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Why Americans pay more for lunch than Britons do
- neonate 7y agohttp://archive.is/WpkDd http://archive.is/WpkDd
- j7ake 7y agoAverage salaries in big cities in US Ie.g., New York City) are higher than UK (e.g., London). It would make sense that lunch prices would be adjusted to reflect this difference.
- sjg007 7y agoHuh? The article mentions increased competition for sandwiches in the London market.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- falcongod082 7y agoThat would explain why the sammiches were cheaper. American companies despise competition.
- inferiorhuman 7y agoThe article also mentions greater demand as the reason for the increased competition.
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- AstralStorm 7y agoUltimately, the lobster sandwich is a luxury good. People wanting to save can make their own sandwiches and bring them in a lunch box. So a lot of it comes down to local positioning and some to marketing. Some to labor costs.
- falcongod082 7y agoNot really, in the end it comes down to the person who decides what price to put on the sammich.
- AstralStorm 7y agoYes, because it is a luxury good, an expensive sandwich can even be in more demand than a cheaper one, even if all other things stay the same such as its composition. "Hip" sandwiches and salads are a thing.
- Thlom 7y agoI'm in Norway, and tradition until relatively recently has been to bring a few slices of bread with ham, cheese, pate or whatever wrapped in paper. Sometimes left overs from dinner the day before. Almost always consumed in a canteen with your co-workers. More recently many work places have a canteen with both hot and cold food for a discounted price. If you don't have access to a canteen the shops sell relatively cheap sandwiches or micro wave lunches.
- tonyedgecombe 7y agohttps://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20190103-the-norwegian-art-of-the-packed-lunch https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20190103-the-norwegian-... It isn’t very flattering about your sandwiches.
- Thlom 7y agoYeah, it’s pretty boring.
- seanhandley 7y agoInteresting tangent: Lobsters were once so ubiquitous (both in Europe and the US) that they were considered a food of the poor. There are even records of servants petitioning their masters to not be fed lobster more than 3 times per week. Supply and demand, I suppose.
- FuckButtons 7y agoHaving lived in London and San Francisco I can say that from my perspective there is a real problem with getting affordable, convenient and descent sandwiches in the US. They’re ubiquitous in England, every shop has pre packaged sandwiches and few are inedible. Most people who work in the city can grab something cheapish from pret that’s pre made and tastes good. I’m yet to find anything remotely equivalent here, prepackaged food is often just made really badly, from low grade ingredients so much so it’s not worth taking a punt on half the time. So you wind up paying more for something that just got made in front of you because the alternative will make you regret buying it. It’s a waste because most of the working week all you really want is something that will get you through till clocking off time that you can buy and eat quickly so you’re not wasting too much of your time out of the office.
- Svip 7y agoThis is actually one of my favourite things about road tripping around Europe; you can just pull in at a random service station and get affordable, convenient half-decent sandwiches (sometimes even decent ones!). In my experience, the only real significant ticket item on a European road trip is the fuel price. Even accommodations are generally a lot cheaper than their US counterparts.
- seszett 7y agoUsually you can go to a bakery and get a much better sandwich, from fresh ingredients and usually much cheaper than what you'd get prepackaged.
- maccard 7y agoPretty much every town or villiage in the UK has a Tesco/boots/coop, all of which offer pre packaged sandwiches for less than £2. I don't think I've ever come across a bakery that sells pre made sandwiches for that price. YMMV on the mainland though
- NeedMoreTea 7y ago
- JSavageReal 7y agoThe article doesn't really answer the question other than stating that there's more competition for sandwiches in London. Would've been nice to at least see some data to support that.
- seanhandley 7y agoDid you read the whole thing? I'm trapped in front of the paywall. Was there a conclusion?
- inferiorhuman 7y agohttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20897889 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20897889
- distances 7y agoYou can read it via Pocket at least, that's pretty convenient on Android.
- bowlich 7y agoI'm in the Southwest and $6 from any Mom & Pop Mexican cafe will net you a carnita burrito the size of your head and take two days to eat. Maybe the Lobster rolls are bigger?
- ngngngng 7y agoThat's great, but it's beside the point. Maybe give the article a read?
- rinkleby56 7y agoIt isn't really though. The article suffers from very small sample size (one restaurant chain that's relatively unknown in the US). At the least, the grand title of the article is not justified
- gaspoweredcat 7y agoconversely why do Americans pay so little for electronics? when researching to buy a new laptop about a year ago there was over a £500 difference on an identical model between the US and UK. Here are a few random examples of tech prices i just pulled up Playstation 4 Pro: UK £349.99 US $364.99 (£291) ~£59 difference (amazon com/co.uk) Thinkpad X1 Carbon G7 (base spec): UK £1429.99 US $1179.99 (£949) ~£480 difference (lenovo com/co.uk) HiFiman HE-400i Headphones: UK £329 US $179.99 (£145) £184 difference (amazon com/co.uk) Sandisk 400Gb Micro SD card: UK £67.95 US $48 (£38) £30 difference (amazon com/co.uk) if that were your shopping list youd save a total of £753 by buying in the US, which is enough to fly LON-NY with not far off £500 left over! (LHR-JFK BA/Finnair Nov 4th-8th £270 Skyscanner.co.uk) you guys have it pretty good over there even if you pay more for some food most other things are drastically cheaper than here in the UK. The phrase "Rip Off Britain" is very much true, we and i believe much of Europe get a pretty raw deal on the prices of things like houses, technology, cars etc
- DanBC 7y agoJust checking but did you include any sales taxes? UK prices normally include VAT. I'm not sure whether US prices include sales tax.
- pbhjpbhj 7y agoSeems from https://www.tax.ny.gov/pubs_and_bulls/publications/sales/local_rates_current.htm https://www.tax.ny.gov/pubs_and_bulls/publications/sales/loc... that the total sales tax depends on where the customer receives it, for Manhattan it's ~8.6% total including the 4% that goes to the state. https://www.tax.ny.gov/pubs_and_bulls/publications/sales/local_rates_current.htm https://www.tax.ny.gov/pubs_and_bulls/publications/sales/loc... That still looks like a substantial [raw monetary] saving by causing massive amounts of pollution and flying to USA to shop. I don't know whether customs would impound your stuff when you get back and demand import duties be paid?
- AnssiH 7y agoThe tax-free import limit in EU for air travel is 430 EUR after which you have to pay VAT (and duties, if applicable). I bet many don't do that, though...
- tonyedgecombe 7y agoIsn’t this the case for most food, we have a very competitive food retail sector in the UK.
- thinkingemote 7y agoI would like to see the same analysis on the difference between how much they spend on dinner.
- lanevorockz 7y agoAmericans love elitism and self promotion. That’s why hype products make so much money in the US but not in Europe. This is changing quickly as the EU has a strong push to Americanise Europe. The whole world might end up being the same set of fast foods, big chain restaurants and same faff food.
- defertoreptar 7y ago> Americans love elitism Last I heard, Americans were being criticized for populism. Which is it?
- AstralStorm 7y agoThese are not exclusive, you can play to the elites while praising proletariat.
- defertoreptar 7y agoThe ideologies themselves are exclusive, to the point that they are opposites. What you're implying is that "Americans" are composed of groups and individuals that adhere to varying beliefs. Some can "love elitism", while others go the way of populism. It's not good to generalize a whole country so easily, which is my point.
- socialdemocrat 7y agoIt is both. Americans are anti-intellectualism but worship the moneyed elite. If you are a well spoken university professor they will hate you. But it is usually fine to be a vulgar billionaire. Then you get praise. Moral character in the US is measured by the size of your bank account. A non-rich person would never have escaped the vulgur behavior of Donald Trump. Only in America does such behavior get accepted. He embodies American populism and reverence for the ultra rich elite.
- kalleboo 7y ago> Only in America does such behavior get accepted How about Berlusconi in Italy?
- learnstats2 7y agoI live in London and noticed this price difference in Pret in Chicago. But, I also noticed that people take a full hour for lunch and get a sit-down meal. Almost nobody local would have thought to go to Pret.
- bpyne 7y agoI read only up to the point in which I had to pay to continue. Was the article only focusing on sandwiches? If so, is that the biggest food in common for lunches between the US and Great Britain? I tend to bring my lunch M-Th and get takeout on Friday. My takeout is almost always Thai. When I dine-in it's usually ramen. For them, I expect to pay $10-12. What are prices like for Thai or ramen in London?
- gandalfian 7y agoThe article is specific to pret a manger a fairly expensive/upmarket british sandwich chain. I'm not sure it says much outside of prets individual retail strategy. As the pound falls their USA prices look worse as it is hard for them to raise their UK prices. For what its worth sandwiches in UK business area strike me as extortionate but so is everything unless there happens to be a poundland nearby... I'm not sure living off sandwiches is anything for a nation to be proud of either. Lets hear it for fresh protein rich salads efficiently produced and deliverd by drone!
- danaris 7y agoThe article may only talk about Pret, but as an American who has lived in England for 6 months and visited there several times, Marks & Spencer's prepackaged food is also extremely good (there's no chain in the US where you're going to be able to get good sausage rolls or meat pies), and Tesco is only a step or two behind. Furthermore, as some other people have mentioned, the UK has many, many more small local bakeries that sell high-quality made-to-order sandwiches—well above the quality of Subway, and while individual independent bakeries are of course going to vary, my recollection is that they tended to be above the likes of Panera and the sandwiches you can get at even high-end grocery stores like Whole Foods, as well. There are also various local variants that are well worth eating—the Cornish pasties we got when visiting that region were to die for (especially in Tintagel!).
- heavenlyblue 7y agoWhere did you live in the UK? I have had really nice experience in Leeds with sandwich shops, but I don't think these exist anymore in London.
- danaris 7y agoRuskington, Sleaford, Lincolnshire. Near the coast in the East Midlands.
- timwaagh 7y agoI can't read this, but I have to comment anyways. My guess is simply that america has two times the gdp per capita of the UK. Even if the cost of labour in boston is equivalent to that of london, that isn't going to be true elsewhere. the pre-made sandwhiches are most likely not made in Boston or London (rather cheaper towns in the same area). Because the average american is so much more expensive, the only surprise is that the difference is only 2 USD.
- pledg 7y agoWhere do you get 2x from? Wikipedia has US more around 50% more.
- socialdemocrat 7y agoGDP is entirely irrelevant. What matters is salaries. The US may have a high GDP per capita, but it is the most unequal western country. Minimum wage is very low in the US compared to Western Europe. US GDP is higher than Sweden, but workers tend to make more money in Sweden. In the US GDP is mainly distributed to the upper classes. I think in Norway a McDonalds worker makes something like 2x-3x as much per hour as an American McDonalds worker.
- briandear 7y ago> workers tend to make more money in Sweden. In the US GDP is mainly distributed to the upper classes. That just isn’t true. And, in minimum wage, the number of people that make minimum wage is extremely small — not even 2% of the total workforce. https://mises.org/wire/when-it-comes-household-income-sweden-and-germany-rank-kentucky https://mises.org/wire/when-it-comes-household-income-sweden...
- walterstucco 7y agothat's true everywhere in the world. because most of the workers make a just a little but more or don't even make it.
- oblio 7y ago
- rinkleby56 7y agoI wish they had used a different Restaurant for comparison. Pret is just not very popular here unlike in Europe and I don't know many people who'd eat there (except maybe to grab something on the go). Outside of Pret, portion sizes are usually much larger in the US so it make sense that lunch in general would be pricier. Plus European imports like Pret are typically located in pricey downtown locations of cities like NY and SF where real estate is very pricey.
- mackey 7y agoI was thinking the same thing. I worked near a Pret and it never seemed very popular and at least two of the Boston locations have closed in the last two years. There are just too many better sandwich options even if do cost a little more. I travel to Europe a lot for work and its frustrating when you try and get a sandwich and its been sitting premade for a while, soggy bread, and its got a single slice of meat in it. Sure it may be a little cheaper, but compare that with sandwich you can get at Casa Razdora[1] or Bob's[2] and its not even close to as satisfying. [1] https://s3-media4.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/jDayx34LzPfip626pT1grg/l.jpg https://s3-media4.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/jDayx34LzPfip626pT1g... [2] https://hiddenboston.com/images/BobsDeluxItalian.jpg https://hiddenboston.com/images/BobsDeluxItalian.jpg
- mcguire 7y agoDoes this include drinks? They are often the big sources of profit for restaurants, and that's not counting beer.
- sys_64738 7y agoIn England my lunch was a sandwich from Sainsburys. In the US I skip lunch so US is cheaper.
- vr46 7y agoMaybe the portion sizes are bigger in the US. I ordered a two egg portion of scrambled eggs in Denny’s once and I have to say, the eggs must have come from a dinosaur because a mountain of eggs the size of El Capitan were served to me - yes, I know they just buy the raw eggs and pour them out, but good grief. And this scenario repeated itself everywhere.
- orev 7y agoScrambled eggs are pre-made in a large pan and made from egg powder, and scooped onto your plate with a serving spoon. There is absolutely no semblance of fresh eggs or a certain number of them when you order them scrambled.
- BeetleB 7y ago>Maybe the portion sizes are bigger in the US. Yes. For me, if I go to any restaurant that's not fast food, chances are an entree is enough for 1.5 meals (used to be 2 meals but sadly my appetite has grown). When I was a student I avoided those places because then I'd need a way to pack the food and not have it go bad. It's easy to see why there's an obesity problem. Most people I speak to think that's one serving for a meal. Portion sizes in most of the world are smaller.
- squidproquo 7y agoAfter living in London for a year and coming back to the US, I was perplexed at how much better (and cheaper) the UK supermarkets were when it came to prepackaged food. I rarely ate at restaurants and did a lot of cooking. Sainsbury's had a really great selection of pre-made chicken and tuna salads. They cost like $2 US (equiv) and all you needed to do was get some bread and it was enough to make two sandwiches. In the US, similar items cost around $6 (so over-priced). I would go to Pret quite a bit too, but there was also another chain that was cheaper (can't remember the name), but after like 4PM all the sandwiches they didn't sell got discounted and you could get some good ones for half-price.
- condercet 7y agoIt seems tempting to say that the quality of life in most of Europe is much higher than in the US. There's a decent chance this is a case of "the grass is greener" syndrome, but still. Higher quality food, 4+ weeks of vacation, working weeks <40 hours, easier access to arts and culture, and significantly less income inequality and economic strife (not counting southern Europe here). Not to mention the lack of regularly occurring mass shootings. On the other hand, if you're working in tech, the US is definitely the place to be. Salaries are significantly higher, while the costs of goods and services (excluding sandwiches and rent in the bay area) are much cheaper. For people who've lived and worked on both continents, what are your thoughts?
- ChuckNorris89 7y agoEuropean here. I haven't worked in the US but from chatting with my US friends, tech salaries are stupidly low here indeed unless you live in Eastern Europe where you'll get similar purchasing power as in the US. Unless you work in a major(and expensive) tech hub and have skills that are scarce and in demand, income in tech everywhere else is not that much higher than any other boring office job unless you're a consultant on some niche thing. So while you'll live a good life, you'll never hear stories like in the US of people in tech making enough money to buy a huge property or retire early unless they founded a successful startup that saw a good exit which is pretty rare.