Tesco abandon Poland

Zabka has been sold few times,last time I think its was sold 2/3 years back to Luxembourg based CVC capital.I wonder why 7/11 of Southland corp dont enter Polish market maybe because of low turnover.

Well I generally support small businesses, so I prefer mom and pop shops. Still, Biedronka and Żabka look the best for me from the big chains as at least they're Polish in name and I assume feel/products are mostly tailored to local tastes.

Tesco is more or less same everywhere - best for British expats I guess for that nostalgic homely feeling (sometimes I go to Lidl abroad as they look the same everywhere inside. It really felt like being home in a way lol. We don't have Tesco here in Bulgaria, so I'd rather have Lidl, Biedronka & Żabka).

I mean I'd rather Biedronka or Żabka as those names exist only in Poland. And go to Lidl when I want to feel like in Bulgaria. ;)

Update.....REAL has just been bought bei a russian investor...he plans to destroy the warehouse chain, ending thousands of jobs...

What do you mean? Close down everything?

That's true of all supermarkets.


Not especially. Biedronka and Lidl are generally better for that.

Tesco in CEE is nothing like Tesco in the UK. Even the product ranges are specifically for the CEE market.

So it was to read in the news...

Not at all they started with the best intentions and then dumbded down quality and attempted to trade like for like against the rest of the poor quality supermarkets in Poland , you all know that substandard products are deliberately sold here in Poland, yet the ingredients for the same brand name are quite different and of better quality in western European supermarkets.

Yet they dump the shite on Poland , just look at the rotting veg you get here from time to time .. no way would you get that crap in Germany.

You cannot compare Tesco Poland with the UK , Tesco Poland ended up selling shite in Poland and failed , the other supermarkets here do a better job of selling the people shite.

Yeah the Albert salad in Prague was total cr@# unlike the "same" salad in AH Netherlands. Europe on 2 speeds I guess. At least Lidl is same everywhere, no, mostly German products in all.

No they deliberately sell Poland substandard products compared to what they sell elsewhere in Europe.

finanse.wp.pl/jedzenie-w-polsce-gorsze-niz-w-niemczech-przeswietlilismy-sklady-identycznych-produktow-w-obu-krajach-6304030780954241a

Why would they do that?

Well if you read the article that I posted and read the related reprort from UOKiK you will see its all about saving costs, one example substandard oil is used to fry product destined for the Polish market, yet the same product in Germany is fried in good quality oil.

Different rules and law for producing stuff?

What does the polish food safety inspectors say to that?

All should be under European health laws the supermarkets have been breaking the rules.


Massive fines are being places against the supermarkets could run into billions zl .

That's good!

I think so , I am very much for a common standard across Europe , helps make everyone feel more at home when travelling.

From a personal point of view I always preferred Kaufland to Tesco.

Me too. But that might have been due to the familiarity

Ive notice the Beef in Poland is very bland and doesnt taste good at all. There is NO such thing as decent hamburger as well, they all have this rubberish texture to them.

The worst steak I ever ate in my life was in England..Stick to the fish and chips and avoid all Beef products

They just don't have a clue how to age beef, no new York strip here i'm afraid.

look out for Argentinian vac packed beef , you get it from time to time in Europe.

Best steak I ever had was in Texas. no surprise heh

You cant do better than a Texas steak or how about a slab of succulent BBQ ribs:)

Do they have BBQ sauce in Poland? They dont know what there are missing.. The Corn looked sad over there as well.


I think Ill pass on that......

The issue was when they bought Lider Price from the people who own Geant; they ended up with a downmarket discount chain that lost out when Biedronka expanded and Aldi arrived.

Aldi! We have Aldi in the USA.

Its were all the food stamp recipients and ppl on a low budget shop shop at. They food is really cheap and low quality, bargain bin rubbish.

Much the same in the U.K. however they have some posher stuff too. Their champagne keeps winning prizes. I've not been in one here in PL however I imagine it to be a bit like Biedronka used to be, before the current owners bought it.

Their fruit tea won some prizes too. Expensive doesn't always mean better. More often than not it's just overpriced.
I try to read labels more often now as few times already I noticed the store brand had better ingredients then the 'original's ones

I remember when I used to shop at Aldi and there were a few good items, you have to know what to look for. However, they do have a lot of substandard junk to mimic other brands that usually fails to compare to the real thing.

I wonder why Trader Joes is so good. Ive heard they are owned by the same corporation and the quality is night and day!

Il have to check and see if it's true...

Do you have Trader Joes in Europe?

One reason Biedronka is so good. They do have some expensive things, however they've got a lot of very good products at a low price.

Of course big supermarkets don't actually need much of a mark up on goods. They make more money from investing the cash they take in; they get steady business every day, but pay suppliers as late as they cant away with.

No.
Nearest comparable would be en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whole_Foods_Market

Sounds a bit like Waitrose or Booths.

Ok so where does Żabka stand? Is it the posh, premium supermarkets?

Oh and do Polish supermarkets offer locally grown produce?

No. It's a mid-market franchise. They differ a lot depending on how big the premises are, how good the owner is. Plus, it's virtually an MLM pyramid scheme with different tiers of profit margin, something like 'uplines' etc., so they (and their pricing) differ a lot. Some of them make their profit on vodka, beer, cigs and peanuts, others have more fresh food.


Yes, but not only. Local is cheaper, however if you want tomatoes in January they won't be Polish.