{"id":90252,"date":"2023-04-05T23:16:05","date_gmt":"2023-04-05T23:16:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2023\/04\/05\/sainsburys-defends-vac-pack-mince-after-complaints\/"},"modified":"2023-04-05T23:16:05","modified_gmt":"2023-04-05T23:16:05","slug":"sainsburys-defends-vac-pack-mince-after-complaints","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2023\/04\/05\/sainsburys-defends-vac-pack-mince-after-complaints\/","title":{"rendered":"Sainsbury’s defends vac-pack mince after complaints"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Sainsbury’s has defended its new minced beef packaging after some shoppers complained the meat turned to mush.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The store said the ground beef is vacuum-packed to use 55% less plastic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

It came after shoppers expressed their dislike, with one saying the meat now resembled “a rectangle of mashed cuts” and another “someone’s kidney”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The meat was packaged in a foil-covered plastic tray, but Sainsbury’s has now printed brochures to explain the eco-friendly change.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The supermarket had announced it would be “the first UK retailer to vacuum pack all its ground beef, saving 450 tonnes of plastic every year”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Vicki Cole from Huddersfield buys an average of four 750g packs of ground beef a month for her batch cooking.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Ground beef is really versatile and reheats well, so I make a lot of cottage pie, lasagna, chili and a keema curry,” she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

But she spotted the difference while doing her grocery shopping.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“I looked and there was a lady stocking the fridges and she said, ‘It’s new packaging but it’s the exact same minced meat’ so out of necessity I put two packs in my shopping cart .”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

When Ms Cole opened the pack at home, she said it looked “pretty unappetizing”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“They sucked out all the air and crushed it so it fell out of the packet and into the frying pan in a big rectangular lump,” she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“When I started breaking it up with the wooden spatula, it stayed in big balls that cooked on the outside but not on the inside.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Ms Cole said it took her 40 minutes to cook, so she was tougher and tougher.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

She said Sainsbury’s offered her a refund in Nectar points, which she will accept, but said she wanted the store to reconsider the change.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“I understand that we need to use less plastic,” she said. \u201cBut if they don’t find an alternative that works, they will lose customers because I won’t buy them there. You have to listen to the feedback.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Ms Cole was not alone – other shoppers have posted photos and comments on social media.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Sam Bowman, Sainsbury’s buyer, tweeted that he was “not a fan of the new Sainsbury’s mince pack”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Feels very medicinal \u2014 like I just bought someone’s kidney to cook at home,” he added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Another customer tweeted that the new packs had “no chopped texture at all.” <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

They received a response from Sainsbury’s saying “the new packaging process makes the minced meat more compact than before”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“It requires more breaking up the pan with the back of a spoon or spatula,” reads the response from Sainsbury’s official Twitter account.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Another customer who tweeted that he was “repelled by the vacuum-packed ground beef” told Sainsbury’s, “The packaging is also smaller, which helps customers use their freezer and fridge space more efficiently.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Other buyers didn’t mince words when they wrote reviews on Sainsbury’s website.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

One review, headed “Dog wouldn’t like that,” called the ground beef “disgusting.” <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Looks like a rectangle of crushed cuts,” they wrote.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Another wrote: “The new packaging is awful, it makes the ground beef gooey. It is very difficult to cook and smells, looks very unappetizing. I would not recommend it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Steve Dresser, chief executive of retail consultancy Grocery Insight, said: “It’s fair to say the change wasn’t well received at all.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

He said that while sustainability is important to customers, “it’s a very fine balance.” <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“This looks like a simple step that doesn’t require customers to do anything differently,” he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“But the packaging appears to have negatively impacted product quality, which has clearly impacted customers.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

A spokesman for Sainsbury’s said: “We are always looking for new ways to innovate packaging to meet our ambitious plastic reduction goals. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

“Our new vacuum-packed ground beef packaging uses 55% less plastic and saves over 450 tons of plastic per year without compromising taste or quality.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sainsbury’s has defended its new minced beef packaging after some shoppers complained the meat turned to mush. The store said the ground beef is vacuum-packed to use 55% less plastic. It came after shoppers expressed their dislike, with one saying the meat now resembled “a rectangle of mashed cuts” and another “someone’s kidney”. The meat […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90252","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business"],"yoast_head":"\nSainsbury's defends vac-pack mince after complaints - Tahrir News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2023\/04\/05\/sainsburys-defends-vac-pack-mince-after-complaints\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sainsbury's defends vac-pack mince after complaints\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sainsbury’s has defended its new minced beef packaging after some shoppers complained the meat turned to mush. The store said the ground beef is vacuum-packed to use 55% less plastic. It came after shoppers expressed their dislike, with one saying the meat now resembled “a rectangle of mashed cuts” and another “someone’s kidney”. The meat […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2023\/04\/05\/sainsburys-defends-vac-pack-mince-after-complaints\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Tahrir News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-04-05T23:16:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Tahrir News\",\"description\":\"News all over the world\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2023\/04\/05\/sainsburys-defends-vac-pack-mince-after-complaints\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2023\/04\/05\/sainsburys-defends-vac-pack-mince-after-complaints\/\",\"name\":\"Sainsbury's defends vac-pack mince after complaints - Tahrir News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-05T23:16:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-04-05T23:16:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/5eb9492fbc67154812b39589e826b6e4\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2023\/04\/05\/sainsburys-defends-vac-pack-mince-after-complaints\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2023\/04\/05\/sainsburys-defends-vac-pack-mince-after-complaints\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2023\/04\/05\/sainsburys-defends-vac-pack-mince-after-complaints\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Business\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/category\/business\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Sainsbury’s defends vac-pack mince after complaints\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/5eb9492fbc67154812b39589e826b6e4\",\"name\":\"megahed\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0ee3294b28670178246ce92a6679bf959bc435d2fcd9cb9ab078702487c106df?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0ee3294b28670178246ce92a6679bf959bc435d2fcd9cb9ab078702487c106df?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"megahed\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sainsbury's defends vac-pack mince after complaints - Tahrir News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2023\/04\/05\/sainsburys-defends-vac-pack-mince-after-complaints\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sainsbury's defends vac-pack mince after complaints","og_description":"Sainsbury’s has defended its new minced beef packaging after some shoppers complained the meat turned to mush. The store said the ground beef is vacuum-packed to use 55% less plastic. It came after shoppers expressed their dislike, with one saying the meat now resembled “a rectangle of mashed cuts” and another “someone’s kidney”. The meat […]","og_url":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2023\/04\/05\/sainsburys-defends-vac-pack-mince-after-complaints\/","og_site_name":"Tahrir News","article_published_time":"2023-04-05T23:16:05+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/","name":"Tahrir News","description":"News all over the world","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2023\/04\/05\/sainsburys-defends-vac-pack-mince-after-complaints\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2023\/04\/05\/sainsburys-defends-vac-pack-mince-after-complaints\/","name":"Sainsbury's defends vac-pack mince after complaints - Tahrir News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-04-05T23:16:05+00:00","dateModified":"2023-04-05T23:16:05+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/5eb9492fbc67154812b39589e826b6e4"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2023\/04\/05\/sainsburys-defends-vac-pack-mince-after-complaints\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2023\/04\/05\/sainsburys-defends-vac-pack-mince-after-complaints\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2023\/04\/05\/sainsburys-defends-vac-pack-mince-after-complaints\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Business","item":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/category\/business\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Sainsbury’s defends vac-pack mince after complaints"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/5eb9492fbc67154812b39589e826b6e4","name":"megahed","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0ee3294b28670178246ce92a6679bf959bc435d2fcd9cb9ab078702487c106df?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0ee3294b28670178246ce92a6679bf959bc435d2fcd9cb9ab078702487c106df?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"megahed"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90252","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90252"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90252\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90252"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90252"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90252"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}