Speaking from Experience... Shopping Research

To find what students really spend their money on food wise I decided to ask our class via facebook, I got a few very similar replies and this helped shape some initial ideas I have.

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2321061

Essential lists:

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/What_To_Take_To_University#Fancy_dress

Recipes:

http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=39306

From the data people had given me I was able to colate it into a condensed list of items which consists of: 

1. Cheese
2. Bread
3. Rice/ Noodles
4. Chicken
5. Fish
6. Meat
7. Vegetables
8. Tea/ Coffee
9. Tinned food
10. Mince meat.
11. Milk
12. Yoghurt
13. Cereal
14. Biscuits
15. Seasonings
16. Frozen foods
17. Butter
18. Conserves/ Spreads
19. Fruit Juice/ Fresh
20. Cordial
21. Sauces/ Pastes
22. Sugar
23. Condiments

I searched for the main shops that exist within leeds using Google maps to create my own map which I can then use to create my own map with these to help plot where the shops are. I tried to list all the shops I know of and I can easily edit more onto it which is really cool just incase I need to add more on.

Expanded list:

1. Cheese (Feta, Parmasen, Cheddar...)
2. Bread (Brown, Pitta, White, Buns, Wraps)
3. Rice/ Noodles (Basmati, Vegatable, Dried)
4. Chicken (Frozen, Fresh, Roll)
5. Fish (Filets, 
6. Meat (Bacon, Sausage, Chop, Filet)
7. Vegetables (Salad, Potatoes, Onions, Peppers, Brocoli, Carrots, Lettuce, Mushrooms, Cabbage)
8. Tea/ Coffee
9. Tinned food
10. Mince meat.
11. Milk
12. Yoghurt
13. Cereal
14. Biscuits
15. Seasonings
16. Frozen foods
17. Butter
18. Conserves/ Spreads
19. Fruit Juice/ Fresh
20. Cordial
21. Sauces/ Pastes
22. Sugar
23. Condiments

After this I then created an extended list of the student essentials, I then went into the following shops, to photograph all the prices of all the essentials. 

From these photographs, all 151 of them I inputted all the data into a excel sheet, highlighting all the cheapest prices. I never took quantity or quality of the produce into the sheet, simply how cheaply you can get said item as that was the simplest way to organise them all, taking in weights etc would be too confusing. This is the same for the offers, I never put any offers into the publication because the by the time in september the students would be able to take advantage of them due to offer's been temporary.

For the items that weren't in the shop currently, I used the shops websites to find the cheapest items, the only site that didn't have price lists was Morrison's, Pound land and Home bargains. Surprisingly.

I also discovered, even though you'd imagine Poundland and Home bargains been the cheaper option on some items, It's the complete opposite they're actually a lot more expensive in comparison then you'd take them for.

Food	Tesco	Morrisons	Sainsburys	Poundland	Home Bargains
Long grain rice	1.46	0.4	0.4
Cereal	0.31	0.2	0.21		1.29
Instant coffee	1.5	0.47	1.5
Juice	1.05	0.65	1
Jam	0.95	0.25	0.29	1	1
Tea	0.27	0.27	27
Specialty tea	1.35	0.75	0.8
Curry Sauce	0.79	0.2	0.26
Cheddar Cheese	1.97	1.73	2.19
Brown Sauce	0.29	0.29	0.29	1
Tomato Sauce	0.28	0.4	0.29	0.5
Yoghurt	0.45	0.33	0.42
Tomato Soup	0.24	0.24	0.59	1
Spaghetti	1.37	0.19	0.39		0.55
Penne	1	0.24	0.39		0.49
Fusilli	1	0.3	0.95
Baked Beans	0.25	0.25	0.25	0.5	0.5
Eggs	0.95	0.96	1
White Bread	0.8	0.5	0.75	1
Lemon	0.3	0.28	0.45
Bg. Oranges	1	1	2
Bg. Red Apples	1.99	1	2
Banana Bunch	1	0.69	1.15
Lettuce	0.57	0.65	0.6
Cabbage	0.69	0.79	1.3
Tomatoes	0.89	0.75	0.81
Cherry Tomatoes	1	0.82	1.1
Carrots	0.69	1	1
Margarine	0.89	1	1.27
Bg. Onion	0.63	1	1
Mushroom	0.89	0.5	0.97
Bell Peppers	2	1	1.51
Butter	1	1	1
Bacon	1.7	1.04	1.7
Fresh Juice	1.16	1	1
Strawberry	1.5	1	1.15
Kiwis	0.83	0.5	1
Green Grapes	2	2	2.25
Pears	0.9	1	2.5
Salad Cream	0.9	0.4	1.15	1
Brocolli	1.05	1.05	1
Custard Creams	0.31	0.31	0.45		0.49
Digestives	0.3	0.3	0.45		0.39
Bourbon Biscuits	0.43	0.46	0.5		0.45
1pt Milk	0.49	0.49	0.49
2pt Milk	0.89	0.89	0.89
4pt Milk	1.29	1.29	1.29
Pasta Sauce	1.05	1	0.44		0.79
Basmati rice	1.29	1.09	1.29
Cordial	0.58	0.28	0.8
Frozen Peas	0.75	0.89	1.45
Frozen Chips	1	1	0.93
Salad Leaves	1	1	1
Oats	0.75	0.75	1.59	1
Museli	1.18	1.18	1
Sunflower Oil	1.67	1.59	1.39	1	1.29
Olive Oil	1.58	1.39	1.99
Chicken Soup	0.24	0.24	0.24
Vegatable Soup	0.24	0.24	0.24	1
Brown Bread	1.5	0.5	0.75
Bg. Granny Smiths	1.7	1.89	2.1
Packet Salmon	2	4	3
Packet Haddock	2.98	2.56	4.7
Breaded fish	1	2	2
Whole Chicken	2.03	3.7	4.5
Chicken Breast	2.75	1.88	2
Parmesan	2.1	1.09	1.59
Vinegar	0.69	0.22	0.22	1	0.25
Mayonnaise	2	0.42	0.4	1
Tinned Tuna	0.49	0.55	0.8		2.99
Tinned Sardines	0.34	0.34	0.55
Kidney Beans	0.21	0.27	0.45
Pg tips	1.42	1.35	1.35		3.99
Yorkshire	2.6	1.39	2.48		1.49
Bagged oranges	1	1	1.5
Tinned Tomatos	0.31	0.31	0.31
Bg. Baking Potatoes	2	1	1.9
Bg. New Potatoes	1.4	1	1.25
Cucumber	0.8	0.79	0.8
Mince	1.75	1.6	3
Red Grapes	2.25	2	2.25
Banana	1	0.68	0.68
Packet Cod	3.39	4	4
Total Cost:	92.61	77.02	128.39