pre-cooked chicken, overpriced, small side portions)
  - foldr 9y ago
    Sure, but Americans eat a lot of crappy fast food too.
deleted 9y ago
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erasemus 9y ago

Check out Paul Robinson's comment for a general refutation. Given the popularity of 'artisanal'-type portable food preparations in both the UK and the US I think it unlikely the market could get away with such standards even at the low-end. I find your comment valuable though for the insight that bread products may be cut by waterjets: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrhThBHOGrU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrhThBHOGrU This is astonishing: surely sogginess ensues? Bonus bready humour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRq_SAuQDec https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRq_SAuQDec

contingencies 9y ago
He discusses how the packaged sandwich industry has improved in his perception based upon a single store (M&S). I was discussing the IMHO base reasons for the popularity of packaged sandwiches. Chalk and cheese. Regardless, on cost as a driver we explicitly concur.
- erasemus 9y ago
  IMO the scandal here with these triangular containers is the 'three slice' sandwich, for example: https://img.tesco.com/Groceries/pi/441/5051140265441/IDShot_540x540.jpg https://img.tesco.com/Groceries/pi/441/5051140265441/IDShot_... The naive customer felt that he was getting two traditional sandwiches but course he only actually got 1.5
- foldr 9y ago
  >He discusses how the packaged sandwich industry has improved in his perception based upon a single store (M&S) Britain has a lot more food chains with national reach than the US does. M&S has a huge share of the 'food to go' market in the UK. But in any case, the overall quality of prepackaged sandwiches definitely has improved over the past couple of decades, as I can attest from personal experience. Americans eat plenty of equally cheap and gross foods for lunch. I would personally much rather eat a prepackaged sandwich than something from this: http://8-food.com/product.php http://8-food.com/product.php

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