Villa Too Expensive

[onethailand]

A month or so ago, someone opened a thread to compare prices between Villa and other supermarkets. At that time I mentioned that Crystal Lite (sadly, no longer available in Thailand) cost between 139-145 baht at other supermarkets, and 215 at Villa. Huge markup.

Today, I discovered another product - Johnsonville Brats. Having paid 399 per 6-pack from Villa, and assuming that was the normal price, imagine my shock when I went to Central Chidlom and found the same Johnsonville Brats for 309 per pack...

That is more than a 25% markup - and now it is becoming apparent to me that Villa are continuing to price things extraordinarily high - ie. price gouging - because of people who don't know better, plus the fact that in the past they could've justified the high cost of import.

Unfortunately, it is also now apparent that Villa is not importing many of these products, but charging you as if they were.

I am going to stop buying products at Villa unless they can't be found anywhere else - but if I discover another product which is much more expensive than at another supermarket, I will probably stop shopping at Villa for good.

Villa, please take note.

[zaphodbeeblebrox]

Not Bangkok, but in Pattaya, I went marketing to cook a dinner for 30 guests. I compared Tops, Villa and Friendship market for imported food items. Villa was cheapest, and Tops was the most expensive.

[dotcom]

Foodland.

Central Chidlom is TOPS.

[taxexile]

imagine my shock when I went to Central Chidlom and found the same Johnsonville Brats for 309 per pack...

life is pain ! must be hard to recover from a shock of that magnitude.

[dotcom]

Kee Neow.

[sceadugenga]

You guys are spoiled for choice. So much of what you take for granted isn't available at any price up here.

And No, I wont use the mail order places, if the village postal system can regularly lose my internet bills what hope would my pate de foie gras have?

[DP25]

I don't understand why someone would pay 400 for Johnsonville hot dogs to begin with. You can get better quality, and locally made sausages for half the price. I've always found Villa to have reasonable prices unless you're buying some wierd farang import.

[Jingthing]

Living in Pattaya, it really pays to shop around.

Some items are a little cheaper at Villa (but usually not more than 10 percent cheaper).

More likely they will be MUCH more expensive. There is a brand of refried beans I buy at Friendship for 74 baht; same CAN for OVER 200 baht at Villa.

Now that is ridiculous!

I do shop at Villa and cherry pick items you can't get anywhere else (and sometimes the prices are OK for those) and also even a few that are a little less.

It is too bad there isn't a place to shop here where you can buy everything without getting raped on some items, but there isn't.

[lazeeboy]

think yourself lucky thai supermarkets bother to sell the stuff we crave ,in our own countrys try and find thai foods at a cheap price....

[thaigerd]

Or you make your own sausages like me:

around 120Baht/kg.

Gerd

[dotcom]

I resisted buying Johnsonville Brats for years. Then I thought, Life is short - might as well enjoy it.

They make a better hotdog than the Smokey Links. AT LEAST IN MY HUMBLE OPINION. Flame away boys.

[Pushit]

Or you make your own sausages like me:

around 120Baht/kg.

Gerd

Gerd: Looks delicious, I assume you use some kind of funnel to fill the sausage casings? Any advice on how to do this?

[sceadugenga]

think yourself lucky thai supermarkets bother to sell the stuff we crave ,in our own countrys try and find thai foods at a cheap price....

Not so, in Australia Asian supermarkets are in every city, all the Thai spices, herbs and fresh vegetables are stacked wall to wall.

Why? Because everybody eats it, I ate authentic tom yam long before I ever came to Thailand.

[TexasRanger]

think yourself lucky thai supermarkets bother to sell the stuff we crave ,in our own countrys try and find thai foods at a cheap price....

Not so, in Australia Asian supermarkets are in every city, all the Thai spices, herbs and fresh vegetables are stacked wall to wall.

Why? Because everybody eats it, I ate authentic tom yam long before I ever came to Thailand.

Same in the UK but you still get the "luxury" or perishable items that cost more i.e. paying over 5 GBP for a bloody durian.

[taxexile]

they have got sausages in villa with a picture of gordon ramsay on the packet , underneath it says "prick with a fork"

[TexasRanger]

they have got sausages in villa with a picture of gordon ramsay on the packet , underneath it says "prick with a fork"

Excellent !

[thaigerd]

Or you make your own sausages like me:

around 120Baht/kg.

Gerd

Gerd: Looks delicious, I assume you use some kind of funnel to fill the sausage casings? Any advice on how to do this?

I was very lucky to find an old but still working filling machine(with hand handle) and a company here in Phuket which imports the casings and original german butcher spices for sausages.

Gerd

[ilyushin]

Foodland

[poshthai]

I like the odd bit of farang food but whats the obsession with villa and a mentality of i must have this food ar that food.Cant you live here and eat mostly thai.

[JohnBKKK]

I like the odd bit of farang food but whats the obsession with villa and a mentality of i must have this food ar that food.Cant you live here and eat mostly thai.

How about the thousands of Thai's that live in Europe and the US and only eat Thai food ? Why not let everybody eat what they like?

My personal answer to your statement is NO since in my honest opinion, Thai food is not that good. A lot of it is way too greasy or way over-spiced to the point where one can not taste any of the meat or fish anymore,

John

[JohnBKKK]

they have got sausages in villa with a picture of gordon ramsay on the packet , underneath it says "prick with a fork"

"prick with a fork ??? - hmm that's a good one lol one should prick him with a fork and he comes across as one too but in this case its because they are loaded with water and would otherwise explode during frying ... ramsay making more money

[onethailand]

they have got sausages in villa with a picture of gordon ramsay on the packet , underneath it says "prick with a fork"

Good one. But still like to watch hel_l's Kitchen.

Tops is not really a good place to buy imported food... LOL... in Bangkok that would be Villa, Foodland, Central Chidlom, Centralworld, Emporium and Paragon (and UFM Fuji for Japanese). Outside Bangkok, there isn't much choice - and I certainly wouldn't complain about Villa's pricing then. Either I'd buy, or I wouldn't.

However - it is apparent there is another exporter, who then sells to Villa and Central - I will do a little digging and try to find out who, because then I'm buying by the box. Some of the products Villa imports directly - can't argue with the price either - but if they are not importing and instead buying from an agent, at the least they should be reasonably price competitive - even 10-20 baht wouldn't be a problem - but over 25% price difference is ridiculous.

Gerd - still waiting for your products to become available here

And yes, Dotcom, I am a kee niao. If you are happy to not be a kee niao and pay a 25% premium for the same product, be my guest, Villa will love you to death. And by the way, Central owns Tops, but Central Chidlom is not Tops.

I don't understand why someone would pay 400 for Johnsonville hot dogs to begin with. You can get better quality, and locally made sausages for half the price. I've always found Villa to have reasonable prices unless you're buying some wierd farang import.

You know, I used to say the same thing, until I tried the Johnsonvilles last month. Ever since then I have tried just about every smoked sausage available in just about every market - and nothing comes close. Despite that, we still eat plenty of the locally made sausages because they are still delicious and very high quality - but the Johnsonvilles are definitely special, even if they are not technically of the same quality.

Villa has decent prices on local product. They have their own imported products which are a bit expensive but not bad. But I still do not think they should be price gouging on products which they are buying from local agents, imported or not.

Edited August 31, 2008 by onethailand

[dotcom]

And by the way, Central owns Tops, but Central Chidlom is not Tops.

Villa has decent prices on local product. They have their own imported products which are a bit expensive but not bad. But I still do not think they should be price gouging on products which they are buying from local agents, imported or not.

I am kee neow too.

Central owns TOPS? Maybe - but it is manged by Royal Ahold. Why would the Chidlom Branch be any different? Their outlet at Central World is nice. Being one of the newer ones.

Tell me what Villa import? I don't see one thing. As far as I can see they buy from LOCAL wholesalers. Yes they have some cleaning products branded TRUE Value Hardware (From USA).

I wonder who mamange the grocery concession for The Mall Group? Emporium / Paragon

[onethailand]

The Central Chidlom branch was the first to go upmarket - the CentralWorld one was based on the Central Chidlom concept. It hasn't been a Tops for a few years now.

Central doesn't own Tops outright - it is a stakeholder.

Villa do import their own products - for example, Jones Sausage Links (next to the Johnsonvilles) - can only be found at Villa as far as I know. They used to import quite a few other things including Pop Tarts and Doritos and all sorts of other American products - Grape Nuts is another one of those unusual products that can only be found at Villa (last I looked, at least). For all intents and purposes, Villa might as well have been the American commissary in Thailand.

Today, they import less of their own stuff because there are plenty of other businesses trying to import larger volume, some successful, some not - no point in Villa importing lower volumes at higher prices, so those products are bought from local agents.

The Mall Group runs Home Fresh Mart - all the Malls are HFM, but Emporium and Paragon are not branded as such in the same manner that Central's supermarkets are not branded Tops, because they too carry higher end products, but nearly all of their "imported" product is brought in by other suppliers. I have yet to see a product in Emporium or Paragon that could not be found elsewhere.

edit -> One more thing - Centralworld and Central Chidlom do not carry all the same products - same as Emporium and Paragon. You will find a wider selection of imported stuff at Emporium and Central Chidlom - for the simple reason that they are closer to the expat communities.

Edited August 31, 2008 by onethailand

[dotcom]

If I remember correctly tghere are 2 types of TOPS. The original & Marketplace by TOPS. The latter decked out to look like European Deli fresh market.

It doesn't matter the size of the store - my local one - Piyarom (Suk 101/1) is a small store but Marketplace concept. The one on Thonglor is the same.

For everyday consumables , coke, paper products, shampoo Corn Flakes etc I use Carrefour because it is on my way home & has parking. For meat & Vegetables & fruit I use TOPS Marketplace.

Beings as I am neither "mark" nor wealthy Japanese I onlt use Villa to fill in hard to find items (mainly frozen food as you have mentioned) Been shopping at Villa 33 for close to 30 years. Now I use J avenue.

I find Foodland a nice compromise, big variety & good pricing. I used to use the one in Samut Prakarn a lot & also the one in Ramkamhaeng. Nice meat & fruits & veggies.

If I go into Emporium I would spend too much. Finest grocery in Thailand bar None. And most expensive.