Serious price increase on cheese in big C

[LomSak27]

 

The 2 kilo chunks used to last, say 2 months(?) I did not have much in the fridge back then so not an issue.
 

Now days, my Makro sells half chunks or 1 kilo amounts, that is for basic cheddar (they sell a number of other cheeses)  I cut off some slices to put in a salad this weekend. I'm getting down there, need to buy another in a week, say. I mention this because other Makros still sell the old 2 Kilo chunks, and no half hunks, according to friends.

[scorecard]

12 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

Yes, it's "Mainland" from New Zealand with different sorts/ages.

(Vintage, Tasty, Epicure, Swiss, ...).

Prices at Makro were below 180, now 204 or so.

Even higher at Lotus (before like 186 now 210).

It's one of my regular items

But the price is still competitive (1kg 840) compared to the real goodies from Switzerland or France (>1500 ... >2000).

So I have to swallow the new price.

 

"Vintage" from the BigC catalogue, 209 Baht:

 

 

 

You can buy the above plus a big variety of good European cheeses in small and big supermarkets all over Vietnam, prices are around 20 to 40% cheaper than Thailand.

 

 

 

[Expatthailover]

13 hours ago, BEVUP said:

That's interesting 

So what makes a Pizza expensive here 

Novelty value

Economies of scale.

Chocolate bars are expensive

Serials are expensive

Maybe because its thailand and not good old back home and the majority of thai people arent even aware of pizza 

[shaurene]

I went in BigC 2 days ago and bought the mainland tasty brand with the red label same price 179 baht, the other one which says 24 months ripening is 5 baht more. I was back in New Zealand 2 months ago and the Thai price is around the same price as NZ. Call into Tesco they have the same cheese  but always 5-7 baht more than the mainland.

it is surposed to be a very low duty because they are in APEC BUT CUSTOMS COULD HAVE GOT DIFFICULT, you never know.

[david555]

3 minutes ago, scorecard said:

 

 

You can buy the above plus a big variety of good European cheeses in small and big supermarkets all over Vietnam, prices are around 20 to 40% cheaper than Thailand.

 

 

 

That was /is  the good result of being colonized in the past ….so they like those foods too ?

[mstevens]

22 minutes ago, shaurene said:

I went in BigC 2 days ago and bought the mainland tasty brand with the red label same price 179 baht, the other one which says 24 months ripening is 5 baht more. I was back in New Zealand 2 months ago and the Thai price is around the same price as NZ. Call into Tesco they have the same cheese  but always 5-7 baht more than the mainland.

it is surposed to be a very low duty because they are in APEC BUT CUSTOMS COULD HAVE GOT DIFFICULT, you never know.

At my local supermarket, 1 kg of Mainland tasty cheese is currently $12.49 which is about 281 baht - so the New Zealand price for a New Zealand-made product is (as you would expect) MUCH LOWER than the price in Thailand.  The Vintage variety has been out of stock in New Zealand since late last year so any stock available in Thailand has probably been on the shelves or in a warehouse / in storage for rather a long time.

[Mattd]

1 minute ago, mstevens said:

The Vintage variety has been out of stock in New Zealand since late last year so any stock available in Thailand has probably been on the shelves or in a warehouse / in storage for rather a long time.

Might become Epicure then with luck ?

[ivor bigun]

check out SIAMSBURYS ?  they have some good cheese bargains sometimes, on facebook

Yes went there and bought some strong chedder the other day far cheaper than the Australian one which has now gone to a price i will not pay at Tesco etc.

Sent from my SM-A720F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[luckyscruff]

Best to try Makro if you can , A block of Cheddar Cheese 2 kg  for about 730 Bhat, but everywhere ,it is cheaper to buy a larger pre packed amount   

[Thaidream]

These price increases are all related to a revision of Thailand's excise taxes which hit wine especially hard-  A 1.5 Litre of Australian win in the last 4 months has gone from 379 Baht to 469 Baht. 

 

In addition, prices on things like shaving ream; imported  toothpaste and other lifestyle products are also increasing.

 

Thailand claims it  follow free trade practices  and does not use tariffs. However, Thai products in places like the US; the EU and Australia are entering easily and with preferential tax treatment. I would have thought the Australian-Thai Free Trade agreement would have lowered prices of Australian products but not so.

 

While I am not a Trump supporter- he has a point regarding free trade- it's only free coming into the US and not very free when the US exports to other countries such as Thailand.  The same can be said of Australia and New Zealand. Thailand is not protecting its markets- it is raising money because of the lack of enforcement of  Income tax and we, as expats, are the target

[chris2004]

2 hours ago, dotpoom said:

I buy my 80 slice packet in Macro for under 400 Bt. ..Does me fine for a sandwich.

I buy my 84 slice 1kg cheese at Food Mart for 265 baht. OK for cheese burgers and sandwiches. Normal cheese is just unaffordable, like wine.

[lordblackader]

16 hours ago, ukrules said:

Sounds like 'Mainland cheddar' to me. I like the vintage cheddar version, the rest taste like rubber.

Mainland Epicure is their extra-vintage cheese and the top of the range. If you think that's rubber you either haven't tried it or you're taste is all over the place.

 

Personally I find Cathedral City Extra Mature is nicer than the NZ product and only slightly more expensive. 

[atyclb]

1 hour ago, Ks45672 said:

2kg of cheese would be a challenge..... 

How long can you make it last? 

can freeze it or cut it into smaller pieces then freeze it.  can last a long time

[digger70]

14 hours ago, BEVUP said:

That's interesting 

So what makes a Pizza expensive here 

Thai people,,,,  ?

[digger70]

33 minutes ago, Thaidream said:

These price increases are all related to a revision of Thailand's excise taxes which hit wine especially hard-  A 1.5 Litre of Australian win in the last 4 months has gone from 379 Baht to 469 Baht. 

 

In addition, prices on things like shaving ream; imported  toothpaste and other lifestyle products are also increasing.

 

Thailand claims it  follow free trade practices  and does not use tariffs. However, Thai products in places like the US; the EU and Australia are entering easily and with preferential tax treatment. I would have thought the Australian-Thai Free Trade agreement would have lowered prices of Australian products but not so.

 

While I am not a Trump supporter- he has a point regarding free trade- it's only free coming into the US and not very free when the US exports to other countries such as Thailand.  The same can be said of Australia and New Zealand. Thailand is not protecting its markets- it is raising money because of the lack of enforcement of  Income tax and we, as expats, are the target

This is caused by that Thai Disease GREED

[Bangkok Barry]

 

Big C recently had it on 'sale' at 186 so I bought a couple of them. I like it as cheese on toast and get a couple of meals out of it plus a bit left over to chew on. I set a mental limit of 100 baht for an evening meal so it comes in under that, although four slices of toast isn't exactly a huge helping.

 

But ALL dairy stuff in Thailand is way over-priced, as are many things that are not traditionally Thai. I used to buy meat pies from Oz in Villa, but the price rose from 80 to 125. Just ridiculous. At Tesco in the UK I can get one of their pies for 80p, a third of the price.

I don't think that many people, those who maybe don't travel out of Thailand much, realise just how expensive many things are in Thailand. I go to Spain where not only are prices of most food stuffs lower but they are of far higher quality. And don't get me started on the price of beer there - 10 baht a can in the supermarket. And wine is so cheap they have an annual festival where they chuck it over each other, Songkran style.

Ah, so it's somtam two meals a day and rice porridge with a raw egg for breakfast I suppose.......

[sjbrownderby]

16 hours ago, Rc2702 said:

I see some nookie bear guy selling double the size (1kg) for 200 baht but he's in nong khai. I am tempted to buy bulk.

He is in Nong Ki (Buriram), not Nong Khai, and the cheese he sells is very good. 

[HHTel]

50 minutes ago, chris2004 said:

I buy my 84 slice 1kg cheese at Food Mart for 265 baht. OK for cheese burgers and sandwiches. Normal cheese is just unaffordable, like wine.

Yeh, that cheese (plastic cheese) is ok for burgers but not what I'd call real cheese.  Even the 2kg blocks are processed cheddar.

 

Family and friends that come to visit always bring me a supply of 'extra mature cheddar', brie, camembert and others for a fraction of the price paid here.

 

 

[tropo]

58 minutes ago, chris2004 said:

I buy my 84 slice 1kg cheese at Food Mart for 265 baht. OK for cheese burgers and sandwiches. Normal cheese is just unaffordable, like wine.

If you could afford to buy as much "normal cheese" as you wanted, how much would you eat every day?

 

As most cheeses are 20 - 40% fat by weight (over 20% saturated fat), it's best served as a treat anyway, not a regular stable food eaten in large quantities. If you consider cheese as a treat, the price won't hurt you. 

[NoshowJones]

I have noticed recently that Big C have been going a bit daft with some of their prices, ie cans of baked beans.

[NoshowJones]

Maybe a little bit off topic, but a lot of stores have very little tins of spam now, about a year ago they all went daft with their prices, increasing them by around 40%, now ordinary tins of spam are disappearing, particularly at Makros.

 

Maybe people just stopped buying these tins because of the greed of some of these stores, and now the

same will probably happen with  Bic Cs cheese price increases.

[toofarnorth]

14 hours ago, KhunBENQ said:

Yes, it's "Mainland" from New Zealand with different sorts/ages.

(Vintage, Tasty, Epicure, Swiss, ...).

Prices at Makro were below 180, now 204 or so.

Even higher at Lotus (before like 186 now 210).

It's one of my regular items

But the price is still competitive (1kg 840) compared to the real goodies from Switzerland or France (>1500 ... >2000).

So I have to swallow the new price.

 

"Vintage" from the BigC catalogue, 209 Baht:

 

Yes I noticed yesterday that in Lotus all Mainland cheese had gone up , last week all were under 190B , yesterday all were at or over 209B.  Keep checking the price at Makro though , sometimes the 2k block comes down to a silly price , a mate who shops in Makro in Maesai twice a week found some near the end of last year that was on sale for about 300B , he only found out after getting home , couldn't sleep , 6 next morning went and got 5 packs .

If I had to remove cheese or meat from my diet it would be meat , can't live without cheese.

[worgeordie]

2 hours ago, atyclb said:

 

i have noticed changes at big c. example the casino brand frozen pizza took a big price hike though the baht-euro exchange rate had no significant changes.

 

i noted casino products sold in cambodia did not increase in price.

 

also the markdown food used to start at 50% price now significantly higher.

 

i suspect big c management trying to capitalize on foreigners living in thailand. 

Also Big C brand jams, were 89 THB,good jam,good value,now 109 THB,

so now make my own Blackberry,Raspberry,Mango,and Peach,cost 20-40 THB

a jar,dont like Cheese so price rise not a problem,but inflation is rising much

more than the Governments supposed 1%.

regards worgeordie

[NoshowJones]

3 hours ago, Formaleins said:

Something is going amiss with cheese at the moment, the brands that I think you are referring to have totally disappeared from the Tesco online shopping site too.

Yes, just like the tins of spam, increasing prices too much because of pure greed, then people will stop buying.

I'm surprised that tins of corn beef are still on the shelves at Villa despite the same brand being about 40% cheaper

at Foodland.

[toofarnorth]

2 hours ago, Denim said:

I also noticed the price hike and didn't buy.

 

First it was wine now cheese.

 

Is this an oblique government crackdown on wine and cheese parties that have been creating mayhem the length and breadth of the country ?

Good one Denim , let us stamp out wine and cheese parties , what the country needs is no more gathering at these badly run parties , back to somtam and Chang parties.

[NoshowJones]

2 hours ago, LomSak27 said:

Time to get a makro card and go shopping for the 2 kilo blocks    

Is the Makro card really much of an advantage? If so, are they easy to get?

[Kieran00001]

Vintage Cheddar was 182 in Big-C yesterday.

[Kieran00001]

4 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

Yes, just like the tins of spam, increasing prices too much because of pure greed, then people will stop buying.

I'm surprised that tins of corn beef are still on the shelves at Villa despite the same brand being about 40% cheaper

at Foodland.

 

If they are far cheaper in another store isn't still on the shelf exactly where you would expect them to be?

[NoshowJones]

2 hours ago, atyclb said:

 

i have noticed changes at big c. example the casino brand frozen pizza took a big price hike though the baht-euro exchange rate had no significant changes.

 

i noted casino products sold in cambodia did not increase in price.

 

also the markdown food used to start at 50% price now significantly higher.

 

i suspect big c management trying to capitalize on foreigners living in thailand. 

Your last sentence is spot on IMO.

[poohy]

Phew just returned from UK with 4 kilos of assorted cheese that should keep me going for a month

 

An aside local i noticedc macro here in prachuap is now not selling smaller blocks of cheese just 2 kg blocks