Dear Migros
Since this spring, I have noticed quite often that in various Migros stores in Zurich (not only in small ones, but also in MM or MMM), fruit that is on the verge of going moldy (totally muddy, dents, etc.) or even already has visible mold on the outside is on the shelves (especially blackberries, raspberries, strawberries). When I kindly pointed this out to the employees, I always got a snotty or unfriendly reply (à la it's not that bad, it's only 1 or 2 berries, you can sort them out and throw them away, it's not the whole basket that's infested, I shouldn't be so fussy, etc.). I then refrained from discussing the matter further with these employees and decided for myself that I would no longer buy fruit from Migros (especially as the prices are high, e.g. around CHF 7 for 250g of raspberries or blackberries etc.). In my opinion, the quality of the fruit (whether Swiss or foreign) has clearly deteriorated. Even if, for example, the strawberries, raspberries, blackberries etc. don't look bad on the outside, when you buy them they don't even last 1 day in the fridge; the next day they are already moldy... I haven't had these bad experiences with Coop so far; the fruit is a little more expensive at Coop than at Migros, but at least it lasts 1-2 days in the fridge without going moldy straight away... There is just as little fruit with visible mold in the racks at Coop. I was actually always a Migros kid, but now I have to be honest and say that the competition (Coop, Lidl, Aldi) is clearly better in many respects.
All replies (62)
For me, it's the other way around: although vegetables in Migros are sometimes really borderline in terms of freshness (especially cauliflower with lots of black spots, beans with gray mold), they are still just about acceptable. In the Coop, on the other hand, I often find moldy vegetables (some harvested more than a week ago, and I get snotty answers when I point this out). I think the staff at both Migros and Coop should be better trained in sorting out/putting away vegetables that are no longer fresh. Fortunately, the staff at Migros in Horw do this better now, but sometimes better, sometimes worse, depending on the person ;-D :-*.
Yes, the quality of the vegetables at Migros unfortunately also leaves a lot to be desired... It's a real shame, Migros used to be really great in this respect.
I also had bad experiences with the staff at Coop. Migros and Coop could really do better in terms of training, customer unfriendliness is really unacceptable. But as you say, it depends on the person. I've also had very friendly and helpful staff at both Migros and Coop (but unfortunately that's the exception, at least here in Zurich and in the stores where I shop).
Hello @smartcoyote
I'm sorry that our range of fruit and vegetables is not satisfactory. We try to guarantee quality on the one hand by setting clear requirements for our suppliers and on the other hand by carrying out strict checks on incoming goods. Certain deviations are hardly recognizable visually. They often only become apparent after some time. We are constantly working to prevent such incidents as far as possible and to remove the affected items from the shelves. I have informed the responsible departments in Purchasing and Quality Assurance about your comments.
Berries are particularly delicate natural products and therefore require greater attention during goods management. Nevertheless, affected packs should be sorted out as quickly as possible. We are sorry that this does not work everywhere. We would like to investigate this and close any gaps in our knowledge. Can you please tell us the stores where you have made these observations and received the answers described?
Kind regards
Tamara
Dear Tamara
It concerns the following stores: Migros Brunaupark, Migros Zurich Airport and Migros Glattzentrum.
Best regards
Hello @smartcoyote, thank you for your feedback. The relevant stores have been informed of your comment. Best regards, Luisa
Hello
I am of the same opinion. At Migros Pfäffikon ZH the fruit regularly goes moldy after 1-2 days (no matter how we store it), but at Migros Wetzikon ZH the quality is worlds better. Why is that? Lg Martin
Dear Migros
I'm afraid I have to get this off my chest now, and I'm very sorry that it's negative again. To be honest, it's starting to seem to me that Migros is taking me for a fool. Migros has had raspberries in duo packs in promotion since Tuesday. I bought such a duo-pack on Tuesday (2x 250g); the berries looked flawless to the naked eye in the store and as far as I could see from the outside. However, when I opened the packs at home, I discovered that there were quite a few rotten/mouldy berries inside (I had to throw away a total of 90g because they were already quite mouldy or had started to go mouldy). Yesterday I bought another duo-pack; from the naked eye the berries in the store also looked okay in terms of quality. But when I opened the packs, a bunch of berries were moldy; I had to throw away a total of 170g, which is almost a whole pack! Duo-Pack in action to then throw away a pack, really?
I have given Migros a chance several times, but what is too much is simply too much; from now on I will no longer buy berries/fruit at Migros that are offered for sale in closed plastic packaging and that you can't choose yourself (Coop, Aldi and Lidl definitely have better quality berries/fruit; at Coop they are a little more expensive when they are not on sale, at Lidl/Aldi - if not sold out - they are a third cheaper, and they last longer, and they are also Swiss fruit; they are also sold there in closed plastic packaging, but I have never had such moldy berries, maybe one berry once). For me, this borders on cheating, 2x 250g duo-packs of raspberries for about 7 Fr. and you almost have to dispose of a whole pack because the fruit inside is moldy. Sorry, dear Migros, but that's really not on, I don't like being taken for a fool; Migros certainly earns a lot from it, especially when customers have to throw away goods... Migros seems to have a really big problem in the Glatt center when it comes to storing berries/fruit. I've discussed this with friends and colleagues and they've confirmed that other Migros stores aren't really much better (the smaller ones seem to be a bit better because they don't have as much produce as the larger MM and MMM)... Even if berries are tricky fruits, it should be possible to sort out moldy products! After all, Lidl, Aldi, Coop etc. manage this too.
I've always been a Migros kid, but now I have to be honest and say that I'm clearly becoming a Coop, Lidl or Aldi kid when it comes to certain products. Sorry, dear Migros, but at that price I expect products of impeccable quality (at Lidl or Aldi, which are usually a third or even more cheaper than Migros, I'm happy to turn a blind eye if the fruit isn't flawless).
And what I also have to say at this point: I like to support and buy Swiss products (fruit, vegetables), even if they are slightly more expensive than foreign ones, but this year I have to say that the quality and taste of the foreign fruit is many times better than the Swiss products, much to my regret. We did tests in the family (e.g. buying Valais apricots and apricots from Spain and seeing who guessed which; it was always the Spanish apricots that we thought were Valais apricots, but it was the other way round)...
Hello @smartcoyote
I'm sorry to hear that your purchase was disappointing again. We appreciate you taking the time to bring this to our attention again. I have submitted your comments to the cooperative so that they can discuss your feedback with the stores concerned.
I have also reported your experience of tasting apricots to the fruit buyers. Such reports are important for us to identify inconsistencies more quickly.
If you are not satisfied with the products you have purchased from us, you can return them at any time to the customer service desk in your store. Please use our contact form to let us know and we will send you a small refund.
@MartinSimeon
Your request is being clarified at Genossenschaft Ostschweiz. We will get back to you as soon as we receive an answer.
Kind regards
Tamara
Dear Tamara
Thank you for your efforts. Today I wanted to buy blackberries at Migros Brunau (because they are on sale this week). I gave it up in disgust: Out of about 20-30 packs on the sales shelf, only 2-3 packs contained no moldy berries, the remaining packs all had massively moldy fruit visible to the naked eye! When I kindly pointed this out to an employee who was putting melons into the rack and even showed him the moldy disaster, he simply said tersely that I could buy a pack that didn't have moldy fruit if I was so fussy, I could choose, there was more than one pack in the rack, he wouldn't put these packs away now... I thankfully decided not to buy the berries.
When I told a colleague about this, he said I should take a photo next time and send it to the food inspector, who would certainly enjoy it, especially if it wasn't the first time... I'm not the type to do this sort of thing, but perhaps it wouldn't be a bad idea to report it to the food authorities. Employees don't seem to care at all about selling berries that are massively moldy and hazardous to health; several customers wanted to buy these berries and put the packs back in the rack in disgust...
I have already tried to return a moldy pack of berries to Migros customer service the next day after buying them (I still had the receipt). I was dealt with in a relatively snippy and unfriendly manner, such as how I could think of wanting to return fruit, that I had stored the fruit incorrectly (although I could prove with the receipt that it was less than 24 hours ago when I bought the fruit and although I emphasized several times that the fruit was still cold and had come straight from the fridge), and so on. That's why I no longer bother to keep receipts and return fruit; I simply no longer buy berries from Migros, but go to the competition.
Best regards