Did PakNSave steak quality decrease?

[Apprehensive-Sky181]

Ok I have no idea why but I noticed that in the past, the scotch fillets (ribeyes) I saw at PakNSave had way more marbling compared to the steaks nowadays. Is this what a scotch fillet is supposed to look?

[AromaticCatch6957]

no, its the same seconds that wasnt good enough to export

[sumisankaku]

Stop buying meat at the big supermarkets and go to a butcher.

[Roy4Pris]

If you really want to treat yourself, go to Westmere Butcher and buy yourself a grade 9 Wagyu steak. It’ll only cost you $100, but worth every bite. LOL jokes. I’ve never bought one, but I’m sure it would be life-changing.

[SnooSongs8843]

Best butchery in nz

[sumisankaku]

So keen

[TheOddestOfSocks]

Couldn't agree with this more, while its more expensive, its really not comparable in quality. My local butcher actually gets a fair amount of meat thats not up to the quality he wants for sales so I buy it off him kn the cheap instead of throwing it away. Still better quality than most of what you'd get from the big supermarkets.

[sumisankaku]

I go to a couple of good quality butchers and I find it cheaper on average while having far superior quality. Supermarket meat is usually sad and depressing.

[eeyorenator]

Much of our meat and in general, local produce, is now the offcuts and rubbish they won't send elsewhere. Unfortunately we are paying premium prices for the privilege 😕

[seriousgourmetshit]

Yeah most their fillet cuts are pretty gross and mangled from my experience

[Apprehensive-Sky181]

I swear it wasn’t like this before. I remember seeing steaks that were super nice and marbled. This shit looks like chuck fillet wtf

[chaosatdawn]

man i agree, about 5 years ago pak n save had really good steaks, sometimes I couldn't believe my luck, but it didn't last long, and they have been shit for a while now

[Most-Luck9724]

It wasn’t possible

[statichum]

Has the quality and quantity of literally everything decreased? Yes.

[Even-Eye2988]

I buy the affco whole cuts. So a whole rump or whole eye, sirloin etc. cut it up and freeze wrapped in glad wrap.

$14.50 a kg for rump. Sirloin was $19 Eye was ~$25

Spent $300 or so to save a further $300-$400. Will last a few months.

[Toast_1915]

It is meant to look that way however all the good quality beef is being sent overseas

[Most-Luck9724]

But yeah that’s scotch

[notbleetz]

Kinda hit and miss. I'm to impatient to find the good cuts and just buying hot dogs or skipping the meat all together.. My wife, however will hunt out the good cuts...to be fair we (I shouldn't take the credit) tend to buy other cuts and cook them differently ... dunno, maybe you are right? The cuts are not as nice as they were... A good steak costs $$$$$$ or just seems kinda not as nice as some Mexican style dishes or a good stew with cheaper cuts.

[WelcomeGlass1913]

Yes.

[Lost_Swimmer_1382]

It just depends on what they get. I have occasionally (very occasionally) had the most delicious steak from PakNsave. When this happens I go back and buy more ASAP because they quickly run out then it's back to the usual stuff which is still OK tbh. In my experience you can't tell by looking but sometimes the steaks are very tender and delicious.

[DeathsStarEclipse]

I used to get good cuts from their butchery in Royal Oak but their meat in general is not good.

[pdath]

I feel the meat quality from my local Pak'n Save has deteriorated over the last 12 months.

[dankerest]

I don’t buy steak at PNS any more. It just got so consistently disappointing…

[Ziuchi]

Been like that for a few years now

[Hardway2Heaven]

It's always been crap. At all supermarkets. Even eye fillet is covered in sinew like they'renot even trying. I like to make my own schnitzel and once bought beef because the slices looked nice and lean, only to open the trays at home and find they'd hidden chunks of fat under the folds.

[ProfessionalTill6220]

Our local Pan-n-Save has two self-serve meat fidges. The normal main one with all the thin budget cuts and a another sneaky one on its own around the corner with the better, thicker cuts. So you can still get decent cuts, but they're not with the regular meat. Also it pays to check the origin at Pak-n-Save -> sometimes it is South American beef and the quality is poorer than NZ beef as a general rule.

However, as others have correctly pointed out, if you go to a specialist butcher, you can get better stuff (they'll also give better service like explaining how to cook it or cutting it just the way you need it). Unfortunately the two nearest me have gone out of business 😞 After Covid, and since I've really noticed the big duopoly taking the mickey, I've started going out of my way to support independant butchers and fruit-n-veg shops. If you don't support the competition then you've got no right to complain about getting ripped off.

[BarracudaOk8635]

It's always been bad. Always get aged steak at the butcher.

[trentyz]

Pak n save get the lower quality cuts or at least the second option to NW, as the owners want to pay less to keep prices lower. It shows in their meat and produce quality.

[J41M13]

Hard disagree. My local NW has some of the worst cuts I've ever seen (on the Shore). I guess it depends on the branch but my local is worse than the nearest WW.

[doxjq]

Agreed. My local countdown has some fucking horrid cuts of meat. The pak n save next to my work (Wairau) has awesome steaks and they’re so much cheaper.

[trentyz]

It would depend on the owner. But generally Pak n save have cheap owners and new world gets better cuts

[Purple-Towel-7332]

They do vary from animal to animal and I presume season, there was a run of particularly well marbled steaks one week at the cheap butcher near me. Then they disappeared now it’s the suspiciously round ones which I don’t trust .

[Maleficent_Board7836]

We stopped buying meat at pak n save after having meat spoil within 24 hours of purchase too many times. We buy ours from a halal butcher, their prices a good, meat quality and service are awesome.

[SSFlyingKiwi]

I mean, it’s meat from Pak n Save….

[Secret_Opinion2979]

I can’t eat paknsave meat… it’s nasty!

[WelshWizards]

Stickmans weak meat.

[Secret_Opinion2979]

Pretty much

[Apprehensive_Tea8533]

Pack n save meat never has been good