I was astounded by your observation that "the price of Waitrose's own-label baked beans had increased from 29p to 35p - more than double the price of Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Tesco versions. [The Grocer 33 Price Survey, The Grocer, 29 September, p18]. The survey compares the budget label of the other retailers to that of Waitrose. Having worked for a couple of the big four retailers in a past career, I can reliably inform you that the quality of three of those retailers' own labels do not match anywhere near that of Waitrose. Comparing Waitrose's own label to the other grocers is like comparing Prada to Primark. Many of the top food retailers put out to tender their own-label offerings, something Waitrose generally does not do. This affects quality because prices remain cheap despite costs continuing to rise. For a person still involved with grocery manufacturing, I feel The Grocer 33 does not really prove anything. Most people obviously comprehend why many of Waitrose's lines will cost more because you get what you pay for. So who gets the most out of The Grocer 33? Is it the company that gets paid to do it? Would it not be better to price check branded lines only, or would the results be too benign? The Editor writes: Own-label quality varies hugely, but to ignore such an important and growing element of the modern shopping basket would be wrong. Price tells only part of the story - which is why we also track availability and service. While we seek to compare similar products, it would be impossible to measure all the variables, including provenance, ethics, ingredients or even carbon footprint.

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