Valvona & Crolla

Was it standard or perhaps artisanal ?

Barilla, DeCecco , Voiello are the leading brands of industrial pasta - all very good.

However there are many specialist artisan brands that command a premium both in the UK and in Italy.

What was the brand you saw at £4.99 ?

"Casa del Grano", Gnocchetti Sardi - it is not a specialist artisan brand. This pasta retails in Italian supermarkets at 1.50 Euro. Charging £4.99 is outrageous! Surely customers will keep buying it though.
I agree that specialist & artisan brands command a premium (and, needless to say, this will be higher in the UK), but it's disappointing to see that many standard products in Valvona are overcharged. Another example? I recently bought a pack of type "00" flour and was charged £2.99 for it. It's simply unacceptable. If there was some competition in town this wouldn't happen.

Well all I can say is that there is plenty of competition in London but no deli gets close to V&C and most sell inferior Parmesan , Salumi and Olive Oils and prices are high too.

It's a sad stae of affairs whem M&S and Waitrose have beeter aged Paresan (24monts >) than most Italian delis owned and run by Italians.

I just wish Peck (of Milan) would open up here !

Well, that is a very subjective point of view rather than a truism like you want to make it sound. Personally, I believe that the delis in London (or Amsterdam, as well as many other European cities) have a greater variety of good quality Italian products and their prices are overall significantly lower. While artisanal or fresh, specialist products are still expensive (and rightly so), standard Italian products are not overcharged. Another example? Take the "bottarga" they sell in Valvona & Crolla. It's tuna bottarga (lower in quality than the finest mullet bottarga) and very much overpriced. All I can say is that I'll be ordering products online, and I'll be buying my "00" flour from Tesco (at £1.09).

So can I assume that you think lack of competition gives a shop the right to charge ridiculous sums for items like pasta - flour and water are hardly luxury ingredients and as commented above not all the pasta in V&C are artisanal brands (and pasta is just one example).

It's amusing but sad that people think they are getting something special just because it's expensive but I guess V&C's owners are laughing all the way to the bank.

All I am saying is V&C is the best Italian deli in the UK and specifically better than those in London where I happen to live.

I can assure you that Luigi's , Camisa , Lina Stores to name but 3 are very expensive.

To say Tuna Bottarga is lower in quality than that made from Grey Mullett is a slightly "regionalist" view normally expounded by Sardinians.

I have had outstanding Bottarga or Avgotariago made from Tuna , Grey Mullett or other Fish roes in Scicily , Greece , Egypt

Most Italian delis in the UK are run by 2nd or 3rd generation Italians who tend to take the p**s by sourcing inferior products - examples are Parma Ham and Parmesan - they do not understand that the market has moved on and the consumer is much more discerning and well informed. So it's a tragedy that you can buy better quality Parmesan for instance from M&S who along with Waitrose have excellent buyers.

Pricing is another issue altogether and to compare V&C with Tesco is disingenuous - Tesco had revenues of £46Billion in 2007 and Net Income of £1.9Billion. No food retailer in the UK can match their buying power not to mention leverage in squeezing suppliers.

A fairer comparison would be Sartis in Glasgow which is pretty good.