All this talk about increasing food prices has got me thinking. It seems that it is common practice in British markets to have three tiers when it comes to food quality and pricing.

The first and the cheapest are the so-called value ranges. These come in no-frills packaging and are considerable cheaper than the other ranges or name brands. What I want to know is whether the quality is also lower. What I want to know is what's the difference, for example, between a value tin of tomatoes and the middle-tier or top-tier ranges? I'd say taste, for starters. And what is the difference between value chicken and the other ranges? Taste? fat content? Water content?

The obvious answer is that for the lowest price, the consumer is getting the lowest quality.

Then there are the baffling mid-range products. Not as crap as the value range, but not as good as the so-called Finest range. Here you get your unripe, rock hard fruit, moderately flavoured bread, fatty battery chicken, and beef that has no flavour whatsoever and is virtually impossible to chew. Utter crap.

Then there's the top range. It's pricey, but probably not too different from the mid-range. Take the chicken and beef as an example--even if you're paying over the odds for Tesco's finest it does not compare with meat from a good butcher. Never. When it comes to fruit, the top of the line is better, but I really object to having pay extra for fruit with actual flavour.

The top-tier food lines are mainly a marketing gimmick. The Tescos and Sainsburys of this world are tapping into consumers' belief that buying something more expensive somehow makes them a better person, or posh. It's psychological--nothing to do with the actual quality of the food.

Having said all this, my question is why can't these stores just give people quality food at a reasonable price? Why do I have to pay way over the odds for a nectarine that actually tastes like a nectarine?

Shopping in one of the big markets has one advantage only--convenience. The quality of product is a non-issue. And when it comes to fruit, veg and meat the quality just isn't there--value, mid-range or top priced.

My prediction is as food prices increase this sly marketing will intensify--in fact it already has (see tesco and sainsbury TV adverts). They want us to think they're trying to help save us money but they're really just pushing the same overpriced, mediocre to poor product on us.