Best Posts in Thread: Food Prices here

For this particular product some additional info.
When you have a look upon your receipt, you will read the wedge is being sold by a weight of 230 gram.
Looking @the backside of the product you will read the real weight.............almost always lower than 230 gram sometimes even just a little bit above 200 gram.
I point this out to a supervisor, guess what no comment and a complete silence.
So I took up the matter with Frico customer service in Holland for explanation and clarification.
Their answer the machine that cut the wedge is set on 230 gram with a flexibility in weight it could be less but never more.
However, the shop owner should fix the price in accordance with the real weight and not according to the standard set weight.
Frico said the overall total weight of all wedges is sold by the fixed kilo price.
So @least the importer of this product will not be overcharged not for even one peso.
I have no idea how the importer is billing these wedges to Lee, Hupermarket or Robinson. But do you believe they will except a bill paying more than the actual weight,. So once again the customers pay the bill (of course) but in uncorrect way.
A product like this, for sale in a supermarket in Holland,get a price tag in accordance with the actual weight.
For example here in the PH. The receipt says 211 peso for 230 gram which is 91,7 centavos a gram.
So a wedge with a weight of 210 gram should cost 210 x 91,7 = 192,57 peso.
That 18 peso more it will not make me bankrupt, but it's always very remarkable that the profit of a price round up always is in favour of the shop owner and never of the customer.

 

The heart of the matter that many coming here don't consider is that we are on a remote Island and other than coconuts, fish bought off the street, and 5p bread at the bakery, most food items are shipped here and we pay for that. Btw, "out of stock" for those items you enjoy and buy is common. And a big And, the extended family hangs out at your place at meal time. Private education is also expensive here. Unrealistic expectations disappoint many who come here. Nevertheless, if you can manage your budget, it can be a great place to live.

 

Maybe this reveals why plain white rice and dried fish are the main parts of the citizens diets here. Many single items here represent almost a full days wages for a local. If you think we have problems, think about the locals, I am embarrassed when I see that Imp and Uggy (cats) eat better than some of the locals. When the discounted subsidized rice stations open the lines are huge. I have never know anyone in America actually go hungry, except maybe some addicts who have wrong buying priorities However it is real problem for the bottom of the working class here. Thank God the Catholic Church here promotes large families to help create multiple breadwinners for the family and tithers.... the problem is that no one thought of creating jobs for those breadwinners so there are only just more mouths to feed created, not more bodies capable to bring home money. With limits on foreign investment and no limit on electricity costs those jobs may never become a reality here:( .

Having your helper obtaining the raw foods and preparing the meals may help on the costs, as obviously they do not have the budgets to waste like we do here. They have been surviving for years, as we have been scamed for years along side of them.

 

Unfortunately and a fact of life is, we are really are, our own Worst Enemy. We moan about the crap Local Produce. Tinned food or whatever so we look for stuff we like. This reverts back to Imported Stuff. Like anywhere in the World, Imported goods are likely always, to have a larger price.

just a one off I like HP Brown sauce, 140 to 180 p a bottle.
A1 Steak sauce @ 70 to 85 p both on the same shelf when Stocks are there for HP.

A preference choice will in the main cost more. I do agree that food here is getting beyond the Inflation gap but I do tend to think we will always talk about our Preference against local things IMHO

JP

 

oh so very true....and they are the essientials of life...and the reason most of us are here

 

On that score I see your point, but then again, They ( The Shop/Supplier) know it will be monied People and Us (the Foreigner) that will buy Canned Coconut milk, a National would do what they have always done. Collect the Coconut and DIY. Where the PI is a long way backward in many things, they now know that convenience foods, Cartoned Tinned etc will be bought by those that can afford
As we also know, where there is a drop in sales, Profits will be gained elsewhere and I have seen it for so many years, price Increases are Instant Profit.
The only way anyone is going to Stop it is to boycott the product, and it will be reduced when the SBD nears. moaning and talking/writing to the DTI here is useless.

I am afraid we are getting into a Grin and Bear it Situation. I don't like it But............... What else can we do?
For me a tired Man on a Fixed Income returning to the UK is not an Option.

JP

 

I ask you have i lost the plot?

In a 6 month absence the oil price has dropped to below 50 USD and that's great,,,,, but the basic food prices,, especially tinned goods seem to be completely outrageous , i went shopping to the hypermart here on tuesday and was ASTOUNDED at the price of goods, example a tin of tomatoes was 89p a tin of coconut milk 95p tin of baked beans 120p! Fresh chicken breast fillets non boned, 205 per KG, Pork cut into cubes 235p a KG

These prices are pretty much a hell of a lot more then the uk on tinned products ie X3-X4 the price and the meat products are pretty much the same,,,,,,,,

I probably could buy a few of the items but out of principle i will let them gather dust as i will JUST NOT PAY DAYLIGHT ROBBERY ,,,, how on earth is this in line with the PI pricing to salarys etc?

To be honest my happy go lucky days of living in the pi are wearing thin ,, when i came here it was for a better lifestyle to be able to buy anything i wanted and not have to worry about cost,,, now it seems a mission to find any peace here without the stress which was the whole point of being here....
can someone advise where to pay reasonable prices on anything??????

 

hmmmm....i get fresh fish here for peanuts compared to the prices in germany. besides from the industrial crap the supermarkets sell here, it is possible to buy fresh meat, fruit, milk etc from local farms and agro-corperations, not to mention the fresh market - if you choose wisely. if you prefer a romantic dinner outside, here are some very good restaurants not using msg. all in all, dumaguete is a great place. you can get amazing good food here for a reasonable price and live more healthy the same time. taking time for cooking a great dinner and teach your gf cooking great international cuisine is a welcome side-effect.