Good Food and good times with PnP Fresh Living

I was very privileged to be invited to the Pick n Pay Fresh Living reader event at the Good Food Studio.

Let me just say that I am not eating again for at least a week. O.M.G I am stuffed! I had to pop open the button on my jeans when I got into the car.  The food was magnificent!!!!

Anka Roux and Caroline Gardener, food editors for Fresh Living magazine and Nic van Wyk, an award winning chef from Simonsburg, gave fabulous demonstrations on putting together parts of an amazing three course meal.

After the cooking demos we sat down to a cheese (Simonsberg) and wine (in house PnP brand) tasting that was so delicious.  I could have had that for lunch and been totally happy 🙂  I heart cheese!

After the delicious cheese and wine we moved on to starters.

Stuffed bread bites with feta cheese…

and quince and blue cheese pies with salad…

Followed by the main course of slow-roasted shoulder of lamb with salsa verde and lemon and parmesan risotto…

This was followed by a scrumptious dessert of chocolate truffles and lemon tart…

I was very lucky to attend the event with a few other bloggers/tweeters…

Angel, Kerry, Jessica and Dale

I had an absolute blast this morning and cant wait to attend another event at the Good Food Studio, perhaps a hands on cooking lesson or two 🙂

Thank you so much for inviting me PnP!!!

 

Pick n Pay Real Baby

A little while ago Pick n Pay asked me if I would like to review their new range of baby products.

With an active 3 year old and a new baby on the way I jumped at the chance.

This is what arrived for us last week:

  • 1 x pack Junior #5 nappies (46) – R119.99
  • 1x pack Mini #2 nappies (44) – R82.99
  • Cotton Wool Pleats (100g) – R13.99
  • Cotton Puffs (50g) – R13.99
  • Wipes (72) – R27.99
  • Cotton Buds for Baby (50) – R10.99
  • Aqueous Cream (250ml) – R12.99
  • Petroleum Jelly (250ml) – R13.59
  • Baby Soap (100g) – R5.29
  • Nappy Cream (75ml) – R15.99
  • Baby Lotion (200ml) – R18.99
  • Body Wash (400ml) – R23.99
  • Baby Oil (200ml) – R17.29
  • Baby Powder (300g) – R17.69
  • Hygiene Liquid (500ml) – R24.99

*prices taken from the Pick n Pay Online Store.

I was totally blown away by the package that arrived for us.  The best part is that these are not sample sizes but the actual sizes you will find in store.

The eye catching yellow, white and grey packaging is great, and Aaron was all over the bottles and tubs naming the cute animal drawings on each product.  I was excited to see that all the creams, lotions and powders have chamomile extract in them, this soothing extract is wonderful to help put niggly babies at ease (and its smells great too).

I must admit we haven’t tried any of the products yet.  The reason being that we had just opened a new pack of nappies for Aaron and we are waiting to finish those before opening the Pick n Pay ones.  As for the other products, poor Aaron is missing out, Im being selfish and hanging onto those for theSQL.  She should be here in the next 3 weeks and I am so grateful I dont need to buy any toiletries for her now.

I did open almost all the bottles and tubs and they smell divine, the chamomile extract is delish and Im sure its going to be very soothing for the baby.

Watch this space for our review of the Junior nappies in the next few days…

Positive Customer Service!!

A few months ago I noticed that Pick n Pay, Clicks and Dischem stopped stocking white Lux soap.  I asked around and was told that they are no longer manufacturing it.  WTF!

I use white Lux soap because it does not make me break out, its really the only soap that is ok for me to use.  I have tried literally a dozen other brands for sensitive skin and I have a reaction to most of them, others have a smell I cant stand or a texture I dont like.  Lux was my Holy Grail.

So I Googled it and found that Unilever makes Lux and an email was sent off post haste.

I didnt receive a response… until today. Better late than never I say.

Here is the email I received.

Dear Gina


We  recently discontinued our Lux White Bar due to a new Global Lux  Re-Launch which did not include a plain white bar.

After receiving literally thousands of requests from loyal users in South Africa asking us to reinstate the product, immediate investigations were undertaken with our manufacturing facilities to determine whether we could reintroduce this variant without compromising production of the full range.

The outcome was favourable and Lux White is now back in production. Available in both 100g and 200g bars, Lux White will be  in stores from the end of June 2009 everywhere in South Africa.


May we suggest that until the the White bar is back, that you try either our Vaseline white bar or our Sunlight white bar as an alternative.

We pride ourselves in understanding the real needs of our consumers and providing them with products that not only meet, but exceed, their expectations of our brands.  Please could you kindly forward me your postal details, so I can send you a formal letter with regards to the return of the Lux white soap.


Thank you.

Kind Regards

Sindi Ngcobo

Personal Care

Consumer Affairs Department

Unilever SA

Well done for listening to your customers!