Boycott Haagen Dazs Ice Cream In Thailand

[grantbkk]

CALL TO BOYCOTT HAAGEN DAZS ICE CREAM IN THAILAND

A couple of months ago Haagen Dazs raised the price of a pint (473ml) of ice cream from an expensive Bt299 ($9.50) to an astronomical Bt329 ($10.45). For several years I bought this ice cream without much thought but when the price soared beyond the philological barrier of 300 Baht I snapped. I finally stopped to think about how much money is actually being spent on this product. I lived in America before moving to Thailand and as late as 2002 when this same ice cream went on sale, I would pay the equivalent of Bt79 ($2.50) a pint.

Haagen Dazs is purely a made up name to sound expensive. The name means nothing in any language. It is pretty darn good ice cream that was conceived in 1961 and manufactured exclusively for sale in the United States. The American conglomerate General Mills bought the company in 1983 and soon began distributing Haagen Dazs worldwide.

What could justify this price increase or the original price for that matter? Most will say it is the rising fuel costs, import duties and/or taxes the government needs to continue to provide all of us with the services and infrastructure we have become accustomed. I say there is no justification! Most of the 65 million Thais cannot afford this product even once a year. It falls on the tourists and expats to keep this company in the Kingdom. When I venture out to the high-end malls the Haagen Dazs outlets are usually empty however they only need a couple of us a day to make money.

Buying Haagen Dazs ice cream now is like buying the premium French bottled water Evian (naive spelled backwards). In the United States only divorced women with excellent financial settlements can afford to drink it. It’s water! Haagen Dazs is far too expensive and there is little justification to sell it locally. As a concession the poor, Haagen Dazs makes a 100ml cup for Bt109 which is about $3.50 or $.75 for each small bite. Haagen Dazs cannot be seen as contributing to the concept of a sufficiency economy in Thailand on any level. In plain English, “we are getting ripped off”.

I call on everyone to boycott Haagen Dazs ice cream until such time as General Mills comes to their corporate senses and reduces the cost of their product significantly. Paying Bt329 for a pint of ice cream is nuts (no pun intended). We should demonstrate that we are smart shoppers and not operating from the shallow end of the gene pool.

[LoveDaBlues]

I 'boycott' products every day. If I feel I'm not getting value for my money I simple don't buy the product. Simple. No need to rant about it.

Some folks may think HD quality justifies the price. It's their choice.

[jdinasia]

LOL

OK, we get it! You can't afford the best imported icecream

[geriatrickid]

In fairness to the manufacturer, the product includes vintage ice cream materials such as real milk as opposed to "milk solids". Real sugar instead of industrial sweeteners like fructose. Transporting the product is also subject to higher QC requirements to avoid the ice crystals so typical of other ice cream items. The profit margins are higher for the retailer as well. It certainly is your choice not to eat it, as I have avoided it for ages due to the high fat and cholesterol content.

The call for a boycott will fall on deaf ears as the people that would p*ss their money away on this aren't the type to pay attention to price or boycotts. (Maybe, because they own shares in the mega retailer distributing it or in the manufacturer.)

Have a nice piece of fresh fruit instead. Your bowels will thank you for it

[ashacat]

Thanks Grant, good point. I think I will add Haagen Dazs to my list of expensive things that I am currently "boycotting". So far I have Ferraris, private jets, rolex's and gold toothbrushes.

[kmart]

"Eye Teem" mosts brands is not a product I can't do without.

[Ulysses G.]

I'm not poor and am willing to pay more for high quality, but I am not willing to get totally shafted. I ate HD ice cream a lot in the US, but it is just a ripoff here.

The bakery and ice cream booth in front of The Landmark Hotel shopping area on Sukumvit near Nana in Bangkok is cheaper and better anyway!

[kiakaha]

Thanks Grant, good point. I think I will add Haagen Dazs to my list of expensive things that I am currently "boycotting". So far I have Ferraris, private jets, rolex's and gold toothbrushes.

You forgot aircraft carriers

[PhilHarries]

I'm not a great ice cream eater, in fact I can't remember the last time I had some, but do recall that HD's is quality stuff.

However, when I'm in Thailand and I'm bluddy hot and sweaty I will consider the following set of figures.

1 pint Haagen Daz ice cream : 329 Baht.

2 x 325ml bottles Singha beer (a little over a pint) : 80 Baht (Wonderful bar happy hours).

So I'll buy a beer and sit and wait for a fresh fruit trolley vendor to come by and get some pineapple and water melon and I'll still be in profit.

[mr_hippo]

Another poster who is comparing prices here with prices back home! I don't think that Häagen-Dazs is made here so it has to be imported - do you think it is shipped here free? What about tax and other duties? It is not sold from stalls at the top of the soi, is it? So you have the cost of location to be considered. Too expensive for you? Then don't whinge about it, don't buy it! It's that simple.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Thanks Grant, good point. I think I will add Haagen Dazs to my list of expensive things that I am currently "boycotting". So far I have Ferraris, private jets, rolex's and gold toothbrushes.

You forgot aircraft carriers

Helicopters.

[Beardog]

Have a dairy queen ice cream cone for 12 baht & chill out. you might as well add Ben & Jerrys, Swensons, Baskin & Robins to the list. If you think it is too overpriced don't use the product! That way it's a win win situation . You feel better that you are not patronizing the overpriced companies wears & they couldn't care less. Some of the minor inconveniences in a third world country we chose to live in.

Edited April 8, 2008 by Beardog

[huggybear]

CALL TO BOYCOTT HAAGEN DAZS ICE CREAM IN THAILAND

Ice cream is terrible for you anyway. That thick cream clogging up your arteries, and an overdose of sugar or some cancer causing sugar substitute.

Haagen Dasz did you a favor, have a glass of wine instead.

[Gary A]

Too expensive ?? Quite simple, DON'T buy it. Boycott, why?

[MarkBKK]

CALL TO BOYCOTT HAAGEN DAZS ICE CREAM IN THAILAND

The fact that it is owned by Nestlé (since 2002) is reason enough for me to boycott it, regardless of the price in Thailand.

[grantbkk]

Too expensive ?? Quite simple, DON'T buy it. Boycott, why?

Price gouging is the simple answer. It should be no more than twice or three times as much as you can buy it in France or the US. my original idea was to make the consumer aware. You buy an imported car and you only pay twice as much as it's worth.

Edited April 8, 2008 by grantbkk

[Payboy]

i love haagen dazs, i'll just use less perrier in my jacuzzi....

[tartempion]

Oh well, had a 10B cone at Udon Thani Big C's KFC yesterday waiting for the gf looking around shoe shops. (and no she did not buy an other pair of shoes)

When we met again she proposed an ice cream at Swensons , a proposition I can not refuse, regardless my clogged arteries.

We had a 89B banana fudge someting, excellent value We should indulge life from time to time.

What really bothers me is the excise tax on imported cars, lots of real good cars you can't buy because of protectionism.

I miss the handy VW Polo I drive in farangland: Stupid Thailand

Edit: forgot to mention stupid Visa rules (re-entry permits & such)

Edited April 8, 2008 by tartempion

[Jefferson]

LOL, I completely agree with a boycott, but wasn't all this apparent to you when they were charging 299 baht? I mean, really.

[Jingthing]

HD and B&J's were too expensive at 299 baht as well! US imports should be getting much cheaper here, so something is fishy. These products would fly off the shelves at 150 baht; I do wonder what the real cost factors are.

[jdinasia]

Too expensive ?? Quite simple, DON'T buy it. Boycott, why?

Price gouging is the simple answer. It should be no more than twice or three times as much as you can buy it in France or the US. my original idea was to make the consumer aware. You buy an imported car and you only pay twice as much as it's worth.

LOL,

Guess you haven't bought a pint of HaagenDaz in the USA in a number of years! If you can't afford it eat some other brand.

[vanalli]

This has made my day. Is it still April Fools?

[mr_hippo]

Too expensive ?? Quite simple, DON'T buy it. Boycott, why?

Price gouging is the simple answer. It should be no more than twice or three times as much as you can buy it in France or the US. my original idea was to make the consumer aware. You buy an imported car and you only pay twice as much as it's worth. A Mini Cooper S here is three times the UK price.

Do you think posters on this forum are stupid? We know imported goods are more expensive than home made products. Do you want importers to charge you the same as it is in the States? Should posters have a whip-round to buy you some Haagen Dazs? Stop thinking about prices back home if you live here. Please write to Haagan Dazs and ask them to drop their prices but don't be surprised if you get a two word answer with the second word 'off'.

[Dakhar]

Booo Hooo

Out of the many problems there are in this world... ice cream!

Wow, what a life the OP must live.

[sugarhead]

Since HD is low quality but well marketed, it has always been a rip off, nothing new here.

Far too sweet and too buttery.

Their vanilla ice cream doesn't even contain vanilla seeds, only flavoring, but is far more expensive than let's say Movenpick, who's using at least one vanilla pod per liter of milk.

On the other hand, prices for all dairy products worldwide are out of control. That might justify their decision to increase prices.

[Jingthing]

I see the ripoff prices of HD and B&J a hidden benefit. I much prefer B&J's (and like their yogurt better than their ice cream but have never seen that in Thailand) but I am so put off by the price that I never buy it here. Thats a good thing. Let's face it, most of the pints they sell are not stored away as a month's supply, many people eat the entire pint the same day. When I feel like some premium ice cream, there are some excellent venues now in Pattaya to have a much more healthy cup of it.

[bendix]

I'd like to thank the poster for opening my eyes to this fundamentally important issue.

When I woke up this morning, I had a strange sense of foreboding, but I didnt know what it was that was troubling me. For a while I thought it might be the rising tension around Tibet, but no. Could it be Iran's nuclear program, or North Korea's increasingly hostile overtures to their Southern neighbours? Maybe . but no. How about dwindling food supplies? A growing shortage of rice? The credit crunch and worldwide financial turmoil? mmmmmm . no, not quite.

Thankfully, thaivisa helped me out.

The biggest issue of the day is imported icecream increasing in price 10%.

A new low for thaivisa.com and farang arrogance. The staple food of billions of poor Asians increases 90% in two months, and not a peep. But some sadarse farang can't afford a tub of sickly icecream and he's called for a freakin boycott.

Edited April 8, 2008 by bendix

[micksterbs]

1. The company are charging what the market can stand.

2. You really like their product but can no longer justify the expense.

3. Such a shame.

[slackula]

Wow, this thread and the Mets getting rickrolled remind me why the Internets are so great.

[Wolfie]

Boycott pants!