‘I spent £10 in discount supermarket the Company Shop – here’s what I picked up’

The cost of living crisis means we're all looking for ways to lower our costs – including in the supermarket.

Armed with £10, Edinburgh Live reporter Iona Young took to her nearest Company Shop discount store in Wester Hailes to see how much grub she could get with her cash.

If you've never heard of it, Company Shop is a discount chain that sells surplus stock that would've otherwise gone to waste at a super cheap price.

You do have to pay for a membership, a bit like Costco, but this is free to sign up for.

Membership is open to employees and pension recipients of the NHS, Care and Emergency Services, Prison Service, British Armed Forces, Charity and the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods supply chain.

Those in receipt of means tested benefits are also eligible.

Company Shop has 15 branches across the UK – check out your nearest location on its website. Here is what Iona thought when she visited…

With the price of living skyrocketing in Edinburgh, we took a trip to discount supermarket Company Shop to see how much we could get for £10.

Located in Wester Hailes a membership card is required to get into the bargain surplus food store.

During the pandemic it was open to key workers such as NHS staff, police and the fire service but has now extended the free membership to people in receipt of means tested benefits.

Have you ever visited Company House? Let us know your thoughts about it in the comments below.

You can apply online, or by popping into the store, every now and then the company also sends a membership link for current members to share with their friends and family.

The Company Shop buys surplus stock from food manufacturers that would have otherwise gone to waste or ended up in landfill, and members can buy it at up to 70 per cent off the normal price.

We visited on a Thursday afternoon to do a weekly shop with the challenge of only spending £10 which shouldn't be difficult at all – with prices as low as 5p.

When you first enter the store you walk past the fresh food section including fruit and vegetables, meat and poultry leading onto cheese, milk and yogurts.

Most of the the steaks and whole chickens as well as chicken thighs, mince etc are half price on the day allowing you to get the basics for a meal for around a quarter of the supermarket price.

But not to worry, if you are vegetarian or vegan as there are plenty of plant based discount price items from Quorn and Birdseye.

On the last visit they had dozens of the barista Alpro Soya milk cartons for just 39p.

So focussing on packed lunches, stock items for the cupboard such as pasta sauce and pasta etc with a few cheap treats on the way here is how much we got in a company shop haul.

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• Fancy Chilli and lime tortilla chips – 79p
• 6 blackcurrant jellies – 56p
• Grilled vegetable pesto – 60p
• Sunset candle – with a burn time of 35 hours – 89p
• Colgate total toothpaste – £1
• Fancy breadsticks – 50p
• Decaf tea – 51p
• Two bags of fizzy Percy Pig chews – £1
• Six salt and vinegar pork puffs – £3 (27p each)
• 6 packs of Lindt mini chocolate Santas – 25p each
• Red curry paste – 65p
• 5 fairtrade 'gingerella' ginger beers – 40p each
• Another red pesto – 49p

On top of all that for £12, there were also hundreds of Maggi's cook in the bag seasoning packets at the end so I picked up 22 of those.

Due to the nature of the stock, there are often free goodies at the end to pick up.

There are also dozens of crates filled with all sorts of random dry groceries which is often where I pick up 75% of my shop at the Company Store.

The items completely vary so when you find some belters, its likely you won't see them again – unless you are lucky.

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