Rising Food Prices In Tesco Lotus

[Jimjim1968]

Hi,

In my local Tesco in Hat Yai, I am a mite peeved at the massive increase at the huge rises in cost of many of the foods that I buy, and knowing I won't get a pay rise to compensate for it, it will be me that has to bare it.

Items;

Australian butter 43B to 76B

German Museuli 154b to 185B

Pesto sauce 145B to 160 and down to 156B

Twinnings Earle Gray tea 125B to 170B

Just a few items off the top of my head.

I am trying not to buy these things anymore in protest but it is hard. However, I did get a recipe for a great tomato sauce for pasta which I can make for about 30B. Pesto has cheese in it so that rules out making that over here.

Any other comments? How do you feel? Any action?

JJ

[jumnien]

The high cost of food comes precisely at the time when the country needs it the most. With obesity rising dramatically maybe this will force everyone to cut back a little and use cheaper, unprocessed, healthier local products.

[Cuban]

There is a type of cake that I like sold in 7-11 that has just been reduced in price by 20%.

Which nicely offsets the 20% increase in coconut prices over the past 4 months.

[joskydive]

Went to Tesco Lotus this morning and bought a few items, 1 one of which was a t-shirt. At the cashiers desk, she put the t-shirt through first and then again thinking I hadn't noticed. I stopped her then and asked why she did that. I only have 1 t-shirt, why did you charge twice? What did I get in reply? My Ben Rai, Khun Falang! So, in some places, they haven't just upt the prices!

Anyway, to end my saga. I wouldn't move from the till until they got her supervisor who instantly took off the overcharge. Be warned and watch every item going through the till!!!

[taxexile]

The high cost of food comes precisely at the time when the country needs it the most. With obesity rising dramatically maybe this will force everyone to cut back a little and use cheaper, unprocessed, healthier local products.

that would have been a good point were it not for the fact that the price rises are in the unprocessed healthier natural foods , the very stuff that you say we should all be eating.

[Chang_paarp]

Welcome to the real world.

Butter went up by 60% on 1 March,not just the Allowrie, but all of them. Tesco, BigC and all the other shops hit us with that one all at once.

Most food prices have increased, a lot of the imported stuff has exceeded the "normal inflation", rice has done some interesting things at the cash register as has sugar (5B a kilo last week or so by government decree).

Guess we should blame some-one, so to start with I'll suggest we look at

1. the oil producers,
   
2. the folk who are replacing food crops with "bio-fuel" crops because of the fuel prices,
   
3. the weather as it has has had a effect on the global production of almost everything,
   
4. don't forget global warming which is tied into all of the previously mentioned items to blame.
   
5. better include the hole in th ozone layer too.
   
6. coups and the effect of indecisive governments on the economy
   

I'm sure I missed a few but it is a good start

[marshbags]

I use Tesco daily and my advice to all shoppers is to check the price of your stuff before buying.

Most of the items i buy keep going up and i,ve been caught out previously by not doing this.

They don,t just put the odd baht on either in most cases and many increase cannot be justified in my opinion.

Gone are the days when it was cheaper to shop there, as when it first opened.

Sadly many of the smaller shops have now gone and so there aren,t many alteratives, so they do what they want and sod the customer.

Selective buying is the way to go, if you can find alternatives, this includes the big boys of course, Tesco, Big C and Macro were you can find several things on offer in various forms that differ istore to store.

Just as everyone does back in the U.K in my neck of the woods, especially the wealthier ones.

marshbags and getting poorer by the day....

Edited May 27, 2008 by marshbags

[jumnien]

The high cost of food comes precisely at the time when the country needs it the most. With obesity rising dramatically maybe this will force everyone to cut back a little and use cheaper, unprocessed, healthier local products.

that would have been a good point were it not for the fact that the price rises are in the unprocessed healthier natural foods , the very stuff that you say we should all be eating.

Eat less of it and save money and add a few years to your life! Happy, happy, as Ajahn Jumnien would say!

[jonniebkk]

Went to Tesco Lotus this morning and bought a few items, 1 one of which was a t-shirt. At the cashiers desk, she put the t-shirt through first and then again thinking I hadn't noticed. I stopped her then and asked why she did that. I only have 1 t-shirt, why did you charge twice?

I don't doubt your story but just wondering what the incentive would be to do this...as since it registers as a sale the cashier will have to have that amount of money in the till when they cash-out. It's not like they will have an overage and they can pocket the money. Was there a directive from management to increase the store's sales any way possible?

[joskydive]

Went to Tesco Lotus this morning and bought a few items, 1 one of which was a t-shirt. At the cashiers desk, she put the t-shirt through first and then again thinking I hadn't noticed. I stopped her then and asked why she did that. I only have 1 t-shirt, why did you charge twice?

I don't doubt your story but just wondering what the incentive would be to do this...as since it registers as a sale the cashier will have to have that amount of money in the till when they cash-out. It's not like they will have an overage and they can pocket the money. Was there a directive from management to increase the store's sales any way possible?

I don't understand either since there is nothing in it for the cashier, only in my case, it was just the embarrassment for her to have to call the supervisor to alter the total and me holding up a nice long cue. I noticed, as I was leaving though that everyone else started checking each item as it was being passed the register aswell.

[SoCal]

Agreed, the price of Earle Gray tea is an outright travesty in Thailand. It is bordering on racism against us falang.

Perhaps someone can start a group to stand against this injustice brought upon by the elitist in the current regime.

Either we stand together, or drink weak wattered down tea.

That my friends is just not right, and downright oppressive.

[a2396]

HOPPIN MAD!!! - Many will be. Soon, if not already, the sacred beverage of the Farang - a victim of global economics. (See attached article). I know it's about America, but I'm sure coming to your neighborhood and mine soon. Looks like it will be Lao Kao or Everclear. Is hope brew an option here in our fair land? Some poor devils are going to have to go on the wagon. What a fate?

That_cold_one_is_going_to_cost_you_more.rtf

[torrenova]

Tesco Lotus in Pattaya is a rip off on a vast arry of things which are available cheaper at Carrefour and Foodland. I avoid it if at all possible (it is the nearest to me though).

[flying]

I don't understand either since there is nothing in it for the cashier, only in my case, it was just the embarrassment for her to have to call the supervisor to alter the total and me holding up a nice long cue. I noticed, as I was leaving though that everyone else started checking each item as it was being passed the register aswell.

I wonder.........could the cashier later back the sale out? Inventory is correct since only one left & there is a surplus in the register. So she cancels sale & pockets the cash?

[zaphodbeeblebrox]

Butter has been rising fast. Now, I've noticed cheese is following suit. Tesco has 3 varieties of block cheese: edam, gouda and white cheddar. I think the price was 105 baht, went to 130 baht, and is now 160 baht.

[PattayaParent]

Must be dairy product in general then as every week milk goes up in price, and yoghurt too.

[johna]

I do not see any supply side problems in agriculture.

If the cost of any item in the market place is determined by supply and demand, how do you explain the high cost of food.

Thai rice at the farm gate is around 10000 Baht per metric ton, FOB rice export price is 38000 Baht per metric ton.

Extract from The Nation

"Middlemen profit on rocky road that is the food-supply chain

Published on May 29, 2008

Picking up local newspapers over the past few weeks, every day I find reports on rapid hikes in food prices.

But on the very same pages I also find pictures and stories of protesting farmers, complaining about low prices for their produce. What's going on here?

Veteran agri-businessman Paichayon Uathaveekul had the explanation all laid out at a recent discussion at Thammasat University. At first it sounded like a familiar story of greedy middlemen taking advantage of poor farmers. But then his insights left an average consumer like me astounded.

Before the produce from farmers reaches us consumers, it travels through not one, or even two, but up to nine types of different middlemen, Paichayon says. Each makes profits from the same produce, so by the time the food from the farm arrives at the retail markets, the price is significantly marked up"

Tesco UK announce profits of 2.55 billion pounds for 2007, other UK supermarkets are making huge profits..

Tesco and other big supermarkets in the UK buy direct from the farmers (I assume they do the same here in Thailand) there is no middleman cutting into the profits these supermarkets make.

So these price rises amount to gouging not shortages.

[sweetchariot]

I made a long post on an earlier thread about this, but the point of it was that this is not just here, it's global. There was a huge demo in Peru and Venezuala 2 days ago, as they are as poor as the Thais and cannot afford to feed themselves anymore.

The world bank has just granted £1.2 billion to the most impoverished countries to enable them to feed themselves, mostly in Africa, but stretching to the Middle East and Eastern Europe. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7425989.stm

I also read an article that a major UK supermarket is now rationing rice to 5kg per customer due to supply shortages (can't find the link, will try and post later).

Funnily enough, a very esteemed young economist predicted this 200 years ago http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Malthus

[ignis]

I shop weekly, from my Village within 12km we have Tesco. Carrefour and Big C

I always check 1st online to see which of the 3 have the most 'Promotions' on the items I need to buy, then drive to that store, this weeks was Tesco, last week was Big C the 3 different weeks before it was Carrefour.

[ozsamurai]

Carrefour raised the price of my beloved vanilla slices (Mille Fleur) from 29BHT to 34 overnight... solution, wait until they have them still sitting on the shelf at 7.30pm and get them 2 for 1.... who's the idiot now?? There is always more than one way to skin a cat...

[sweetchariot]

I shop weekly, from my Village within 12km we have Tesco. Carrefour and Big C

I always check 1st online to see which of the 3 have the most 'Promotions' on the items I need to buy, then drive to that store, this weeks was Tesco, last week was Big C the 3 different weeks before it was Carrefour.

I wish my life was that exciting

[swain]

Went to Tesco Lotus this morning and bought a few items, 1 one of which was a t-shirt. At the cashiers desk, she put the t-shirt through first and then again thinking I hadn't noticed. I stopped her then and asked why she did that. I only have 1 t-shirt, why did you charge twice? What did I get in reply? My Ben Rai, Khun Falang! So, in some places, they haven't just upt the prices!

Anyway, to end my saga. I wouldn't move from the till until they got her supervisor who instantly took off the overcharge. Be warned and watch every item going through the till!!!

I have a family member that works at Tesco as a cashier. believe me its not store policy, they do little or no training.. so you are dealing with someone who doesnt know what they are doing, or it was an accident, but I am sure the girl who rang you up was fired... as they fire very easily in these big box stores.

Side note... there are powerful cameras on all tills and in multiple directions and views.. someone came up short 2k on their till and they traced it back to when her boyfriend came through the line. She was fired and had to pay the money back or her family did. The eyes in the skys are watching everything. The people that know what they are doing are in monitoring rooms and direct staff to problem areas.

Edited June 2, 2008 by swain

[swain]

More like a casino than a store.

Edited June 2, 2008 by swain

[kmart]

I shop weekly, from my Village within 12km we have Tesco. Carrefour and Big C

I always check 1st online to see which of the 3 have the most 'Promotions' on the items I need to buy, then drive to that store, this weeks was Tesco, last week was Big C the 3 different weeks before it was Carrefour.

I wish my life was that exciting

"X-Treme Bargain Hunting" is not for the weak or faint-hearted.

[rethaired]

Welcome to the real world.

Butter went up by 60% on 1 March,not just the Allowrie, but all of them. Tesco, BigC and all the other shops hit us with that one all at once.

Most food prices have increased, a lot of the imported stuff has exceeded the "normal inflation", rice has done some interesting things at the cash register as has sugar (5B a kilo last week or so by government decree).

Guess we should blame some-one, so to start with I'll suggest we look at

1. the oil producers,
   
2. the folk who are replacing food crops with "bio-fuel" crops because of the fuel prices,
   
3. the weather as it has has had a effect on the global production of almost everything,
   
4. don't forget global warming which is tied into all of the previously mentioned items to blame.
   
5. better include the hole in th ozone layer too.
   
6. coups and the effect of indecisive governments on the economy
   

I'm sure I missed a few but it is a good start

Actually, it would seem that --indirectly-- WE are all a little bit responsible for all of this. Do you get a pension? Do you have mutual funds or index funds,...?

Check this out and spread the news because what is happening is INHO a crime, even though I have a pension manager probably heavily invested in those mutual funds!

EXCERPT from a Globe and Mail article (1) (Canada)

(Make sure you read the whole article. It is really interesting!)

(Make sure you read also about the Enron crisis, because they certainly were famous for using and giving some people the idea of using these vile speculative practices. It would seem many people are and will be playing the ... price for this [just like the Enron's share-holders who got taken to the cleaners].)

"The record escalation of food prices has played havoc with every link in the food chain, from grain merchants to futures markets, from publicly traded food companies to consumers. Producers such as Mr. Giessel now find themselves on the front line of a mushrooming global crisis, one that has sparked violent protests in some of the world's poorest countries, prompting aid agencies to warn of a pending humanitarian catastrophe.

In the search for answers, pundits have attempted to pin the blame on the usual suspects: rising demand from China and India, bad crop conditions and booming ethanol production.

Yet one major culprit behind these gyrating markets and unprecedented price spikes has been largely overlooked: the deep-pocketed pension and index funds upon which most Canadians and Americans depend for their retirements.

These funds have plowed hundreds of billions of dollars into agricultural commodities as a way to diversify their assets and improve returns for their investors.

The amount of fund money invested in commodity indexes has climbed from just $13-billion (U.S.) in 2003 to a staggering $260-billion in March, 2008, according to calculations based on regulatory filings.

Michael Masters, a veteran U.S. hedge fund manager, warned a Senate hearing this month that this number could easily quadruple to $1-trillion, if pension funds allocate a greater portion of their portfolio to commodities, as some consultants suggest they are poised to do. Because agricultural markets are small — relative to stock markets — the amount of cash pouring in gives these funds substantial clout.

Mr. Masters estimated that that these big institutional investors control enough wheat futures to supply the needs of American consumers for the next two years, and blamed the "demand shock" from these recent entrants to the commodities markets as arguably the primary factor behind the sudden take-off in food prices.

"If immediate action is not taken, food and energy prices will rise higher still," he told the hearing. "This could have catastrophic economic effects on millions of already stressed U.S. consumers. It literally could mean starvation for millions of the world's poor."

The massive influx of cash has only occurred in the past few years. But its roots stretch back to the Reagan era, when a court battle over oil price manipulation set off a domino effect that would ultimately transform the arcane world of commodities trading.

Beginning with the energy market, regulators made a series of far-reaching decisions that gradually loosened oversight of complex commodity derivatives and created loopholes for large speculators, allowing them to trade virtually unlimited amounts of corn, wheat and other food futures.

Only now, nearly two decades later, are the full consequences of those decisions being felt."

http://' target="_blank">

[ignis]

It is very difficult to follow prices….

2kg of Cheddar Cheese went from 620 baht to 970 baht from the wholesalers I use 3 months ago [ other shops went to over 1,200 baht] same pack, same importers.

Yesterday 2kg block of butter was down almost ½ the price in 1 month, the 2kg block of cheese was down to 730 baht, I bought 2 block of each, keeps well in the freezer, next time it may have doubled again

[t.s]

It is very difficult to follow prices….

2kg of Cheddar Cheese went from 620 baht to 970 baht from the wholesalers I use 3 months ago [ other shops went to over 1,200 baht] same pack, same importers.

Yesterday 2kg block of butter was down almost ½ the price in 1 month, the 2kg block of cheese was down to 730 baht, I bought 2 block of each, keeps well in the freezer, next time it may have doubled again

cheese does not freeze well, it gets crumbly

[learnthaipodcast]

Western food wholesaler in Bkk? Where?

[Thanh-BKK]

Went to Tesco Lotus this morning and bought a few items, 1 one of which was a t-shirt. At the cashiers desk, she put the t-shirt through first and then again thinking I hadn't noticed. I stopped her then and asked why she did that. I only have 1 t-shirt, why did you charge twice? What did I get in reply? My Ben Rai, Khun Falang! So, in some places, they haven't just upt the prices!

Anyway, to end my saga. I wouldn't move from the till until they got her supervisor who instantly took off the overcharge. Be warned and watch every item going through the till!!!

Hi.

I second this report - the only place where that ever happened to me was Tesco Lotus On Nut, and not just once but multiple times as i buy there often.

Sometimes apparently intentional (always items with somewhat higher prices, such as a pack of batteries) but other times unwillingly - pulling one item over the scanner, a second item comes close enough to be registered ("beep-beep" from the machine) and the cashier not noticing it.

My boyfriend then later made me aware of it as he always checks the receipt, something i never do - and said "why is that there twice, you bought only one".

In Tesco you really need to watch what's going on.

Best regards.....

Thanh

[ignis]

Western food wholesaler in Bkk? Where?

There are lots of Bakery Wholesalers about, I use the one near the Eye/Nose/Ear Hospital as it has a lot more item I need, so for:

Cheese, Butter, Pie Fillers, Marzipan, Castor Sugar, Icing Sugar, Sultanas, Raisins, Mixed Peel, Jam, slabs of chocolate, Fresh Yeast + + + + many more items.

Even the much smaller one at Bang Yai has many items you cannot find in a normal Supermarket.

Edited June 5, 2008 by ignis