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Comment by nixgeek | Hacker News Reader

A sandwich, bag of crisps and a drink for £5 is an actual deal. Sandwich alone in U.S. would be $10 and the “$15 Meal Deal” just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

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Gosh, it used to be £3 not that long ago. About £5 for a wrap at Prêt if I couldn't be bothered to go fight with the tourists to cross the road down Kingsway.

It's £3.85. Not that much more.

£5.50+ is for the better “main” options, some of which used to be in the base deal, in most places that do a meal deal.

There's a lot to complain about in the UK, but food price/quality is actually pretty good. Not the absolute best, but far from the worst and certainly not Scandinavian prices.

Costco sells really good hotdogs with a large coke for $1.50.

Mechanically reclaimed meat and a half gallon of high fructose corn water isn't much of a comparison.

I honestly can’t understand why not wasting meat is such a bad thing?

Sure from an efficiency point of view its fantastic, personally i like some texture from my meal deal.

Mmh, you can get 3 el cheapo sandwiches for 1.99€, a 100g bag of chips for 0.99€ and a liter of water for 0.90€ or flavoured /coke for 1.99€ in Germany

Considering a £ is more then a €, supposedly at last - it doesn't sound like a good deal to me

I don't think I could find a sandwich anywhere around here in Canada save maybe one of those awful gas station ones for under $6

The ones being discussed in the UK are in the triangular box like that, but there's so much competition between the shops that they're ok.

It's also a dense enough country that they will be at most a day or two old.

Can you give an example, as I'm not sure it's a fair comparison?

https://www.tesco.com/shop/en-GB/products/262308005

honestly, they depend on the store you chose to go to. they always taste the same. and the last time i ate one of the sandwidches in the UK they tasted the same there too - but it's been a pretty long time, admittedly (like 20 years or so)

eg https://www.rewe.de/shop/p/ja-bacon-ei-sandwich-160g/7878218 cheap sandwidches (2€)

https://www.rewe.de/shop/p/lay-s-chips-red-paprika-150g/8940... chips 150g (99c)

https://www.rewe.de/shop/p/coca-cola-1-5l/6730574 cola, 1.25l (1.19€)

personally i'd skip the sandwiches in all cases - the wraps, baguettes or ready to eat salads are way better and cost the same. and i'd skip the chips too. i mean thats just pure calories. rather eat a great salad for 3€ instead of the el cheapo sandwidches and chips :)

Then I misunderstood, I thought you meant you could buy 3 sandwiches for €1.99, 67¢ each.

Tesco also have four choices for £1.50 each (€1.73), several 100-200g bags of crisps/tortilla chips for less than £1, and 2 litres of cola for 49p. This would be cheaper than the "Meal Deal".

https://www.tesco.com/shop/en-GB/browse/fresh-food/chilled-s...

https://www.tesco.com/shop/en-GB/browse/treats-and-snacks/cr...

https://www.tesco.com/shop/en-GB/browse/drinks/fizzy-and-sof...

Aldi-Nord often has packages with 3 in them for 2€, I was just unable to find them through the website, but I frequently see them as I often buy the 3€ salad right next to them - but they're not separately packaged if that was the misunderstanding

Incorrect. Maybe you familiar with the high cost of living areas. There are similar $5 deals in the United States. The US is a big place and has many, many businesses offering very similar deals.

Thing is, the meal deals are _everywhere_ in the UK. There is no "high cost of living" priced Tesco. Or Sainsbury's. Or 5 other supermarkets.

Meal deal prices are higher in certain places, like motorway service stations. If there's a captive market, they'll sneak the price up just like every other company. If there's competition they'll use lower pricing.

If you want a shitty sandwich you can find it for $5 in the US no problem. Plus some variation of the sausage roll that will clean you out just as well.

And by "clean you out" you mean financially or both?

Oh, you'll be able to afford it... but you may end up having to spend some time instead

Meal deal = main + snack/side + drink

The "main" has expanded to Huel, salads, wraps, sushi, even hot food

The "snack" can be more than crisps: small bags of fresh chicken, 2 boiled eggs, small sushi pack, gyozas etc

The "drink" includes quality smoothies, acceptable vending machine coffee etc

Meal deal value maximizing is the whole game lol. There are also lots of healthier options if you choose carefully

In certain Sainsbury's you can get hot food as the main such as a small green curry or chicken goujons, and wedges or hash browns as the side

But the price creeps up £0.50 practically yearly. I think it's £5.50 already in Sainsbury's

It's better to view it as a cheaper alternative to eating at a restaurant rather than somehow saving money compared to bringing in leftovers. People who think £5.50 a day for lunch is saving money versus cooking themselves are delusional

£3.85 in my nearest central-London Tesco, it even includes some premium energy drinks like Tenzing that alone would get close to the cost of the deal.

Ah thanks I haven't been paying close enough attention. That's good

$6.5 is about what you'd spend to get a bag of chips, hot or cold sandwich and drink from any Walmart that's been renovated recently enough to have a "Grab and go" or whatever they're calling it.

A sandwich, a bag of crisps, and a drink at the grocer near me is $8. I don't exactly live in a super low cost of living area, nor is it one of the most expensive in the US.

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