Western Brands Cut Quality For Thai market

[Brewster67 850]

Just an observation, maybe someone else has examples.

 

I just bought a box of Liptons Yellow Label tea bags and I noticed the tea was very weak, in fact I had to let the teabag brew for like 3 times longer than normal and had only about half the milk I usually add just to make it look like tea. I went online and looked up the product specs and it is supposed to be 2 grams of tea per bag, yet when I weighed a bag on my very accurate digital scales it came up as 965 mg, that is less than half the amount of tea than their usual product.

 

I am pretty sure the Thai importer has got Liptons to make it to this spec to get the product in cheaper... I am quite bemused a major brand from the west is happy to lower their product quality to such extremes just to get sales. One would think brand reputation would be their number 1 motivation.

 

I know this goes on here because I buy a regular brand of tinned sardines here and when you buy it from a shop there are three pieces of fish in the can. but when I bought a pack of 10 tins from Lazada as the price was around 25% lower, when I got them, every can had just 2 pieces of fish, so saving 25% and get 33% less.... Lol. Obvioulsy someone contacted the factory and asked them to reduce the fish in the can to reduce the costs and the factory willingly complied.

 

This Lazada seller literally had over 5000 ratings for this product, so they are pulling quite a canny manouver. You got to give them credit for that 🙂

Edited January 26 by Brewster67

[BritManToo 71554]

2 minutes ago, Brewster67 said:

I am pretty sure the Thai importer has got Liptons to make it to this spec to get the product in cheaper... I am quite bemused a major brand from the west is happy to lower their product quality to such extremes just to get sales. One would think brand reputation would be their number 1 motivation.

Liptons tea has always been expensive garbage.

Buy Typhoo one cup tea bags on Lazada, 150bht for 100 bags.

[SoilSpoil 4202]

Try buying European chocolate here. Awful

[BritManToo 71554]

Just now, SoilSpoil said:

Try buying European chocolate here. Awful

CDM from England is fine.

CDM from Indonesia is not so good.

 

Asian chocolate is made from fat with a higher melting point so it doesn't go soggy on the shelf.

I prefer the English made chocolate, even though it is 2x the price of the Indonesian made chocolate.

[NextG 447]

Some products are made especially for Asian markets and are made in Asia. 
Tim-Tams are an example. Sometimes you will see both the original product and the Asian version close to each other. The original version being more expensive with a different eating quality. 

[worgeordie 58666]

Liptons tea ....it's always been as weak as gnats pee , think maybe just

used for iced tea, I don't think you would see a British tea drinker buying

it , years ago I had to buy a box as had run out of Yorkshire tea ,which my

family sent from UK , it was weak then , and your saying its weaker ...

 

Sardines  2 fish in a tin ? , they must have been very big Sardines , the only

Sardines I buy are King Oscar ,I would not buy any Sardines produced here

as its well known they can be infected with worms ,

 

regards worgeodie

Edited January 26 by worgeordie
correction

[mokwit 3880]

Toothpaste. All brands are like chalk dissolved in engine oil and very low quality vs European product. Colgate "professional clean" is nearest to Eur quality.

[Brewster67 850]

12 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Liptons tea has always been expensive garbage.

Buy Typhoo one cup tea bags on Lazada, 150bht for 100 bags.

Yeah, I probably will do that. Usually I would bring back a large quantity of Yorkshire Tea every time I visited the UK, but have not been there for years and am now exposed to the Thai market. But yes, I won't be buying Liptons again, I will be certainly taking your advice, until then I will be double bagging the cup till they are gone.

[kidneyw 1146]

I always found shaving foam here to be weil below the standard found in the UK.

[Celsius 1251]

1 hour ago, kidneyw said:

I always found shaving foam here to be weil below the standard found in the UK.

Gillette is Gillette.... same quality but 3 times the price.

 

The other garbage like Barbasol is indeed subpar. Have you tried Nivea and Watsons? Don't.

Edited January 26 by Celsius

[rankric 173]

The pros and cons of being an expat i guess. Noticing differences between products across different markets. 

[edwardflory 424]

I thiink it DEPENDS on where the product - especially food was made and packaged.

 

I got 2kg of Kellogs corn flakes made in India as a test. 6 small packages of cereal in a 'big plastic' bag.  Product was good and because of packaging, last bag was as fresh as the 1st after 4 months with good taste and texture.

 

As a Yank, I try to buy several American produced and packaged - so the package says,  in the US monthly, and, have had good luck for 8 years.

 

I do buy BISTO and make sure it's imported - so the package says.

 

I have found the MANY international brands available - not produced in original country, are NOT of the same quality, quanity or taste as made in the original country.

[timendres 9553]

If I want to sell Lipton tea in Thailand, but I know the price I would have to charge would never sell, then I have a choice - abandon the idea of selling in Thailand, or reduce the cost to get to a price I know can sell.

[PeachCH 294]

Instead of tea drink fresh brewed coffee. Good quality coffee's available. (I don't drink alcohol and don't smoke, but drink at least 5 cups of black coffee every day.) 

[ronster 903]

On 1/26/2023 at 2:50 PM, Celsius said:

Gillette is Gillette.... same quality but 3 times the price.

 

The other garbage like Barbasol is indeed subpar. Have you tried Nivea and Watsons? Don't.

Gillette London Bridge foam on lazada is around 120 bht for 300 ml.

Practically same Gillette lime odour foam for 150ml is around 200 bht.

Never heard of London Bridge foam before and was using all sorts due to Gillette cost here . Found it by luck and now only one I buy here as it’s same quality as expensive Gillette foam.

[swm59nj 1472]

I have purchased some western brand small appliances here.  I find the quality is not as good.  And they don’t last too long. 
It’s like when you buy a vehicle in the West and it’s manufactured in Mexico   The quality is usually not as good. 

[NightSky 1807]

I heard that China have a copy of literally everything. The locals in China don’t even trust what they buy is legit from pharmaceuticals to food to cars to everything. 

you say you purchased from Lazada? Interesting. 

 

 

[sammieuk1 28071]

Its the soap I get in a lather about like where is it 🤔 

[Fairynuff 5524]

On 1/26/2023 at 1:05 PM, NextG said:

Some products are made especially for Asian markets and are made in Asia. 
Tim-Tams are an example. Sometimes you will see both the original product and the Asian version close to each other. The original version being more expensive with a different eating quality. 

I remember buying them years ago because Villa had them on special. They were a fraction of what they were in Australia and when I looked at the packaging they were made in Indonesia. No Australian would go near them!

[ignore it 642]

Either they know y'all like like strong tea, lots of sardines in the can, Euro chocolate and toothpaste, big condoms etc and they like to mess with your happiness.

Or

Product differentiation is a way for products and brands to command market share based on consumer preferences.

Lipton's, the sardine canners, chocolate and toothpaste and condom makers, ect. have marketing MBAs probably that determined through focus groups etc. that the Thai market prefers weaker bag tea than other market and other manufacturers the same.

So y'all don't buy enough to count. 

And have a little sympathy for Thai guys buying rubbers in the West.

Edited January 27 by ignore it

[Fairynuff 5524]

To call that stuff Liptons make tea would get you sued in the UK

[VocalNeal 11739]

On 1/26/2023 at 12:57 PM, Brewster67 said:

when I weighed a bag on my very accurate digital scales it came up as 965 mg,

My scale says 3.9 grams for two bags. 🤔  I suggest rather than complaining about tea, you complain about scales.

[jimn 2561]

On 1/26/2023 at 1:01 PM, BritManToo said:

Liptons tea has always been expensive garbage.

Buy Typhoo one cup tea bags on Lazada, 150bht for 100 bags.

Unfortunately thats garbage as well. I bring Yorkshire tea bags over with me which are the best by far. They can also bought at expats shops like Siamburys in Pattaya.

[Bangkok Barry 16707]

On 1/26/2023 at 1:01 PM, BritManToo said:

Liptons tea has always been expensive garbage.

Buy Typhoo one cup tea bags on Lazada, 150bht for 100 bags.

Lipton's is the tea equivalent of McDonalds - available everywhere but not very good.

 

I don't know about tea or sardines, but I do know that the quality of meat products is far, far below the standard elsewhere - be it the UK, Europe, the USA or Australia. Unless you pay western prices+ at Tops.

 

I also know that if you buy any product from China it is likely to be useless junk before long. I have a Chinese colleague, and in my diplomatic way I asked him why stuff from China is such cra*, and he was surprised and said he didn't have any problems at home. So, in support of the OP, I do believe Thailand just imports the cheapest it can with no regard for quality. Sums the country up quite well, really. As a Korean tv producer I worked with said in summing up Thailand in just six words, 'The standard here is so low'.

[itsari 3642]

Power tools from the west are lower quality and safety is compromised as a Bosch angle grinder flew out of my hands while cutting steel , caught up in my clothing and have a beautiful scar across my chest to prove it . If the angle grinder had been sold in the EU and not Thailand that would not have happened as when the machine goes out of your hand the power cuts out to the motor . 

 

[JimTripper 578]

3 hours ago, PeachCH said:

Instead of tea drink fresh brewed coffee. Good quality coffee's available. (I don't drink alcohol and don't smoke, but drink at least 5 cups of black coffee every day.) 

They put dirt in coffee cans here. Your drinking dirt.

[Aussieroaming 6988]

You should able to send a complaint to the department of weights and measures in the country of packaging. You are entitled to recompense as Lipton has broken the law. I doubt that Lipton would willfully break the law just to appease a Thai importer, most likely their own error. Very good pick up on your part to weigh their product.

 

 

[Elkski 2701]

Lays potato chips are all made from very small potatoes.  

Pringles can  are hardt full, smaller dia and height and chips are much smaller than USA. 

[blackshadow 736]

On 1/26/2023 at 1:16 PM, Brewster67 said:

Yeah, I probably will do that. Usually I would bring back a large quantity of Yorkshire Tea every time I visited the UK, but have not been there for years and am now exposed to the Thai market. But yes, I won't be buying Liptons again, I will be certainly taking your advice, until then I will be double bagging the cup till they are gone.

me too....i have been using lipton.....but will give typhoo a try if 150 on lazada

[BritManToo 71554]

38 minutes ago, blackshadow said:

me too....i have been using lipton.....but will give typhoo a try if 150 on lazada

Typhoo 1 cup 100 =149bht + postage

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/typhoo-one-cup-tea-bags-100s-i2324482735.html

 

Tetley 1 cup 72 = 149bht + postage

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/tetley-one-cup-72s-i2476368567-s8710830641.html

 

Last year the Typhoo tea bags were 90bht/100, I've got 3 years supply in my cupboard bought at that price.

Edited January 27 by BritManToo