Meet the man helping savvy shoppers in Gosport save hundreds of pounds off their supermarket shops

Paul opened P&J’s Pile it High & Sell it Cheap store in Wingate Road last June.

The store offers hundreds of products at a fraction of the supermarket prices as the goods are either near or past their best-before dates.

And Gosport shoppers are eager to snap up the bargains, with the shop’s Facebook page attracting nearly 5,000 likes.

Paul, 34, said: ‘We moved back to Gosport after 15 years away and we thought it would be a good idea to set up a completely new concept for Gosport.

‘During lockdown we started selling food baskets from our garage and we realised there was a big demand. With big queues at supermarkets, we saw a gap in the market.’

The store has sold 60 tonnes of food and drink in the past seven months, which Paul said most likely would have been destined for landfill.

He said: ‘The way we sell our products, we wanted to be a low-cost operator, moving high-end brands like Kellogs, Surf, Cadburys, Haribo, all those sort of products really cheap.

‘We buy it in bulk at the end of its clearance life, meaning coming to the best-before date, which are fine to sell – you can’t sell things past the use by date like cheese and dairy.

‘We buy it in bulk then sell it to the public at a huge saving to them. Best-before dates just mean you may lose a bit of taste or colour, but due to the quality packaging they are fine to consume.’

The warehouse offers huge savings on well-known brands with some products over 90 per cent cheaper than supermarket prices.

Some of the top current deals include Jaffa cakes for 12 boxes for £3, Godvia Caramel Chocolates three boxes for £1, Mr Kipling cakes two for £1.50, Fanta orange 12 x 500ml bottles for £4.99 and Alpro soy for professionals 12 x 1 Litre for £1, plus many more.

Paul said: ‘I’m on the road one or two days a week looking for all the deals, before I buy it I will try it, look at it, smell it to check before selling to my customers.’

‘We like to keep the prices low and bringing in new products so the customers return.’

SEE ALSO: Rude words on biscuits prove a hit for Southsea baker with her sweary business Disco Biscuits

And the business is keeping Gosport locals happy.

Regular customer Lisa Jurd, 52, said she picks up lots of household goods at P&J’s.

She said: ‘We come to P&J’s once a week, mainly for crisps, washing powder, toilet roll and cakes because it's cheaper here than anywhere else. It's cheap here and you can buy it in bulk, we save about £20 a week.’

Lynn Sharp said: ‘I’m here about once every two weeks and buy sweets, biscuits, cat food, crisps and drinks. It’s really cheap and good value and saves me about £60 a month.’

Mum-of-two Rosemary Coles, 38, said it has been really helpful during the lockdown as she has been homeschooling.

She said: ‘I shop here quite a lot, always popping in, easily once or twice a week. We mainly buy cereal, sweets and drinks. It’s bulk buying and the price that brings me here, there is nowhere like this around here.’

For more go to facebook.com/pandjsfood/

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

Thank you for reading this story.

You can subscribe here for unlimited access to Portsmouth news and information online.

Every subscription helps us continue providing trusted, local journalism and campaign on your behalf for our city.