How many of us actually pause to read the information printed behind our pantry items? Let’s face it, most of us are not even aware of what any of the codes on the back of the pasta packet or pickle jar could mean. Turns out, it can actually help you save a ton of money.
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As reported by The Mirror, TikToker Maneet Kaur, who posts under @minsmeals, went viral in late 2020, for claiming to figure out a way to save big just by researching product codes.
What do batch codes on items indicate?
According to The Mirror, Kaur was researching supermarket supply chains after watching a clip on how medication is branded. After digging around a bit, Kaur noticed that many food items across brands had the same supplier code. This means that even if a particular food is sold under different brand names, they have been supplied and packaged by the same company.
Kaur indicated that a lot of us might be spending way more money on expensive products when we could be buying the same thing for cheaper from another brand, after checking for the same supplier code, and ensuring that they have the same supply source.
The report also stated that often branded products would be kept at eye level while cheaper products are tucked away on the top or bottom shelves. So just taking some time to do some research can lead to savings on groceries.
Saving money using supplier codes
According to The Mirror, in her TikTok, Kaur compared a 53p 500g packet of penne pasta from Tesco with a packet by Hearty Food Co that was on sale for 29p. Both of them had the same supplier code, which according to her, indicated that consumers are paying more for Tesco pasta just for the packaging.
The report quoted Kaur as saying,
I went into a supermarket and looked at staple foods like beans, pasta and bread and looked at the codes. It didn’t surprise me but essentially it’s all about how these brands market it to the consumer.
She further said,
The only thing I can do is make people more aware that buying branded is not always the best option and we need to be more conscious about the tricks supermarkets use.
However, The Sun quoted food safety expert Jenna Brown who said,
While you can use the coding on packaging to identify the same manufacturer, this does not mean that this is the same product simply just being packaged in different packaging.
After finding out how differently priced brands could have the same supplier, do you think you would start paying more attention to supplier codes?
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