We put Netto, the Easyjet of food retailing, and its much posher cousin Waitrose, to the trolly test.
NETTO and Waitrose represent the two extremes of supermarkets. Until now, Waitrose has been available only in the south - their most northerly outpost was Newark in Nottinghamshire - but with the takeover of some of the old Safeway stores, they have now crept into North Yorkshire with a store in Harrogate.
Netto, meanwhile, is one of the fastest growing retailers in the UK. Already well established in the region, they opened a new store in Darlington at the end of last year.
NETTO is a subsidiary of a Danish supermarket group. They opened their first store in Britain in 1990 and now have more than 130 to add to stores in Denmark, Germany, Poland and Sweden.
Managing director Claus Waedeled has described the company as "the EasyJet of food retailing. No frills and lower bills." They carry 1,100 lines in food and non food items and around 100 special one-off items at major discounts.
WAITROSE is part of the John Lewis Partnership. Established more than 100 years ago, it built its reputation on high quality. It was the first supermarket to sell organic food, promotes small specialist producers, has its own farm and is the only supermarket to hold a royal warrant.
But what are they like to shop in?
NETTO
IT doesn't take long to get round Netto store's nice wide aisles. Recent research says it takes 25 minutes to do your weekly shop at Netto, compared with 45 minutes at other stores. 25 minutes? That long?
They have only 1,100 lines. Concentrates the mind wonderfully. No choice. No decisions. No dithering. About a third of their lines are their own label, but they also carry major labels too.
Own label goods aren't the highest quality but are perfectly acceptable.
Prices are low and it's easy to keep to a budget - and that's also because with such a limited number of lines there's very little to tempt you into spending more.
Except for the special offers. Each week they have a strange collection of special offers at low prices, a Hinari steamer at £11.99 or a circular saw for £24.99, for example.
Four tins of beans and a circular saw - why not?
Checkout: swift and efficient. They don't pack for you , don't chat either.
Carrier bags: 3p each.
Pay by: Cash or Debit card. No cheques, credit cards or coupons.
WAITROSE
THE rules of sensible shopping always tell you to never go shopping when you're hungry, always make a list and don't deviate from it.
This is doubly true in the case of Waitrose. The Harrogate store counts as medium-sized and seems at least five times the size of Netto.
It is a temple of temptation, of things you've never heard of and never realised you wanted until you saw them tantalising on the shelves.
Rows of unusual fruit and vegetables - much of it organic. You want tomatoes? Even in January there seems to be hordes of different varieties, including Pasion en Ramo at 50p each. That's ten bob a tomato in old money...
There's balsamic glaze and truffle oil, quail's eggs, free range organic chickens, traceable Aberdeen Angus beef, hand-made sausages. The fresh fruit salad looks as though it's just been made, the ready meals actually taste of something other than monosodium glutamate and salt and the pastries will send any New Year diet resolutions straight out of the window.
There are whole shelves full of olive oils and speciality vinegars, racks of teas and coffees. Even baked beans can dazzle you with choice.
The difference between Waitrose and other supermarkets is that Waitrose has the sort of items stocked by small specialist delicatessens - only there's so much more of it.
And that's before you start on the wine section.
But they're not perfect. The day we were in the Harrogate store, the grapes on the fresh fruit counter were distinctly past their best.
And although they have vast aisles of fresh produce, when it comes to household and cleaning items, the ranges are much smaller, the choice much less. We couldn't find economy size packs of soap powder, for instance. But if you can afford to shop in Waitrose, maybe you don't need economy packs.
Checkout: Friendly and efficient. Chatty and helpful. They'll carry stuff to the car for you too.
Carrier bags: Free
Pay by: Cash, debit card, credit card.
SO HOW MUCH MORE DOES IT COST?
Netto said last year that, according to The Grocer's weekly pricing survey, a basket of goods at Netto cost £21.74. compared to £24.93 at Asda and £28.69 at Waitrose.
Netto and Waitrose represent the extremes where the quality and value of own brand goods vary so much that it's difficult to compare. But they both stock a number of branded goods.
Heinz Baked Beans: Netto 39p; Waitrose 38p
Kenco Coffee: Netto £1.39; Waitrose £2.14
Kelloggs Cornflakes: Netto £1.68; Waitrose £1.75
4pts milk: Netto 99p; Waitrose £1.03
1 litre fresh orange juice : Netto 57p; Waitrose 59p
Teacher's Whisky: Netto £9.99; Waitrose £11.99
Hovis: Netto 72p; Waitrose 72p
Hellmann's Mayo: Netto £1.28; Waitrose 99p
Sugar: Netto 68p kg; Waitrose 69p kg
Fairy Liquid: Netto £1.08; Waitrose £1.75
Ariel Liquitabs: Netto £4.49; Waitrose £4.99
CONCLUSION
The biggest difference is the Temptation Factor.
I went round Netto , bought the few things I needed and nothing else - and spent £9.50.
I went to Waitrose, and even with great restraint and iron discipline, spent £139.
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