Iceland wars

[maccasa]

I remember the cod wars of the 70's with icelandic gunboats etc - It couldn't have been any worse than the opening of ICELAND at the Algarve shopping centre last wed - it was total chaos - never seen so many people in a shop at once - we got there at 1.30 - and it was heaving - the check out q's were the total length of the freezer sections which is at least half the shop. The reason was quite clear when we fought our way in - everything you could wish for as a brit - including pork pies!! smoked bacon, sald cream etc and all at only slightly higher than uk prices - as the packs were actually marked in £ you could see the "mark up" anything that was priced as £1 was at € 1.40

We gave up even trying to get out at the tills - but we will def. be back!!

[Bruce Wallis]

I remember the cod wars up in Icelandic waters as well. I was in them.
The trawler I was on, was arrested by an Icelandic gunboat, and we ended up in Iserfjiord.....until we broke out......

[EMM]

Reported comments from those who were there " ITS JUST LIKE ENGLAND " " I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE ( frozen ) CHICKEN KIEVS" " I WILL SHOP HERE EVERY WEEK ".
Apologies to those Portuguese businesses who will lose out to this import as some Anglo Algarvians seem to have forgotten where they live.
Hopefully once all the euphoria dies down it will be like the Chinese supermarkets in the UK , you shop in them for ingredients you cannot find anywhere else otherwise you use your local shops.

I can,t think of anything we cannot get in Pinge Doce, Pau a sucar, Intermarche or continente plus the local markets that will induce us to drive to Guia.

[bruce]

I can,t think of anything we cannot get in Pinge Doce, Pau a sucar, Intermarche or continente plus the local markets that will induce us to drive to Guia.Reported comments from those who were there " ITS JUST LIKE ENGLAND " " I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE ( frozen ) CHICKEN KIEVS" " I WILL SHOP HERE EVERY WEEK ".
Apologies to those Portuguese businesses who will lose out to this import as some Anglo Algarvians seem to have forgotten where they live.
Hopefully once all the euphoria dies down it will be like the Chinese supermarkets in the UK , you shop in them for ingredients you cannot find anywhere else otherwise you use your local shops.

I can,t think of anything we cannot get in Pinge Doce, Pau a sucar, Intermarche or continente plus the local markets that will induce us to drive to Guia.

That's a blow for Guia then!

[R.Wethereyet]

EMM.

What is wrong with Expats being pleased at having a UK supermarket chain opening in Portugal. just because we live here doesn't mean we have to become Portuguese. I remember when I lived in the UK there was a massive influx of Portuguese to the area around Selby who went over to work in the glass industry. The difference there was that the local council encouraged business people to learn some Portuguese and for eating establishments in the area to offer some Portuguese fayre on their menus, why, because the Portuguese were not willing to learn English and also wanted their own style of food. But that's okay I suppose.

Furthermore, what about the thousands of Indian, Pakistani, Caribbean, Chinese and other nationalities who came to the UK and opened shops and supermarkets. Do you say that they should embrace 'British' culture, and also do all their shopping in Tesco, Sainsburys, Waitrose, M&S etc. My sincere apologies to those British businesses that this has affected over the years.

Still at least I won't bump into you when I visit the Iceland store, you'll be too busy shopping in the Portuguese supermarkets, like Intermarche (French), Pingo Doce (49% Dutch owned - Ahold), Pão de Açúcar & Jumbo (Auchan - French), Lidl and Aldi (German).

Yes you really do support Portuguese businesses.

[EMM]

First of all please get your facts right.
It IS NOT a UK supermarket chain but a Spanish based company that purchases product from ICELAND FROZEN FOOD LTD and other UK suppliers. If you read the Overseas Web site all is explained.
The big difference is that the large Portuguese chains sell a majority % of Portuguese produced products with some imports aimed at the Expat communities.
Again If you look at Overseas it makes not effort to hide the fact that it is aimed at the Brits and sells almost exclusively imported produce from the UK ( some of very debatable quality and content ).
The local Indian/pakistani shops in the UK sell a huge variety of products far from exclusively ethnic produce.

For those who want to live in the "UK in the sun "Overseas is what they have been waiting for but this does not mean it will have a positive effect on the local community and economy unlike the " Asian " corner shop which transformed the UK shopping experience .

Suggested on another forum ( unconfirmed ) that they have not stuck on the required translations in Portuguese as required by law.
If so they will probably soon get a visit from the same agency that shutdown other Brit stores until they conformed a few years ago.

By the way we have a large Portuguese population in the west country but you would not know it as there are no Portuguese shops, or to my knowledge restaurants. Many of those local shops which opened a few years ago selling food from around the world to cater for the influx of foreign workers into the UK have gone out of business as those who have stayed have intergrated into the community and adapted to the UK high street and supermarket choices.

[cereza]

If we have Nandos then why can't Portugal have Iceland ?

[EMM]

Nandos is not Portuguese it originated in South Africa and Iceland ( guia ) should be called Overseas es ,How succesfull would it have been if they had called the store by their company name rather than adopting the name ( Iceland )which clearly has misled many customers.

[pato]

I remember the cod wars up in Icelandic waters as well. I was in them.
The trawler I was on, was arrested by an Icelandic gunboat, and we ended up in Iserfjiord.....until we broke out......

Was it a Hotel or B&B

[cereza]

Nandos is not Portuguese it originated in South Africa and Iceland ( guia ) should be called Overseas es ,How succesfull would it have been if they had called the store by their company name rather than adopting the name ( Iceland )which clearly has misled many customers.

Yes it originated in S.Africa but it serves Portuguese and Portuguese-Mozambique food - very nice too

[R.Wethereyet]

First of all please get your facts right.
It IS NOT a UK supermarket chain but a Spanish based company that purchases product from ICELAND FROZEN FOOD LTD and other UK suppliers. If you read the Overseas Web site all is explained.

I did read the website,
Although the entity operating the store here is Overseas. a Spanish company owned by a British businessman and a former Iceland Manager, it does have the rights to advertise and operate using the Iceland name under a licence agreement between the two. Very much like the tens of thousands of other high street names the world over who operate under a brand name.

The big difference is that the large Portuguese chains sell a majority % of Portuguese produced products with some imports aimed at the Expat communities.

The big Portuguese chains, Continente excluded are not Portuguese as I stated before but French, German and Dutch, and the vast majority of foods they sell are from global groups, not Portuguese, i.e. General Mills, Heinz, Unilever, Nestle, kellogs, Coca Cola, Pepsico, Kraft, and a large proportion of the fresh produce comes from Spain.

The local Indian/pakistani shops in the UK sell a huge variety of products far from exclusively ethnic produce.

So does the new store in Guia, only 20% is frozen or pre packed foods and not all are branded Iceland, the rest of the store has products, from the global brands I previously mentioned like Nestle, Kellogs, Coca Cola,Heinz etc. and at vastly lower prices than the 'Portuguese' supermarkets selling the same products.

For those who want to live in the "UK in the sun "Overseas is what they have been waiting for but this does not mean it will have a positive effect on the local community and economy unlike the " Asian " corner shop which transformed the UK shopping experience.

Isn't it the "UK in the sun", sorry I mean the Algarve, that you come to many times a year. As for a positive effect that this shop it will have, well, I have never been in a local supermarket, and have the staff open another till because the queues were more than 3 deep at the others. Customer service is definitely something the Portuguese supermarket worker could learn. That's a positive, as was the employment of Portuguese staff amongst others at the store.

Suggested on another forum ( unconfirmed ) that they have not stuck on the required translations in Portuguese as required by law.
If so they will probably soon get a visit from the same agency that shutdown other Brit stores until they conformed a few years ago.

Do you believe every 'unconfirmed' comment placed on a forum, if not why quote it. Everything we saw in the store had the translation labels correctly adhered.
Furthermore, ASAE did not shut down any stores for initial non compliance, only fined them. Those that closed were tiny shops that wouldn't put labels on and offended repeatedly, or who couldn't afford to have the translations done.

By the way we have a large Portuguese population in the west country but you would not know it as there are no Portuguese shops, or to my knowledge restaurants. Many of those local shops which opened a few years ago selling food from around the world to cater for the influx of foreign workers into the UK have gone out of business as those who have stayed have intergrated into the community and adapted to the UK high street and supermarket choices.

By the way, here we have a large British, Irish, German, Dutch, French, Angolan, Brazilian, Mozambiquian, and Eastern European population, that nearly outnumbers the Portuguese population, and we have all adapted to Algarvean life as well, having said that I thought Portugal was a Democratic country where choice was our option, and not something the country or others stopped us from doing, or castigated us for our choice.

Again If you look at Overseas it makes not effort to hide the fact that it is aimed at the Brits and sells almost exclusively imported produce from the UK ( some of very debatable quality and content ).

And why shouldn't it, it is a business that offers a product for a consumer, very much like any business. It has a target market and if that market is there it provides for it. Very much like the car industry, German, Italian, French, US, Japanese, etc. and they sell them globally where the markets demand their product, not just in their own country.
As for debatable content and quality, I'll pass your details onto Iceland, I'm sure they will be interested and take note.

[EMM]

As for you last line I think that Iceland Frozen foods has its hands full at the moment with the bad press it got this week in the UK papers and from various health bodies regarding the high calorific , fat and salt contents of some of its products.
Just google Iceland double deck pizzas

I am delighted to here that it has fesh products which do not carry a high road mile cost not being shipped from the UK.
much better for the environment .

[R.Wethereyet]

Just like the Brazilian beef, and NZ lamb sold in the PT supermarkets.
By the way, the fresh produce in Iceland was from Portugal and Spain, as was the meat and poultry.But you wouldn't know that, because you've not been

Oh and on another matter try googling Body mass index world indices. You'll note that Portugal is approx 10% higher than UK. mainly due to the over use of eggs fat and sugar in their desserts, and their over indulgence on fast foods from Portuguese owned franchises of MacDonalds and the like. Try also checking out their higher smoking related diseases per capita.

When you actually understand information that is provided, and accept when you are wrong or mistaken, then maybe most readers of this forum may take you seriously, and not see you for being the bigoted self righteous individual you obviously are.

[pickwick]

Dear Wethereejit

You are soooooooo wrong, so EMM do not believe what he posts!

The Iceland butcher has almost exclusively Irish beef (except 1 joint of Spanish T Bone on display today, all other beef was Irish) and all the lamb was Irish. How do I know? simple I went today and asked the butcher!. So you should accept that you too should not be taken seriously and by your own definition you too earn the title of "a bigoted self righteous individual " as you have posted clearly false information.
If you inhabit a glass house - don't throw stones you eejit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pickwick

[R.Wethereyet]

Oh how you made me laugh Pickwick what a clever use of words changing my name and calling me an eejit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, strange however, that yesterday the English butcher who was seconded from Spain told my wife and I, the information I posted, that the meat and chickens we bought were Spanish and Portuguese, maybe he was trying to appeal to your Celtic nature. or maybe the meat is delivered each day and today's was also from Ireland. Foodstuffs in most EU countries come from all over the EU. However, I only posted what I had been told yesterday, and not made assumptions from photos and press releases, like some on here.

Oh but you do confirm with me that he was the ICELAND butcher, not the OVERSEAS butcher.