h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I'm not in England, I'm in Wales, but I suspect if I popped over the border I'd find very little leaf tea but shelf after shelf of teabags

And you'd be right - boring, dull, easy way out England strikes again!

Or at least doesn't like to kick up a fuss so never complains Ennglad

same in Wales
now if only tea was fashionable like real coffee

Oh wouldn't that be bliss? You could go and watch them make a blend to your exacting specifications...oooooh.... to open a rel tea shoppe!

or perhaps have a cup of tea in a comfy chair in a bookshop

Mmmmmmmmmmmm

Wouldn't Arthur Dent be pleased?

Has anyone tried lemon tea???

In Germany, tea with milk is regarded as cranky. I drink it all the time and everyone always turn up their noses and say "what's that??"

On the ferry to England last summer I asked at the tea bar for a slice of lemon (for my husband, who does not drink it with milk, being German) . The steward serving tea said "We're not the Queen Mary you know" (But, having said that, he was very sweet and went right over the other side of the food court to get me a slice of lemon from the fish department)

If you ask for tea in Germany, or are in a self-service restaurant, you will not get milk, but cream, or evaporated milk (which is provided for putting in the ubiquitous coffee). This tastes so ghastly, so in that situation I ask for lemon tea.

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CREDIT CARDS AND CUSTOMER CARDS

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Back on the subject of supply and demand. People in Germany are very suspicious of plastic cards. It is not unusual to have them refused by a shop, although it's getting better. Both customers and retailers are about three decades behind the rest of the world on this.

Germans don't like the idea of being a "glass customer" - i.e., if all your purchases are registered, "they" can find out what you're buying.

I don't agree. It seems a good idea to me - on the face of it. If they see what people are buying, surely they will adapt the supply to suit the demand. I.e.: put on the shelves what the people want to buy.

Unfortunately, as the above posts have shown, this is not the case. So what do they do with the information gleaned from surveys and monitoring purchasing habits?

I remember being told a few years ago that my favourite body lotion (and I have very dry and sensitive skin, so finding one I can use is Quest for Holy Grail territory) had been discontinued because they want to bring in 'an exciting new range'. Not because no one was buying the old stuff, but simply and solely to be new and exciting. If you excite my skin with new stuff, it goes bright red and peels off. I was so cross. I even phoned up the head office and was told that they had no plans to change their plans and when I explained I wouldn't be using the new improved (I know I react badly to some of the ingredients) the lady on the phone tried to tell me I'd just love their new exciting range if I tried it. 'NO I WON'T!' I shrieked. 'MY SKIN WILL GO RED AND PEEL OFF! It's got mineral oil in! It gives me a rash! I will not be trying it because I am not a masochistic idiot!'

"Well, if you just TRIED it,' she said for the third time....

I'm afraid I put the phone down at that point, too cross to think of anything clever to say. Luckily since then several eco-hippy (if expensive, heigh-ho) things I can use and do like have come on the market, so new can be good after all.

Yes.

Marks and Spencer used to do lovely burgers in breadcrumbs with cheese inside. They stopped doing them.

Safeway used to do lovely pies. They stopped doing them.

Also, when you get used to the layout of a shop and then they change it. Sales psychology. Supposed to make you see other things and buy more. More likely to make you p*ssed off with the shop and go elsewhere.

Brioche. I can never find brioche any more, and I don't know why because its just gorgeous.

Lea & Perrins 'Sprinkle 'N' Spice'. A little bottle of mixed spices. They brought it in; I put it on my soup; they stopped selling it.

Remember white choclate drinks, I hope they bring them back!!!

Many many years ago I was given a gift of some Ralph Lauren perfume and instantly fell in love with it.

After I moved to Spain I discovered it had been discontinued - or rather, replaced with a new one that I thought was icky.

I spent more than a year trying to find a new scent I could live with and now I keep hoping they won't discontinue this one.

There are also many other things I cannot buy here that I could find in either England or Canada . . . sigh.

And I really miss M&S! Especially the underwear!

az

Hey Blackberry Cat

I'm a teabag hater too!

Where are you in Wales coz I can get leaf tea in Sainso's in Rhyl! Their Gold Label is good. They also do a Red Label and a Brown Label.

Try betty's by Post as well. Their South African Kwazulu tea is outstanding and the Kenya High Mountain is good too!

http://www.bettysandtaylors.co.uk/

turvy

turvy

I'm in Penarth near Cardiff
I suppose I'll just have to change my supermarket (Tescos) or make the effort and find a decent grocers
Tescos does have leaf tea including a drinkable Assam but the amount it keeps on stock is ridiculous

The Shoddy Bop stopped doing the smallest-size bottles of their products. These were really handy to keep in your toilet bag.

RF

Surely it's cheaper to fill the small bottles from the larger bottles anyway?

I agree with you though - I love little bottles of anything.

Well, yes. I had one small bottle for travelling, and one large one at home. But I'm notorious for leaving the small ones in hotels, and when I went back to Shoddy Bop for a replacement, they'd stopped doing them!

RF

Marks and Spencer did my favourite ice cream - organic choc truffle with cognac, and then they stopped it.
They also did my second fav ice-cream - fruit swirl with cinnamon - stopped.
My fav salad - repackaged and taken out the onion, and changed the chopped tomatoes to cherry tomatoes - completely different flavour and texture - not good.

Also cannot find Green and Blacks choc ice-cream at the mo, or vanilla panna cotta. Why do so many stores do panna cotta flavoured with stuff, when you can get plain and add your own fruit. Maybe we don't all want to add sugered raspberries with preservatives, when we can get the real thing.

Cannot find my organic baked beans with no sugar, as my organic food company who I used to order from once a month has shut down, so also cannot get my bin liners and many, many other things.

On the plus side M&S stopped my fav crisps and then brought in an even better type. I can get preservative free toiletries in Sainsburys when previously I could only get them on the web.

Oh and WHSmith stopped selling recycled envelopes and paper.

Shops eh

Before artificial sweeteners came on the market drinks like diet-7up were simply made with half the amount of sugar. Which to me made them taste so much better as I don't like very sweet drinks (and they were half the calories).

Artificial sweeteners not only leave an unpleasant after-taste but they are also dangerous (according to reports I've read).

I'm sure if market testing were done on this companies would discover a large enough market for 'less sweet' products that are not artificially sweetened.

The reason I never buy sweets or chocolate is that I find them far too sweet and I'm sure I am not the only person who thinks so. If I ever bake cookies, etc at home I immediately cut the sugar in the recipe in half and they taste great.

az