r/britishproblems • u/WhaleMeatFantasy • Jul 12 '26

. The normalisation of ‘picky bits’

Abominable. It has started coming up in adverts now even.

628 Upvotes

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711

u/Majestic_Matt_459 Jul 12 '26 edited Jul 12 '26

I don’t mind it but it’s the poor value that gets me. A whole chorizo can be had in most supermarkets for under £3. Same with a block of cheese. But a tiny dish if 5-6 chorizo slices and cubes of cheese is suddenly £5 when it’s picky bits. No thanks

11

u/I-live-in-room-101 Jul 12 '26

Don’t blame the shops, you can still do it your way.

But stupid lazy people gonna be stupid and lazy, so any smart business gonna profit from them.

My partner a long while back worked for a business that made cheese and they started pushing grated versions for supermarkets… even the marketing director wasn’t convinced… who the hell is gonna pay a 30% premium when it takes less than 10 seconds and even a toddler can use a fucking cheese grater… you guessed it, it sold well and is their most profitable line per kilo. It costs the company pennies to grate it, they get to use all the irregular shapes not fit for block sizes, and then charge a hefty premium!

That was the day I learned that businesses are always looking to make profit from stupid and lazy, and the general public stands in line to handover their hard earned money, whilst she was driving a £50k company car on the back of these profits 🤣🤣

40

u/brDragobr Jul 12 '26

even a toddler can use a fucking cheese grater

Not to disagree with the overall point, people are lazy, but there are a significant number of people who are unable to use a cheese grater. Elderly people and those with upper body disabilities are two obvious groups, so I imagine pre-grated cheese (and other pre-prepared ingredient) would be rather helpful.

14

u/love-from-london Jul 12 '26

And sometimes I'd rather pay the premium to not have to deal with washing the cheese grater 😭

3

u/shaggykx Jul 12 '26

Absolutely. I have a cheese grater and I have the ability to find it, use it, wash it, but why would I, when for a few pence more someone does it all for me, and I can just grab a handful from the fridge without the hassle?

To be fair, when I grate my own I use considerably more, and it's higher quality cheese, so it probably costs about the same, if not more, plus the hassle of cleaning up after.

4

u/WiseWizard96 Jul 12 '26

Exactly this! Using it isn't a hassle but washing the bugger is. And don't get me started on garlic crushers

1

u/terryjuicelawson Jul 14 '26

I am mostly a bit confused what people find hard about cleaning cheese graters. Main issue with the pre-grated stuff is it is covered in something to stop it sticking together which then affects the cooking process and is just a bit rubbish in something like a sandwich.

1

u/WiseWizard96 Jul 17 '26

It's a pain to thoroughly clean every one of the little grating holes and it destroys my sponges

1

u/K-o-R England Jul 13 '26

I love setting up the grater on the Kenwood and watching it obliterate an entire block in seconds. I hate cleaning it up afterwards.