Boycott Haagen Dazs Ice Cream In Thailand

[advice]

thanks JD in showing me how wrong I was..

I will now go to the Londoner and think about things.

[mr_hippo]

Nearly 100 posts about an ice cream that the OP thinks is too expensive! If you don't like the price - don't buy! Is it about time to close this?

[steveromagnino]

Nearly 100 posts about an ice cream that the OP thinks is too expensive! If you don't like the price - don't buy! Is it about time to close this?

what if they increase the price and increase the serving quantity?

or if they keep the price the same, but decrease the serving quantity?

My dear mr Hippo, there are still a number of permutations yet to be explored.

[jonniebkk]

I went into the hd in samui with 3 friends,my mate and his mrs ordered 2 special what evers,299 bht each...i called him from svensens same style...

Swensens is very good value IF you can stand the sweetness of their ice cream. It is definitely tailored to the local Thai's palate. Also, they must use more stabilizers and other "chemical" ingredients as their ice cream doesn't have the same "mouth feel" and their chocolate toppings and what's on their ice cream bars is in no way comparable to HD's.

[Andrew Hicks]

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.

In my village in Surin thank goodness I don't have to make a decision on this one!

The only issue is which brand of tinned fish and whether or not to go the extra baht.

[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.

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.

Eating free HD at the airport or anywhere DOES NOT in any way undermine my call to arms. I would always take the free General Mills/Nestle provided product. I love the stuff. My crusade involves not buying the product in Thailand where I suspect before landing on the shelves it goes through several middlemen that jacks up the price. I'm told that in other places in the world you can still get a pint retail for about $3.50 versus $10.50 here. I miss it but I'm adjusting by trying other brands recommended on this thread.

[raro]

I see the ripoff prices of HD and B&J a hidden benefit. I much prefer B&J's

yep, BJs are indeed better than any icecream....

...get my coat...

[bkkhkgps]

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!

Talking about producing high quality ice creams, I have a friend who opened a factory of french homemade ice creams and sorbets. Using only fresh milk, fruits and ingredients.

They sell to hotels and will open the first shop in Bkk, I think soon. If I recall the name is Penguin Ice, made in Thailand and good prices and reall y good.

[ballzafire]

Bendix opined:

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 ice cream 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 ice cream and he's called for a freakin boycott.

You hit the nail on the head, Bendix.

With everything else that's happening right now, some artery-clogging brand of imported ice cream jumped a whopping 10% !

Surely, we must be in The End Times...

Edited April 13, 2008 by ballzafire

[Heng]

The price of rice has increased? Fiddle sticks, I happen to love rice.

[ironhut]

MAKRO has some incredible coconut ice cream with chunks of coconut throughout...nothing HD puts out can compare to it. It's one of the serious things my family will miss when we have to return to the States in a few years.

[grantbkk]

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

Maybe too many people need to get paid. Actually the ice cream product comes from the Canadian arm of an American conglomerate, produced in France and franchised to a company in Hong Kong then distributed in Thailand at a controlled price. Maybe that is why it is so expensive. My source is Nestle Thailand who say they have nothing to do with the import of this product. He went on to say that the margins are very small now.

[Thai at Heart]

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

Maybe too many people need to get paid. Actually the ice cream product comes from the Canadian arm of an American conglomerate, produced in France and franchised to a company in Hong Kong then distributed in Thailand at a controlled price. Maybe that is why it is so expensive. My source is Nestle Thailand who say they have nothing to do with the import of this product. He went on to say that the margins are very small now.

Aspiration purchasing has been around for ever. Why sell a hundred for a dollar and one for a hundred is so much less work.

[TheWalkingMan]

I did some sniffing around the internet and the pint price in Japan is JPY 730, approx 243 Baht. And for those who really want to pig out, the price for a quart (that's 2 pints!) is JPY 1,400, approx 466 Baht. So yes, the 329 Baht looks like price gouging to me.

TheWalkingMan

[pop_corn]

Dont eat ice cream? or go to the 99 baht buffe in thonglor! hahahahaha

[grantbkk]

What are we? Animals!

[teatree]

The US economy is ready to crash and bring the rest of the world with it...

Countries worldwide, particularly the US and the UK, are racing towards becoming police states....

There is a food shortage that could kill MILLIONS....

Iran is close to being invaded, resulting in 200 dollars a barrel oil...

...and what activism the OP is calling for? Boycotting an ice cream company beacause they have put the price up? <deleted>???

WAKEY WAKEY

[JetsetBkk]

Dont eat ice cream? or go to the 99 baht buffe in thonglor! hahahahaha

You must have money to burn! KFC in 'Big C': 9 baht for a cone. Aroy mak mak!

[Andiamo]

Dont eat ice cream? or go to the 99 baht buffe in thonglor! hahahahaha

This sounds right up my street!!!! Could do with an ice cream fix! Can you give more details? Where etc?

Cheers pop_corn !

[papajohn]

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.

No offence to HD and Swenson folks but have you tried the ice cream from the Thai folks who vend all

day around CM easy to see them big umbrellas and blue carts. The ice cream is excellent and if you want toppings they have them. Why pay 100 BT for the same refreshment you get for 10 BT. I was in China recently and invited some Chinese friends to

some ice cream. There was a Baskens shop nearby.

We sat down and was presented the menu. I looked at the prices and almost had a cardiac infration!!!!

I told my friends " this is stupid" lets go somewhere

else, they agreed. They took me to a Chinese place

that had great ice cream about 1/4 the price. My friends said I show them" big face" by walking out of HD. Lesson learned. I get respect for not being a sucker. Same Same all over Asia. Sawadee Kup

[Brigante7]

As somebody who's family has been making and selling ice cream in "Sunny Scotland" for the last 90 years, I can confirm that HD, B&J and all the other big named ice creams are poorly made, full of crap and not fit to be called ice cream.

Ice cream should be made of fresh milk, butter, sugar, cornflour, and a couple of other things (Their in lies the secret to good ice cream) and should be made in a certain way.

If any ice cream manufacturer wants to be judged on their ice cream then taste their vanilla, anybody can make flavoured ice cream.

When people buy HD or B&J all they are paying for is the name and fancy packaging.

[Samuian]

Cornflour?

hmmmm... I always thought Ice cream is more or less iced cream, sugar with added flavors...

Prices of HD, Starf_cks and the like are obscene if not insane!

Edited June 6, 2008 by Samuian

[Antimony]

...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)...

$10.45?!!! Wow! What a total rip-off. Isn't that normally $5-ish? (in the US)

I only buy Häagen-Dazs when it's on sale.

And it has 47% saturated fat, y'all.

Enjoy!

[ukrules]

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

Of course there are just over 568ml in a pint and not 473ml as stated so this could be much much worse than we originally thought

[bangkapiboy]

I love the 99 baht grill buffets where they have ice cream. I ate about 5 bowls of coconut ice cream last time... Who needs Haagen Daz?

[Ulysses G.]

As somebody who's family has been making and selling ice cream in "Sunny Scotland" for the last 90 years, I can confirm that HD, B&J and all the other big named ice creams are poorly made, full of crap and not fit to be called ice cream.

Sure tastes good to me!

[onethailand]

Dont eat ice cream? or go to the 99 baht buffe in thonglor! hahahahaha

This sounds right up my street!!!! Could do with an ice cream fix! Can you give more details? Where etc?

Cheers pop_corn !

Tuscanini. opposite Soi 10.

One of my daughters went there for a party. She said the ice cream was terrible. Needless to say I don't plan on going to try it myself...

[t.s]

You lucky, lucky b@ggers! I can only dream about boycotting Hagen Daz here in Isaan. I don't think I've ever seen any but adding the cost of the 200km round trip to the nearest possible source would give me even more reason not to buy.

Oh well, kao nieow and metmuang again!

sticky rice and cashews. sounds dry.

[chickenslegs]

As somebody who's family has been making and selling ice cream in "Sunny Scotland" for the last 90 years, I can confirm that HD, B&J and all the other big named ice creams are poorly made, full of crap and not fit to be called ice cream.

When people buy HD or B&J all they are paying for is the name and fancy packaging.

I agree,

Now, where can we buy your family ice cream in Thailand?

[cluezo]

The world is literally falling apart - disease, famine, war and you're upset about the price of ice cream!!?? Has the cheese slipped off your cracker?