The Written Podcast: Meal Deals

I was driving along the M25 a few months ago, with my friend in the car – it was busy, but moving steadily. There were no speed restrictions so in those occasional moments of clarity, I was able to press down on the accelerator and reach 70MPH. Alas, not for long before having to slow down for no reason other than the fact it was just clogged with traffic.

I live in Manningtree, so on average it takes about 1 hour to reach the M25 via the A12. I frequently take long road trips, usually to Brighton – a trip that takes, on average, 2 hours 30 minutes, and I can make that in one go without having to stop. However, on this particular occasion, there was a strange rattling in the back of my car, as if something had come loose. It didn’t sound great, and so I pulled over to inspect, and it turned out to be nothing but my dog’s water bowl I keep in the back for whenever I take my dog out on hot days; it had come loose and was sliding and bouncing up and down in time with the bumps in the road.

Since I had pulled over and was currently sitting in a carpark for services, why not pop in and grab some snacks and a drink for the remainder of the journey, which was an idea my friend seconded, so we popped in to see what the shop had.

We weren’t looking for anything in particular, just something – chocolate, crisps, fizzy drink. When browsing for whatever we fancied, I noticed the shop had a meal deal, an offer comprised of a sandwich, drink, and either a chocolate bar or bag of crisps, and is a common offer among many shops, usually supermarkets.

Before I disclose the total price of this meal deal, which by the way, took me by complete surprise at how expensive it was – Tesco’s, Morrison’s, Sainsbury’s, The Cooperative, all have meal deals. For some reason Asda refuses to have one for reasons not quite established. They’re a major supermarket chain constantly competing with the others, you would think they’d have at least some deal to entice the masses. Tesco’s, Morrison’s, and Sainsbury’s’s meal deal are £3, whereas the Cooperative’s £3.50. You can get some decent products in each of the deals. My personal opinion is favouring Morrison’s as they had opened up their deal to include a large range of food and drink. I was able to buy a three-layered sandwich with some fancy name for the main course, a decent sized sausage roll for the snack, and a large 500ML drink. Tesco was forced to open up their meal deal in the hopes of competing with Morrison’s, but due to financial problems, they recently had no choice but to reduce the choice considerably. The Cooperative, at £3.50, whilst is dearer, doesn’t mean you can’t get good products.

Setting the base line for meal deals at £3, is a good price. Most of the time, if you were to buy the products individually, the total price would always be more than £3, and if you buy the right products, you can save nearly £2. What’s not to like for your lunch.

Back to me standing in the services beside the M25, it was probably a chain of some sorts that only exists on motorways, but I had never heard of the shop and I cannot remember the name for this blog anyway, but the important part is, their meal deal wasn’t exactly a deal. Well, comparative to the individual prices, then sure it is. £4.50.

£1.50 more than Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons, and £1 more than The Cooperative. As I stated, the individual products were of themselves, ludicrously expensive. £3.75 for a sandwich, £1.20 for a bottle of water, and £1.10 for a brownie half the size of the palm of my hand. If brought separately the total would be £6.00, so cutting the total down via the meal deal to £4.50 is a saving of £1.50, which is about the average saving in the major supermarkets. Your spending more money, yet saving the same amount of money as well.

To us as customers, if there wasn’t a meal deal offered, then we would probably be hesitant spending £6.00 for a sandwich that isn’t too far different from what you’d get from the major supermarkets, the same branded drink, and a snack that has been prepared in store, but is microscopic in comparison. So as customers, seeing a meal deal is probably a relief, as you know you’re going to save money no matter what three products you buy, except it’s probably the most expensive meal deal you’ve ever brought. I certainly haven’t seen a more expensive meal deal since.

How can they ramp up the price of their meal deal? Surely, keeping the price as cheap as possible would bring in more customers. Surely, making the same food as you’d get everywhere else more expensive than everywhere else shouldn’t be allowed. Well, there’s no rule or law saying they cannot, and the reason why these shops on the side of motorways do raise their prices is the same reason why burger vans at fair can raise their prices. It’s not about attracting more customers, it’s about those customers not having a choice. The M25 is always busy, there are always going to be people who need a break from driving, and who are hungry. They have to stop off to get something to eat and drink, so they have no choice but to spend £4.50 – with the added bonus of being happy you’ve saved money as well, psychologically speaking, I guess.

That burger van at the fair – you don’t have to buy their burgers, but you’ll go hungry. Or you can go somewhere else. But, the burger van next door is just as expensive. But you don’t have to buy their burgers either, but you’ll go hungry. You can go somewhere else… you see where I’m going with this. And it’s the same with services on motorways. You can go somewhere else, but they won’t be any cheaper. Spend the money or go hungry.

Eliminating the choice for necessity is common among these motorway services, burger vans; it’s become common knowledge that the thrill of saving money doesn’t flare up anymore, because we’re expecting to pay high prices, but they basically have the same food. A burger van at a fair can explain the reason for their high prices because their meat is better – it came from a cow that was treated well, led a happy life, and the meat was prepared in specific conditions to make sure it remained as healthy as possible. McDonald’s state the same, though, and I can pick up a cheeseburger for £0.99p. Why? McDonald’s are everywhere. Most of the time there’re multiple McDonald’s in the same town, not too far from each other. They don’t have to increase their prices because the volume of customers makes their profits. If a McDonald’s popped up at a fair or was part of motorway services, they still don’t have to increase their prices.

So, looking at the other side of the coin, there is an understanding notion of independency. These shops may be part of a chain, but only exist on motorways, and whilst there is plenty of motorway in England, there can only really be so many of one particular shop, especially since there are multiple shops all competing to make as much profit as possible. These shops are limited. These shops don’t have as much volume, and so need to make that all important profit. It’s not about the volume of people, it’s about those who have to eat – and comparatively, there are more people who drive by than stopping in.

In other words, they have no choice but to raise their prices, because they need to make that profit. If motorway shops were in the high street selling their products for the same price, people would avoid it and go to McDonald’s, and understandably so. Why go somewhere expensive when you can get the same stuff for much cheaper?

They can get away with raising their prices because they’re the only ones available for food and drink, but they’re also raising their prices because they’re the only ones on the motorway and nowhere else. They can get away with it because not only because they can, but because they have to.

There is that argument stating, if they lowered their prices, more people would stop by. In theory, maybe. But in practice, no. Only those needing to stop will stop.

In a way, from the perspective of the customers, it’s not about the price, it’s about, well, having food and drink. If they need it, they’ll have it. If they don’t, they won’t. Lowering their prices won’t change their need. May tempt a few more, but not enough to sustain a decent enough profit margin.

A £4.50 meal deal may seem a lot, but to be honest, upon looking at each perspective, it doesn’t seem that much. In fact, it’s a rational increase. Decrease the number of shops, increase the prices. Increase the number of shops, decrease the prices. That’s what I’ve taken away from looking at the sizes of Tesco, Morrisons, and Sainsbury’s in comparison to the shops on the motorway. You’re still saving the same amount of money either way.

Thanks for reading

Antony Hudson

(TonyHadNouns)