Supermarket chain forced to put lamb and even cheese in anti-theft security boxes

DailyMail ^ | 22 November 2012 | Daily Mail Reporter

[Daffynition]

Cheese and meat joints have been locked away in security-sealed boxes by a crime-hit supermarket in a bid to thwart hungry thieves.

Crime-hit supermarket chain Iceland has resorted to using the 'lamb saver boxes', normally used to protect more expensive goods such as CDs, games and DVDs, which trigger an alarm if a shoplifter attempts to leave the store with meat products without paying.

The security tactic has been employed in hundreds of the chain's stores across the UK.

Checkout assistants at the stores have told customers the supermarket chain also plans to fix security tags to its cheese - or lock the dairy goods away from reach.

Iceland bosses said they had been forced into the 'defence mechanisms' to stop a growing number of hungry thieves pinching its stock.

But customers hit out at the precaution, while food charities interpreted the measure as 'inevitable' with many families struggling to make ends meet.

[twister881]

Soylent Green is...Muzzies!

[Daffynition]

UK: Meat prices have soared by 6.1 per cent on average over the past year: http://theunhivedmind.com/wordpress/?p=29470

....if we are to believe the prognosticators....our food/meat prices will be going up next year too.

[Daffynition]

I think employee theft remains a larger problem than shoplifting, here.

[nd76]

I’ve actually shopped in an Iceland during a trip to the UK. It is an odd sort of place, with most of the merchandise consisting of frozen food, with the non-frozen items largely consisting of oversized containers of product (reminding me of what you buy in a Costco); the store itself is as large as two 7-11 stores combined, which is to say, not large.

If you are familiar with the DC area, there is a merchant called “Murry’s” that sells portion-controlled frozen meats in lower middle class areas (many of their stores are in southeast DC and in Prince George’s County, MD). Iceland is vaguely reminiscent of Murry’s.

[9YearLurker]

Lamb is very big and very traditional in the UK.

[9YearLurker]

Australian lamb is what’s most often available in the US.

[9YearLurker]

Considering how weak the laws in the UK for home burglaries, I’m guessing the punishment for shoplifting is barely detectable.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

In my time in the Saudi I never saw lamb being served although there was no prohibition on it. Chicken, goat, and camel were the mainstays with chicken being served several times a week. No prohibitions on beef either but some Muslims were suspect of it thinking it could secretly be pork and somebody was trying to put one over on them.

[9YearLurker]

Interesting.

[bgill]

For years, groceries have wanted to have shoppers send them a list, then clerks actually take the stuff off the shelves, total it at the cash register, and bag it for delivery or pick up, as soon as it is paid for./I>

I've heard Sam's Club does that and it's very popular. I don't care how convenient or how cheap Sam's Club or Costco is, I refuse to go there. Why should I pay them for the "privilege" to shop there? What's the point of memberships? Surely they can adjust the prices to offset membership costs and still have low prices.

[Alice in Wonderland]

I love lamb! Had it at least once a month when I lived in NYC. But since I moved to Florida it’s more than difficult to find. I know many people here who have never tasted it.

[Moltke]

"Noooo...I'm afraid the Cheddar's in the safe and we lost the combination."

[Cold Heart]

“US grown lamb is awful”
In France, a lamb is a lamb till it is 6 months old.
In the US, a lamb is a lamb till it is 1 year old.

[mass55th]

I don't eat lamb, but everytime I hear about it, I remember the Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "Lamb to the Slaughter."

Plot: Mary Maloney, a devoted and pregnant housewife, expects her husband Patrick to return home from his job as a local police detective. When he returns, Mary notices that he is strangely aloof and assumes that he was tired from work. Patrick finally reveals to Mary what is making him act strangely. It's not revealed what is discussed, but it is presumed by many that Patrick tells Mary that he was going to leave her for another woman.

Seemingly in a trance, Mary fetches a large leg of lamb from the deep-freezer in the cellar to cook for their dinner. Patrick angrily tells Mary not to make him any dinner, as he is going out. She strikes Patrick in the back of the head with the frozen lamb leg, killing him.

Mary realizes that she has killed Patrick and has to create a story to tell the detectives. She prepares the leg of lamb that she has killed her husband with and places it in the oven to somewhat destroy the evidence. After practicing a cheerful routine, she visits the grocer to establish an alibi. Upon returning, she enters the room with her dead husband lying on the floor and calls the police.

When the police (who are all friends of her husband) arrive, they ask Mary questions and look at the scene. Considering Mary above suspicion the police conclude that Patrick was killed with a large blunt object, likely made of metal. After a fruitless search around the house and surrounding area, Mary is reminded the leg is cooking, and offers it to the policemen, which after hesitating they accept. During the meal they discuss the murder weapon's possible location. One officer says it is "Probably right under our very noses". Mary overhears the last line and giggles, knowing it's true.

[William Tell]

bgill said: Why should I pay them for the "privilege" to shop there?

I think you would probably be paying for the privilege of shopping among a more responsible crowd than you might encounter elsewhere.

We fill up about twice a month, buying about 15 gallons and the Costco prices are typically about a dime less than elsewhere. By using our Costco American Express card, the gas is about another dime per gallon less. Twenty cents a gallon times 15 gallons times 26 fill-ups per year makes for an annual savings on gas of $78 dollars. This one item alone more than covers our membership.

The Costco American Express also provides a rebate on purchases which amounts to about $100 per year.

Whole chickens are typically $1.09 per pound at Costco but are usually about $1.69 per pound elswhere. At four pounds per chicken and 12 chickens per year, that's about $29 per year in savings.

Perhaps there are items that are not so reasonably priced. Everything we buy is a good deal and we are quite satisfied with the value we get for our membership dues.

[Daffynition]

[Daffynition]

Clearly, she's had enough of this debauchery.

[dfwgator]

She’s a Killer Queen...

[bgill]

For the past several months at our grocery store, whole chickens have been around 77 - 88 cents a pound. I put four more 77 cent ones in the freezer on Monday. I just checked Costco’s site but couldn’t find the chicken and only found organic beef. Costco’s Kirkland regular size green beans and corn is 12/$8.67. That’s .72 each whereas I never pay over .50 for canned veggies.

[Daffynition]

I have found that döner kebab [the Middle Eastern answer to fast food] was generally lamb or goat, or a combination with beef, roasted on a vertical spit. In Lebanon it is frequently chicken, served on a pita bread; the Saudi preferring goat, as their street food.