Local food/drink : Rip-off

[robinaber]

My rant for today! I try to buy as much local food and drinks as possible and enjoy attending food fairs, farmers markets, etc.

My wife and I visited a food fair yesterday and one of the local brewers selling beer was charging £3 a bottle which is on sale in local shops at £2.50 or below. When I enquired of him why this was so he said that it was because of the cost of the stall. My response was that by selling it himself he didn't have to take into account the profit of the shop-keeper.

I refuse to buy any of his products anywhere which I used to enjoy and surely over-charging will lead to the demise of these events. I'm just wondering if any other members have come across anything similar?

Also, why do some food fairs charge an attendance fee when all the people are doing is selling their goods. You don't pay to go into shops do you.

Would be interested in your comments.

[robinaber]

[1066]

Also, why do some food fairs charge an attendance fee when all the people are doing is selling their goods. You don't pay to go into shops do you.

Blimey! I had no idea that you could be charged to look  :o That certainly is taking the pee. I don't really tend to bother with these things, but thats probably because we have some good local shops in Hastings added to my general laziness when it comes to shopping !

1066

[PurpleHeather]

Every one is out to make a buck it seems. Some car boot sales charge an entrance fee to sellers and buyers. No receipts are issued so it can be a nice little earner. but of course it will all be declared for tax purposes.

Fact is, we do have the choice. Pay and enter or not. To buy or not to buy that is the question.

Did you see the scam on BBC 'real hustle.

They got some wrappers made from a photo of themselves with some pigs.

Then opened up a stall on a farmers market selling 'their own' sausages for £3 a pound. They had bought up some supermarket's own brand sausages for about 50p a pound and simply repackaged them.

There have also been exposures like 'minted lamb' which was covered with the flavourings because the meat had discoloured.

Another where the odd size vegetables not meeting the uniform EEC size directives were bought  by certain people who would then pass them off as local grown (even organic) vegetables at fares.

It seems that they had to change the lables on plastic milk bottles because when the unsold milk in them was then crushed to quickly extract the old milk to be used to make cheese, the dye on the lables was discolouring the cheese.

We only know a fraction of what goes on. Much of it legally.

I was reading a posting recently about a car park attendant who had not turned up for work for the first time in 23 years. The establishment phoned the council for a replacement car park attendant and the council told them that the car park attendant was employed by the establishment and not the council.

Seems that he had been taking money and issuing tickets all those years and keeping it all.

It was estimated he made quite a nice packet from it all. Probably retired somewhere abroad.

[asbean]

The car park attendant story is an urban myth - it's been doing the rounds for years.  ::) ::) ::)