Temple of British tables (2): comparison among chains

What I noticed - confronting the British chains - is almost easy to summarize. First of all, they are more friendly and more capturing. All the times, a sort of unforeseen caress welcomes you in a different universe, made of colourful labels, hooking offers and irresistible temptations: it is like watching an enemy fleet disembark on the shore, you are overcome from what goes so much beyond your own knowledge about those foods. I guess it is natural for the brain to figure out the history and tradition of a certain produce and this mental process sometimes is overwhelming. 

HRH the Prince of Wales staring at potatoes in a Waitrose shopping point,
adorable the pendant between his tie and his jacket pochette. I wonder if
his socks were bordeaux as well.

Eating is of course a big deal in every country: now that we are approaching to the Christmas season it is evident which mechanism snaps. People wish to present themselves with an indulgent palate treatment. In comparison with other forms of sharing, food is de-perishable and could be ruined by an unwise preparation, so it is a more delicate issue. Moreover - on la linguistic side - what for Italians is the cuddle (coccola) in English slides to the wider concept of comfort food, but I fear the uncovered meaning is the very close. In Tuscany there's even a fried nibble food called Coccoli, an elliptic version of "you cuddle yourself", «tu ti coccoli», you spoil yourself. This preparation is common in Italy under different names: for instance, in Puglia is called pizz' fritt, fried pizza, and it literally is a nibble of pizza dough fried in sunflowr olive oil. Delicious & Irresistible! 

This Coccoli appetizing picture
comes from Zenzero & Cannella (Ginger & Cinnamom)
http://www.maky-lab.com/zenzero/?p=1533
And there is a very instructive description of coccoli
this Tuscanycious site:

http://www.turismo.intoscana.it/allthingstuscany/tuscanycious/its-cuddle-time-coccoli-prosciutto-and-stracchino-starter/

Let's not wander too much and let's focus on the British brands! M&S passed at least throughout four  slogans: Don't ask the price, it is a penny in 1904 The customer is always and completely right in 1953, then if I oriented myself correctly, Retail is detail, and now Quality food worth every penny: this last statement, if it is the ultimate one, basically says that its excellent food is clearly expensive, but the quality abundantly repays the customer’s effort: value credentials and quality food reputation are there. Yet, the questions then is: who thinks in pennies? Those people that once where not completely affluent and do not wish to waste their efforts. Certainly then then middle-middle class is in the target. Following the same philosophy M&S did something splendid: in October 2012 they launched a campaign to promote real women models, abandoning the too skinny prototypes populating the fashion world:

Vogue Italia advertised and welcomed this new tenedcy in June 2012:
http://www.vogue.it/vogue-curvy/visto-su-vogue/2011/06/belle-vere

On the other hand, Tesco seems to be keener on sales and bargains so to keep the attention higher: “every little helps” can be read in its broader sense. Tesco staff and stores perform little efforts whose sum brings to the customer satisfaction, which is admittedly partially true. I also think though that the hidden message is “you are not well off yet, but your culture is!” so you still need a discount, which may also lead you to buy quality food:  the appetite, the wallet and the urges of the soul are then balanced. Nonetheless, what I noticed in Tesco customers, especially where there is a University nearby, it that due to the neverending offers, people shop according to uncontrolled and unplanned drives and often come back home after having missed offers, occasions and perhaps even what they went there for:

Disorienting feeling

Sainsbury’s exploits the teenager mentality of “I do it better that others”, establishing a continuous comparison among brands: do not trust anyone is the message beneath. Aren’t we all hedonistic teenagers when we do shopping?

When people make choices without using the brain,
only the heart and feeling.

The Co-operative offers a sort of ironic side: the message is hilarious indeed and stresses on how comfortable, exhaustive, and strategically distributed their selling points are, but it implies that they think for you, which is less appealing.

Local products are often the best choice,
yet food nationalism is not, because it reminds me
of global nationalisms and nationalistic claims:

Nationalism carving up the earth:
nationalism VS modernism
http://allahcentric.wordpress.com/2010/10/01/book-review-of-nationalism-and-modernism-by-anthony-smith/

Asda points out its prices are unbeatably low: hidden significance “you do not care about what you eat, money should be spent elsewhere”.

Wal Mart policies are too unbiased for my ethical taste

Morrisons recently changed its thirty year old slogan “More reasons to shop at Morrisons” to “Fresh choice for you” because the former reflects the ’70 mentality of profusion, the latter, the contemporary attention to a more balanced diet: implicitly it is winking at young adults on the crest of the wave:

Morrisons' is developing a more friendly and ambitious approach,
which combines territory, architecture and food choice.

Lidl, instead, reminds me to those how are trudging in the struggle that their sacrifices are not in vain and sooner or later they will emerge. Lidl encounters the mentality of the German people, who, despite their prominence in the European concretion of States, apparently still look at food as an appendix of life and they prefer to direct their effort in other less decadent pastimes:

Soulkitchen, a smart film involving an inner German 

quarrel about food! Worth seeing!!!

This picture of Marianna Bolognesi © on Flickr was the first image appeared
when I asked to goole images "German approach to food". I cannot stop laughing.
Jokes apart I think German society is not that different from the others
in terms of good food, but I often came across German friends,
reporting how careless their friends were ages distant from "foodies".

And what about Waitrose?

...to be continued...