Swedish discount retail chain Motatos (owned by Ulf Skagerström, Erik Södergren, and Karl Andersson and PE investor Blume Equity) is being dubbed as a rival to UK discount chains Aldi and Lidl, but it is only available online. A new discount retailer has been launched in the UK and claims to be up to 60% cheaper than other stores.
The discounter promises "well-known products that would otherwise risk ending up in landfill" and says it keeps prices down by selling surplus food from wholesalers.
As well as offering low prices, Motatos has already saved 40,000 tonnes of food and consumer products from going to waste in the Nordics and Germany.
But is Motatos really cheaper than other places, and what exactly does it sell? The Mirror takes a look…
Newspaper 'The Mirror' tried out Motatos today
Motatos compared to other supermarkets
There isn’t a shortage of branded goods at Motatos, including household names like Heinz, Cadbury, Kellogg’s, Walkers and Typhoo. The good news is, we did find some items that were 60% cheaper than other stores, but some turned out to be more expensive.
On the Motatos website, there are some items that you need to buy in bulk and these tend to be the ones that offer the best value. For example, it sells four bars of 160g Cadbury White Jelly Popping Candy chocolate for £2.40. We spotted the same bars on the Asda website selling for two for £3, which means you would need to pay £6 to get four bars an increase in price of around 60% compared to what you’d pay at Motatos.
Motatos boasts of offering up to 60% off
The website was also cheapest for 500g of Kellogg’s Crunchy Nut 500g cereal, priced at £4.48 for two boxes, the equivalent of £2.24 each. In Tesco you would pay £3.30 for the same size box, and £2.50 in the Co-op - so you'll pay around 10% less at Motatos.
Another bargain we saw was six bags of Walkers Max Cheese & Onion 140g for £2.40, whereas the same product would set you back £1.50 each in Sainsbury’s. But not everything was cheaper.
Tetley Everyday 80 teabags were priced at£2 on Motatos, which is the same as what you’ll pay in Sainsbury’s. We also saw Typhoo Tea Bags One Cup Decaf 80 bags listed for £1.47, but you can buy the same size product from the Poundshop website for £1.
Motatos is also pegged on offering discounted branded food, so you can still save money by purchasing own-private brand labels elsewhere. The cheapest spaghetti costs £3 for two packs, so £1.50 each, while the lowest price from Aldi for 500g of pasta costs just 20p.
Our verdict? There are bargains to be had at Motatos but you still need to shop around for the best deals, and like with any supermarket, never take offers for face value.
Motatos told The Mirror that its savings advertised online are against the RRP set by the manufacturer. Christabel Biella, UK Country Manager, said: "The Motatos’ strategy is to keep our costs at a competitive level. "We offer top quality brands for up to 60% less than leading supermarkets, so this is where we differ from Aldi and Lidl. "We are able to offer high ticketed items at a much lower price."
The type of products you'll see on the Motatos website includes items that are no longer being sold on shelves due to changes in packaging, seasonal changes or short best before dates. Deliveries are made via Evri and DPD and is free if you spend £40 or more. If you checkout will less, a £2.99 delivery charge will apply.
See here for more: https://www.mirror.co.uk/money/swedish-lidl-launches-uk-says-27168630?int_source=mantis_rec&int_medium=web&int_campaign=more_like_this
