Boycott Haagen Dazs Ice Cream In Thailand

[PaulUSA302]

Starbucks is the place I avoid. I can't afford it here in the USA but when I am on Vacation in Thailand... I can be a Star-bucker!

One thing I truly long for is the fresh squeezed lemonade at Aunty Ann's Pretzels.....

[Jingthing]

Gads ... where and when did you get Ben and Jerry's for less than $2 USD a pint?

It is simple though, can't afford it? don't buy it.

A few years ago at Safeway, they have occasional sales, that isn't the normal price but I recall under 3 dollars was.

I never said I can't afford it. Of course I can afford to throw away 300 baht for something clearly worth much less. I choose not to be price gouged. There is a big difference. Now if it is something I really can't live without (Grape Nuts cereal) I do consent to be ripped off.

Edited April 9, 2008 by Jingthing

[LaoPo]

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.

I'll keep my buffalo

LaoPo

[Bagwan]

HD, Starbucks and other similar concerns cater to the hard of thinking and insecure IMO. Same same Rolls Royce and Cadillac. My old Granny told me that she was too poor to buy cheap on the grounds that you pay more in the end. I have always followed this advice in respect of white goods, furniture, tools, building materials amongst other things. However I would rather be the owner of 10 Toyotas than one 'roller', and if I was an ice cream fan, woof down 10 Wall's than 1 HD.

Better still, buy Wall's and give the money you save to the poor wretch sitting on the pavement.

Savvy manufacturers know that exclusivity is a major selling factor. They take your hard earned so that you can show off. Witness the maniac kid on Sukhumvit driving a Merc. I've seen scent pass through perfume and is now known as fragrance. Similarly frocks became dresses and are now called creations. Vanity, all is vanity. Bah! Humbug!

[jayjayjayjay]

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.

Grant, I've been boycotting this icecream for 10 years now, I just wonder why it took you so long to come to your senses. I am sure the price increase is just enough to keep Haagen Dazs in profit, it is nice to have access to a high quality ice cream, but the reality is I don't make enough money to splash well earned baht on ice cream "full stop". I hope it keeps selling so my daughters can enjoy it on a birthday or so, but the reality is it's a shame that few people appreciate good ice cream well enough to boycott the crap that Walls and Nestle serve up to us. These are no les than flavoured ice confectionaries full of sugar. Milk is a rare commodity in this country, it is difficult and expensive to produce due to humidity affect on cows, but it would be nice if someone produced a high quality pure full cream ice cream locally. The reality is there is no market for a creative business mogel. So I guess you and I are stuck with 2 choices, boycott or payup!

[jayjayjayjay]

My simple calculation based on the farm gate price of milk in Thailand is that a kilo of vanilla ice cream without any packaging or distribution would cost B 110 to make! Work the rest out yourselves.

[dekka007]

Can't say it makes a lot of difference. If I am prepared and happy to pay 299 baht for a tub of HD or Ben & Jerrys. I aint gonna stop buying it because its now 329 baht if I like the product...its 30 baht...

[Ulysses G.]

I think recently scientists demonstrated that a fair amount of the increase of pleasure in consuming a very expensive bottle of wine was due to the knowledge of the price, not the actual quality increase

Only one problem, Haagen Daz genuinely tastes WAY better than Walls. The price difference might be worth it.

I prefer to have Baskin Robbins which tastes very good, but at half the price of HD!

[advice]

It amazes me how someone can post a negative comment on a company just over price and the thread is allowed to stay open.??

If I had a personal problem with a local expat business in Thailand and posted something like> "Boycott Bill's Fish n Chip Shop" and then raved on about they are to expensive, would it be allowed to be posted on the forum?

If so, I think it would be a bad thing for ThaiVisa to let that happen... IMO

[steveromagnino]

It amazes me how someone can post a negative comment on a company just over price and the thread is allowed to stay open.??

If I had a personal problem with a local expat business in Thailand and posted something like> "Boycott Bill's Fish n Chip Shop" and then raved on about they are to expensive, would it be allowed to be posted on the forum?

If so, I think it would be a bad thing for ThaiVisa to let that happen... IMO

Funny you should mention that. Bill's FIsh and CHip shop probably should be boycotted.

There is something fishy going on there, I caught some information that customers are facing a price battering, as the owner with a chip on his shoulder is thinking to net additional profits through scaling up his prices while peeling away the extra nicities such as sauce and vinegar for free from the menu. I cod swear I saw that price shark skating away to the bank and sending his family to private schools with the extra money and then floundering around that night with some old trout.

He is making a rod for his own back I tell you, let's line up our sights and krill his business.

What a whale of a time that will be.

Fishing for girls

Fishing for girls

In the river called love

We'll catch

fat ones, skinny ones, slow ones, dumb ones

In the river called love

[orchis]

I had a Chocolate Sundae at McDonald's in Ao Nang Krabi and it was 40 thb, while in BKK it is 19 thb. I call for a boycott.

[grantbkk]

It amazes me how someone can post a negative comment on a company just over price and the thread is allowed to stay open.??

If I had a personal problem with a local expat business in Thailand and posted something like> "Boycott Bill's Fish n Chip Shop" and then raved on about they are to expensive, would it be allowed to be posted on the forum?

If so, I think it would be a bad thing for ThaiVisa to let that happen... IMO

Where would Thai Visa be without a little controversy. It's my personal opinion I don't think anyone should pay Bt329 for a pint of this product when there are alternative brands at better prices. In my opinion the cost is so great I suspected price gouging. It it certainly everyone's personal choice whether to buy it or not. I just wanted to use this forum to express MY opinion and make others aware of the price increase. I still buy stuff from General Mills just not Haagen Dazs at this time.

Do you work for General Mills or one if the company's partners or subsidiaries?

[donna]

It amazes me how someone can post a negative comment on a company just over price and the thread is allowed to stay open.??

If I had a personal problem with a local expat business in Thailand and posted something like> "Boycott Bill's Fish n Chip Shop" and then raved on about they are to expensive, would it be allowed to be posted on the forum?

If so, I think it would be a bad thing for ThaiVisa to let that happen... IMO

Funny you should mention that. Bill's FIsh and CHip shop probably should be boycotted.

There is something fishy going on there, I caught some information that customers are facing a price battering, as the owner with a chip on his shoulder is thinking to net additional profits through scaling up his prices while peeling away the extra nicities such as sauce and vinegar for free from the menu. I cod swear I saw that price shark skating away to the bank and sending his family to private schools with the extra money and then floundering around that night with some old trout.

He is making a rod for his own back I tell you, let's line up our sights and krill his business.

What a whale of a time that will be.

Fishing for girls

Fishing for girls

In the river called love

We'll catch

fat ones, skinny ones, slow ones, dumb ones

In the river called love

good one steveromagnino.

[advice]

It amazes me how someone can post a negative comment on a company just over price and the thread is allowed to stay open.??

If I had a personal problem with a local expat business in Thailand and posted something like> "Boycott Bill's Fish n Chip Shop" and then raved on about they are to expensive, would it be allowed to be posted on the forum?

If so, I think it would be a bad thing for ThaiVisa to let that happen... IMO

Where would Thai Visa be without a little controversy. It's my personal opinion I don't think anyone should pay Bt329 for a pint of this product when there are alternative brands at better prices. In my opinion the cost is so great I suspected price gouging. It it certainly everyone's personal choice whether to buy it or not. I just wanted to use this forum to express MY opinion and make others aware of the price increase. I still buy stuff from General Mills just not Haagen Dazs at this time.

Do you work for General Mills or one if the company's partners or subsidiaries?

I just think, when people are allowed to open a company up to public ridicule, whether it be pricing or anything else, it opens up the possibilities for anyone to post about anyone, because of any reason.

So "John" who doesnt like "Bill" personally, is allowed to start a thread saying "Bill's fish n chips shop" is overexpensive or they got food poisoning, when that really is not the case..

Anyway, no Biggy, just an observation.

[advice]

It amazes me how someone can post a negative comment on a company just over price and the thread is allowed to stay open.??

If I had a personal problem with a local expat business in Thailand and posted something like> "Boycott Bill's Fish n Chip Shop" and then raved on about they are to expensive, would it be allowed to be posted on the forum?

If so, I think it would be a bad thing for ThaiVisa to let that happen... IMO

Funny you should mention that. Bill's FIsh and CHip shop probably should be boycotted.

There is something fishy going on there, I caught some information that customers are facing a price battering, as the owner with a chip on his shoulder is thinking to net additional profits through scaling up his prices while peeling away the extra nicities such as sauce and vinegar for free from the menu. I cod swear I saw that price shark skating away to the bank and sending his family to private schools with the extra money and then floundering around that night with some old trout.

He is making a rod for his own back I tell you, let's line up our sights and krill his business.

What a whale of a time that will be.

Fishing for girls

Fishing for girls

In the river called love

We'll catch

fat ones, skinny ones, slow ones, dumb ones

In the river called love

[Ijustwannateach]

Good one, Steve!

[steveromagnino]

Good one, Steve!

Maybe I should change my name to Ijustwannababble :-)

Thanks

[meatgrowler]

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.

I went into the hd in samui with 3 friends,my mate and his mrs ordered 2 special what evers,299 bht each,me and my friend got up and walked out,i called him from svensens up the soi,99bht same style of what ever its name was...he was gutted,especially as it was my idea to go to hd...hd for minted tourists only

[bendix]

My simple calculation based on the farm gate price of milk in Thailand is that a kilo of vanilla ice cream without any packaging or distribution would cost B 110 to make! Work the rest out yourselves.

So 110 baht production costs. Now let's factor in that it's made overseas, not in Thailand. So let's say 150, given higher labour costs. Add in packaging and cost of getting it to market. 180 baht? 200 baht. Ok . sell to the retailer for a small profit of around 50 baht per unit which is only 25% margin. 250 baht. Retailer sells for 329 baht.

Seems pretty reasonable to me.

How much do you you think ANYTHING costs to make? Do you recall the Simpson's episode where Homer's long lost brother gives him a new car. "Go on take it . there's only around $50 worth of scrap metal in these things".

[Naam]

I have seen B&J's for as little as 70 baht

a BJ for 70 Baht sounds quite reasonable. BUT from a "lady" or a goat?

[lazeeboy]

buy a tub of lyons maid for 49b may not be as good but wont break the bank

[Ulysses G.]

I just think, when people are allowed to open a company up to public ridicule, whether it be pricing or anything else, it opens up the possibilities for anyone to post about anyone, because of any reason.

So "John" who doesnt like "Bill" personally, is allowed to start a thread saying "Bill's fish n chips shop" is overexpensive or they got food poisoning, when that really is not the case..

I can tell you from experience that you are correct. My competitors want nothing to do with paying for advertising, but they are quite happy to badmouth my place as supposedly "unhappy customers" for free.

Edited April 10, 2008 by Ulysses G.

[cclub75]

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!

No it's not "water". It's "mineral water"... Direct from the source in France. Two good reasons for the price to be high. Nothing strange.

As for Haagen, I'm not sure a 10 % increase (from 9.50 to 10.45) can be labelled as "astronomical".

When was the previous hike ? If they didn't increase their prices for several years... then a +10 % is not huge.

I mean everybody knows that :

-prices of milk have exploded recently (and I think they use milk to make their ice creams...)

-and yes transportation costs have increased too

Voila. I'm not sure that those facts can support your "boycott" call.

Edited April 10, 2008 by cclub75

[Tinkelbell]

Quoted......" Savvy manufacturers know that exclusivity is a major selling factor. They take your hard earned so that you can show off. Witness the maniac kid on Sukhumvit driving a Merc. I've seen scent pass through perfume and is now known as fragrance. Similarly frocks became dresses and are now called creations. Vanity, all is vanity. Bah! Humbug...."

................................................................................

......

That's exactly how I felt about after seeing a large group ( over one hundred of them) of school kids lining up in front of ' Hardrock Cafe ' in Barcelona, Spain last month. They were waiting for the door opened, to eat and to buy souvenirs like T-shirt at an inflated price. They were on one week school off holiday, they had a must-buy list like buying a regular T-shirt with a 'Hardrock Cafe' logo on the front, which set them back 25EU each, it sold like a hot cake. So these kids can go back to their school and brag to their peers that they had been to HC.

[Heng]

Savvy manufacturers know that exclusivity is a major selling factor. They take your hard earned so that you can show off. Witness the maniac kid on Sukhumvit driving a Merc. I've seen scent pass through perfume and is now known as fragrance. Similarly frocks became dresses and are now called creations. Vanity, all is vanity. Bah! Humbug!

Often (not always) that's just the extrapolation of one's own attitude.

Resentful critic: "Look at that wanke_r showing off his/her Benz/Gulfstream/Pershing."

And all the guy "showing off" is thinking is: "I wonder if it'll rain today?"

It's all relative. You don't feel the same about people chewing gum, right? There are billions in the world who can't afford that either, and would consider it an out of reach "luxury."

[Lacutter]

BOYCOTT HAAGEN DAZS???? Boycott Ben & Jerry. I'd rather HD make an extra dollar off me than those two liberal idiots (I know that's redundant) make one penny!!!

[YoungFarang13]

Savvy manufacturers know that exclusivity is a major selling factor. They take your hard earned so that you can show off. Witness the maniac kid on Sukhumvit driving a Merc. I've seen scent pass through perfume and is now known as fragrance. Similarly frocks became dresses and are now called creations. Vanity, all is vanity. Bah! Humbug!

Often (not always) that's just the extrapolation of one's own attitude.

Resentful critic: "Look at that wanke_r showing off his/her Benz/Gulfstream/Pershing."

And all the guy "showing off" is thinking is: "I wonder if it'll rain today?"

It's all relative. You don't feel the same about people chewing gum, right? There are billions in the world who can't afford that either, and would consider it an out of reach "luxury."

true, but with many products people are buying the idea that the product is better just because its more expensive.

http://consumerist.com/344788/want-to-make...ter-charge-more

[highchol]

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.

whilst waiting for my flight to the LOS last week I had Haagen Das ice cream in the airport lounge, free it was too. I had a tub of vanilla flavour, only one mindst you, even though it was free.

Is this some cunning plan they have to try and get you hooked?

Tell me if you think my actions undermine your crusade grant.

[Heng]

Savvy manufacturers know that exclusivity is a major selling factor. They take your hard earned so that you can show off. Witness the maniac kid on Sukhumvit driving a Merc. I've seen scent pass through perfume and is now known as fragrance. Similarly frocks became dresses and are now called creations. Vanity, all is vanity. Bah! Humbug!

Often (not always) that's just the extrapolation of one's own attitude.

Resentful critic: "Look at that wanke_r showing off his/her Benz/Gulfstream/Pershing."

And all the guy "showing off" is thinking is: "I wonder if it'll rain today?"

It's all relative. You don't feel the same about people chewing gum, right? There are billions in the world who can't afford that either, and would consider it an out of reach "luxury."

true, but with many products people are buying the idea that the product is better just because its more expensive.

http://consumerist.com/344788/want-to-make...ter-charge-more

Absolutely. Although many products are indeed better because there was more work/engineering/better materials etc. put into them, at the same time making the product more expensive. Take a well built home. Almost no one knows how much you put into it, but when you're the one paying the contractors, you definitely know there is a correlation between price and quality. There are also products that are heavily marketed but happen to also be of high quality. Many people mistakenly assume that the buyer is buying because of the image and not the quality.

[jdinasia]

Would"nt this thread be against the rules.. ?

after getting a PM for calling someone "something" in a very off the cuff type of way... starts with w and ends r, I get a PM for SBK, saying my warning level has been raised due to this rule below, that she sent me.

"1) You will not use thaivisa.com to post any material which is knowingly or can be reasonably construed as false, defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, referencing prostitution (including bargirls and barboys), referencing suicide, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise in violation of any law."

So if we are all about rules, why is thread allowed to keep going?

It is defamatory in every sense...

Why are the rules enforced with a knee jerk reaction?

Mods, can you elaborate?

LOL .. you are asking the mods to discuss moderation in public? That's against the rules!

But basically there is nothing defamatory about this thread. Prices were apparently increased and people are expressing opinions based upon that.

The OP is in my eyes a cheap charlie just out for a whinge, and you are joining on the whinge wagon because sbk spanked you.

HaagenDaz is either worth the price to an individual, or not. People can have their say about it as they please just so long as they don't say silly stuff leading to the 'mouse in the can of coors' kind of crap