Tops Supermarked Cm.. $$$

[BuffaloRescue]

For the first time I went to Tops supermarket today.

Wow, its expensive. Veggies were almost double the price of Tesco.. 150 baht for 2 tiny lettuce.

Pork.. 200b + per kilo

Chicken 140 baht

I didnt stay too long in there, as i mainly buy plain meat and veg and avoid all the packaged stuff.. which im sure is also very expensive .

Its amazing they are in business! Plenty of Thai people shopping in there, it didnt seem like it was mainly for farangs.

Not exactly hot news... im just really surprised. Ill stick to local markets + tesco.

Edited April 1, 2013 by BuffaloRescue

[NancyL]

Yeah, I'm not happy either, but one of their branches is just paces from my home. Unfortunately, I shop there more than I care to admit.

This time of year, in the hot weather, the produce from the Thai outdoor markets is good for just a couple days once I put it in our refrigerator. Produce from the Tops produce dept keeps for 4 - 5 days.

I much prefer Rim Ping for packaged goods like peanut butter and salad dressing, but the closest branch is a song thaew ride away.

As for Tesco Lotus -- well it's even more expesive to get there and I can't get up early in the day to buy unpackaged meat from their mass bins before everone else has pawed over it.

Edited April 1, 2013 by NancyL

[Ulysses G.]

75 baht for a small head of lettuce is unbelievable. Are you sure about that?

[nikster]

Better get used to it, prices are only going to go up.

We mostly buy organic - the good thing is royal projects have a lot of organic foods at reasonable prices. The bad - anything outside that is double or triple, usually imported from australia or the US.

You'd think organic food is a huge opportunity for Thai farming, but it's really only now catching on locally, 10 or 15 years behind the west.

If you like the mass produced garbage from the huge chains go for it. I think it's grossly overpriced for what you get. Meat full of hormones and anti-biotics, and produce genetically modified to better resist pesticides so they can use even more of that, wow what an idea.

[ARISTIDE]

75 baht for a small head of lettuce is unbelievable. Are you sure about that?

I think it's seasonal thing sometimes its cheap, but Tops sell expensive stuff anyway

[BuffaloRescue]

75 baht for a small head of lettuce is unbelievable. Are you sure about that?

Yup... two tiny iceberg lettuce in a bag.. 150 baht. Grown hydroponically apparently so i cant see how that could be seasonal prices

[BuffaloRescue]

Better get used to it, prices are only going to go up.

We mostly buy organic - the good thing is royal projects have a lot of organic foods at reasonable prices. The bad - anything outside that is double or triple, usually imported from australia or the US.

You'd think organic food is a huge opportunity for Thai farming, but it's really only now catching on locally, 10 or 15 years behind the west.

If you like the mass produced garbage from the huge chains go for it. I think it's grossly overpriced for what you get. Meat full of hormones and anti-biotics, and produce genetically modified to better resist pesticides so they can use even more of that, wow what an idea.

Please can you share where you get your organic stuff at good prices, im definitely interested in that. I dont mind paying more than tescos to support locals. Just no way im paying tops supermarket 2x price for what

[Konini]

I buy all my fruit, veggies, eggs, pork, chicken and 'beef' from the market - sometimes a quarter the price charged in the supermarkets. It has to be noted that nothing keeps for more than a day or two, but I don't have anything else to do so wandering over to the morning market a few times a week is not a problem and it really does save me a fortune.

The only fresh things I buy from supermarkets are farang things you can't get at the market such as celery, lamb and beef for stews, casseroles and steaks.

Tops is the most expensive of all the supermarkets, in my opinion Rimping is the best for everyday stuff and Macro for baking and bulk supplies.

[masuk]

What annoys me with these shops which cater to a great many farangs like myself, is that they insist on labelling everything in Thai, apart from the colour of the bottle! So while I struggle to pick the difference between bottles of conditioner and bottles of say, bleach, the only bit I can understand is that they're 'pink or blue'!

Yes, I know I must learn Thai.

It wouldn't take too much for a list to be made of into say, English, Japanese and Thai, and what shelf they're on. Hardly an original idea as most western supoermarkets have a list for customers, tho not in dual languages.

[jackr]

Tops is a mutton dressed as lamb rip.

[uptheos]

I buy all my fruit, veggies, eggs, pork, chicken and 'beef' from the market - sometimes a quarter the price charged in the supermarkets. It has to be noted that nothing keeps for more than a day or two, but I don't have anything else to do so wandering over to the morning market a few times a week is not a problem and it really does save me a fortune.

The only fresh things I buy from supermarkets are farang things you can't get at the market such as celery, lamb and beef for stews, casseroles and steaks.

Tops is the most expensive of all the supermarkets, in my opinion Rimping is the best for everyday stuff and Macro for baking and bulk supplies.

A lot of people refer to markets, but even some of those aren't as cheap as they could be.

I buy my vegetables from more obscure markets, I say obscure because they only set up three days a week and ne'er a farang in sight, much too intimidating. Much of it is just grown on the plot of land these sellers must use/own and sometimes certain things are not available according to season, but it's all darned cheap and good. Maybe certain things only lasts a few days, but it could be something to do with not using fertiliser and polish, to spruce the produce up to make it look good, so they can inflict 'take the piss' prices. I'll buy my less than beautiful vegetables and clean them up myself, then I know they are properly cleaned. Saturday for example 3 cauliflowers 15 baht, bag bell peppers 10 baht, tomatoes, onions, beans 5 baht small bag, 3 pineapples 45 Baht, bananas 15 baht.

Please continue buying vegetables in stores, otherwise I might find my cheap supplies diminish one day.

Edited April 2, 2013 by uptheos

[uptheos]

What annoys me with these shops which cater to a great many farangs like myself, is that they insist on labelling everything in Thai, apart from the colour of the bottle! So while I struggle to pick the difference between bottles of conditioner and bottles of say, bleach, the only bit I can understand is that they're 'pink or blue'!

Yes, I know I must learn Thai.

It wouldn't take too much for a list to be made of into say, English, Japanese and Thai, and what shelf they're on. Hardly an original idea as most western supoermarkets have a list for customers, tho not in dual languages.

The most annoying thing is sticking those stupid labels over ingredients listed in English.

It's deliberate and unnecessary as there's usually lots of space on the box/jar etc.

Anyone know why they deliberately do this?

[shepsel]

I have learned to use Tops just for emergencies because their prices on most produce and cheese is exhorbitantly expensive. I shop that the Doi Kham (Royal Project) for nice organic produce, go to Makro for cheese and chicken and some produce. Sometimes Tops is good for cherrypicking--usually their buy one, get one free specials are a good value and it pays to stock up on these items.

[uptheos]

I have learned to use Tops just for emergencies because their prices on most produce and cheese is exhorbitantly expensive. I shop that the Doi Kham (Royal Project) for nice organic produce, go to Makro for cheese and chicken and some produce. Sometimes Tops is good for cherrypicking--usually their buy one, get one free specials are a good value and it pays to stock up on these items.

Agree with most of what you have said. TOPS is OK if you pick, but it will be a long time before I recommend any of Rimping's 2 for 1 offers, don't like that egg on my face. The product I got was actually OK, but the item my friend bought just crumbled like it had been held together by the wrapping!

[Ulysses G.]

What annoys me with these shops which cater to a great many farangs like myself, is that they insist on labelling everything in Thai, apart from the colour of the bottle! So while I struggle to pick the difference between bottles of conditioner and bottles of say, bleach, the only bit I can understand is that they're 'pink or blue'!

Yes, I know I must learn Thai.

It wouldn't take too much for a list to be made of into say, English, Japanese and Thai, and what shelf they're on. Hardly an original idea as most western supoermarkets have a list for customers, tho not in dual languages.

The most annoying thing is sticking those stupid labels over ingredients listed in English.

It's deliberate and unnecessary as there's usually lots of space on the box/jar etc.

Anyone know why they deliberately do this?

You would think they might cover the Polish or Turkish if they have to cover something, but they always cover the English.

[true blue]

masuk, on 02 Apr 2013 - 05:31, said:

What annoys me with these shops which cater to a great many farangs like myself, is that they insist on labelling everything in Thai, apart from the colour of the bottle! So while I struggle to pick the difference between bottles of conditioner and bottles of say, bleach, the only bit I can understand is that they're 'pink or blue'!

Yes, I know I must learn Thai.

It wouldn't take too much for a list to be made of into say, English, Japanese and Thai, and what shelf they're on. Hardly an original idea as most western supoermarkets have a list for customers, tho not in dual languages.

propaly you would pay more in price,after all you are in thailand,but understand to some extent.

[tfc]

Tops in Chang Puek, the best prices for Lindt Chocolate I've found so far!

[barefoot1988]

i do my 1 for 1, 50% off on bread almost every other night. i must say they have some pretty decent baguette

[jbrain]

What annoys me with these shops which cater to a great many farangs like myself, is that they insist on labelling everything in Thai, apart from the colour of the bottle! So while I struggle to pick the difference between bottles of conditioner and bottles of say, bleach, the only bit I can understand is that they're 'pink or blue'!

Yes, I know I must learn Thai.

It wouldn't take too much for a list to be made of into say, English, Japanese and Thai, and what shelf they're on. Hardly an original idea as most western supoermarkets have a list for customers, tho not in dual languages.

The most annoying thing is sticking those stupid labels over ingredients listed in English.

It's deliberate and unnecessary as there's usually lots of space on the box/jar etc.

Anyone know why they deliberately do this?

To keep the Thaivisa forum alive.

[Thakkar]

What annoys me with these shops which cater to a great many farangs like myself, is that they insist on labelling everything in Thai, apart from the colour of the bottle! So while I struggle to pick the difference between bottles of conditioner and bottles of say, bleach, the only bit I can understand is that they're 'pink or blue'!

Yes, I know I must learn Thai.

It wouldn't take too much for a list to be made of into say, English, Japanese and Thai, and what shelf they're on. Hardly an original idea as most western supoermarkets have a list for customers, tho not in dual languages.

The most annoying thing is sticking those stupid labels over ingredients listed in English.

It's deliberate and unnecessary as there's usually lots of space on the box/jar etc.

Anyone know why they deliberately do this?

I guess everyone needs a hobby. The workers who have the boring job of applying those stickers must be chortling as they imagine all the annoyance it's causing us as they carefully apply the stickers to cover the English print. Think of it this way: our revenge is that, unlike them, we can afford to buy the stuff.

T

Edited April 2, 2013 by Thakkar

[justcruisin]

Better get used to it, prices are only going to go up.

We mostly buy organic - the good thing is royal projects have a lot of organic foods at reasonable prices. The bad - anything outside that is double or triple, usually imported from australia or the US.

You'd think organic food is a huge opportunity for Thai farming, but it's really only now catching on locally, 10 or 15 years behind the west.

If you like the mass produced garbage from the huge chains go for it. I think it's grossly overpriced for what you get. Meat full of hormones and anti-biotics, and produce genetically modified to better resist pesticides so they can use even more of that, wow what an idea.

Nikster I wouldn't be too sure about the Organic "labelled" food here. labels are cheap, certification not so.

I recall the mother elephant and calf that died eating lettuce/cabbage's in the hills at Mon Chaem a few years ago.

Wash everything first.

I was involved in the Agricultural Aviation industry for many years

Don't believe the mega marketing from the likes of Dow, Monsanto,ICI and others as they will and do anything to ensure profitability..they are marketing their goods in Asia because of the lack of certification.

Apologies to the mods for an off topic rant.

[Ulysses G.]

.Nikster I wouldn't be too sure about the Organic "labelled" food here. labels are cheap, certification not so..

That is my take too. Organic foods are more expensive, but not any more tasty or nutritious and often have been exposed to chemicals despite merchant claims.

[uptheos]

.Nikster I wouldn't be too sure about the Organic "labelled" food here. labels are cheap, certification not so..

That is my take too. Organic foods are more expensive, but not any more tasty or nutritious and often have been exposed to chemicals despite merchant claims.

Totally agree and anyone who knows this country, will take these claims with a grain of salt. I'd rather buy local vegetable that might have evidence of insect eating part of the leaf, at least I know it hasn't been blasted with pesticide. I can soak/wash my vegetables so they are as good or even better than those that claim to be organic........at a fraction of the price.

Edited April 3, 2013 by uptheos

[vagabond48]

.Nikster I wouldn't be too sure about the Organic "labelled" food here. labels are cheap, certification not so..

That is my take too. Organic foods are more expensive, but not any more tasty or nutritious and often have been exposed to chemicals despite merchant claims.

Totally agree and anyone who knows this country, will take these claims with a grain of salt. I'd rather buy local vegetable that might have evidence of insect eating part of the leaf, at least I know it hasn't been blasted with pesticide. I can soak/wash my vegetables so they are as good or even better than those that claim to be organic........at a fraction of the price.

I also soak and wash the veggies but I still peel any peel-able veg/fruit (cukes, tomatoes etc.). I am under no illusion that this will protect me from any pesticide already absorbed by the plant.

[uptheos]

.Nikster I wouldn't be too sure about the Organic "labelled" food here. labels are cheap, certification not so..

That is my take too. Organic foods are more expensive, but not any more tasty or nutritious and often have been exposed to chemicals despite merchant claims.

Totally agree and anyone who knows this country, will take these claims with a grain of salt. I'd rather buy local vegetable that might have evidence of insect eating part of the leaf, at least I know it hasn't been blasted with pesticide. I can soak/wash my vegetables so they are as good or even better than those that claim to be organic........at a fraction of the price.

I also soak and wash the veggies but I still peel any peel-able veg/fruit (cukes, tomatoes etc.). I am under no illusion that this will protect me from any pesticide already absorbed by the plant.

Impossible to be 100% safe......wash and peel, wash and peel.

[Konini]

.Nikster I wouldn't be too sure about the Organic "labelled" food here. labels are cheap, certification not so..

That is my take too. Organic foods are more expensive, but not any more tasty or nutritious and often have been exposed to chemicals despite merchant claims.

A peer reviewed study was done a few years ago in UK (I think) which proved convulsively that there was no difference between the two in nutritional value tested in the lab and on blind taste tests between organic and non-organic there was again no difference. Tests were done on fruit, veggies, eggs, meat and dairy products. The conclusion to the study was don't waste your money, just wash your fruit and veggies if not cooking them.

I once again refer to my uncle who used to buy eggs at the supermarket, rub a bit of chicken poop on them and sell them at the farm gate for a lot more than he bought them (this was way back in the late 1970's). Call me cynical, but I've always stuck to the less expensive.

[nikster]

Scientific studies - generally they're as good as the next one that comes along and disproves them. Let's face it the state of science is that we know next to nothing about nutrition.

Our nutty physics professor in College once said that "the only good theory is one which can be disproven". I was wondering about this at the time, but I think what he meant to say is that you can never conclusively prove a theory, you can only disprove them. At least when we're talking about the real world, and not abstract math. That means you gain knowledge of the world when you disprove a theory, however small that gain may be.

Just yesterday I checked out maple syrup on wikipedia. There was an explanation that it's mostly sugar. And also "the distinct taste which science has no explanation for". I don't think it's particularly mysterious - it's just one of the things, like so many others, that science does not know.

Back to the study - I think I'll not bother to read it; because the "conclusion" that blind taste tests have found organic food to taste the same as non organic is clearly already wrong. I've accidentally done such blind taste tests too many times to count. When I am like, wow, this tastes amazing, whats in it, and my wife tells me well it's organic eggs. Go figure. Ever had organic carrots? Absolutely huge difference. Tomatoes, the same. Often times, the non-organic veggies are pale copies of the original. But maybe, if you have killed all your taste buds in one way or another, you won't be able to tell.

Our taste buds have been trained to tell us what's good and what isn't for millions of years.

Foods that are grown faster to maximize profits don't taste as good, and are not as good for your body. It's not rocket science.

GMO really pisses me off. There's this great tech, genetical engineering. You'd think they'd use that to make better fruits and veggies - better tasting, healthier, perhaps? But no - they use this technology to increase pesticide resistance so they can spray more! Or to make tomatoes not go squishy when they're old, so they can sell us old tomatoes. In other words, the tech is used in bad ways, none of this is beneficial for humans.

PS every wondered about all those huge fat kids? Could not possibly have to do with the fact that they've been on a steady diet of growth hormones from meat and milk? Right?

Edited April 3, 2013 by nikster

[amexpat]

"I've accidentally done such blind taste tests too many times to count. When I am like, wow, this tastes amazing, whats in it, and my wife tells me well it's organic eggs."

Now I am like, wow, that's better than those peer-reviewed studies in the UK, USA, and AUS, etc.

[Konini]

Back to the study - I think I'll not bother to read it; because the "conclusion" that blind taste tests have found organic food to taste the same as non organic is clearly already wrong. I've accidentally done such blind taste tests too many times to count. When I am like, wow, this tastes amazing, whats in it, and my wife tells me well it's organic eggs. Go figure. Ever had organic carrots? Absolutely huge difference. Tomatoes, the same. Often times, the non-organic veggies are pale copies of the original. But maybe, if you have killed all your taste buds in one way or another, you won't be able to tell.

One of my dearest friends who used to take turns with me to host Sunday lunch is all organic. Her potatoes, pumpkin, squash, carrots, broccoli, Yorkshire puddings (organic eggs and flour) etc and salads in the summer tasted no different to mine - I wasn't cheating by using MSG. Nor did her corn fed pork free range chicken, grass fed beef. I really couldn't tell any difference, neither could her husband; we had the discussion many times over several years. The only difference we could agree on was that she paid a lot more for her shopping than I did.

Foods that are grown faster to maximize profits don't taste as good, and are not as good for your body. It's not rocket science.

I can accept that argument for meat and poultry, but you can't force fruits vegetables, seeds, nuts, and such like to grow faster. I know a lot of people in Australia that won't eat chicken because they don't want to get 'man boobs', there has been a lot of coverage in the media about the relationship between the hormones being given to chickens to make them grow faster/bigger/different and young girls developing breasts earlier than past norms and pre-pubescent boys developing breasts. That is an obvious one that you can see. Very young girls and boys with boobs. I try not to spend time thinking about what the anti-biotics BigFarmer gives to the pigs, cows and sheep are doing to us (of course we don't know what they are doing to us YET). I don't want to think about it because I like eating and don't want to scare myself into becoming a {shock horror} vegetarian.

With crops, things grow differently in different places. As a child I looked forward to summer for Jersey potatoes, strawberries and tomatoes from Uncle Den. We didn't get them in November or March. Now you can but they're a different kind and/or grown in different soils and conditions so they will never taste the same. I was back in UK last June, and can attest to this, after treading the difficult line of spending exactly the same amount of time at each of two houses. My mum bought her English tomatoes and English strawberries from M&S and they were just like Uncle Den's. My mother-in-law bought Spanish strawberries and (I think) Dutch tomatoes from wherever for a lot less money. They tasted just like the rubbish you get everywhere now, including here. Both strawberries and tomatoes were white in the middle and had very little flavour. I have to say that there are a few weeks every year here in CM when the strawberries are nice if you can find the good ones. In amongst all of the good, local, seasonal strawberries there are a lot of the 'whities'. Different strain, grown in different growing or soil conditions or not local produce are the only reasons I can think of for this. When you find a good strawberry seller, keep going back to the same one. And she'll be back next year.

GMO really pisses me off. There's this great tech, genetical engineering. You'd think they'd use that to make better fruits and veggies - better tasting, healthier, perhaps? But no - they use this technology to increase pesticide resistance so they can spray more! Or to make tomatoes not go squishy when they're old, so they can sell us old tomatoes. In other words, the tech is used in bad ways, none of this is beneficial for humans.

I agree with this 100%. When I was growing up I thought all of these 'miracle' crops we saw on science progammes on TV would in the future be modified for feeding the people in the world who were starving. Instead it's being used to make the people in the developed world obese, whilst the unfortunates are still starving.

PS every wondered about all those huge fat kids? Could not possibly have to do with the fact that they've been on a steady diet of growth hormones from meat and milk? Right?

Don't forget the contributions from the chickens at KFC

Edit: Grammar fix-up (tut, tut)

Edited April 3, 2013 by Konini

[uptheos]

Back to the study - I think I'll not bother to read it; because the "conclusion" that blind taste tests have found organic food to taste the same as non organic is clearly already wrong. I've accidentally done such blind taste tests too many times to count. When I am like, wow, this tastes amazing, whats in it, and my wife tells me well it's organic eggs. Go figure. Ever had organic carrots? Absolutely huge difference. Tomatoes, the same. Often times, the non-organic veggies are pale copies of the original. But maybe, if you have killed all your taste buds in one way or another, you won't be able to tell.

One of my dearest friends who used to take turns with me to host Sunday lunch is all organic. Her potatoes, pumpkin, squash, carrots, broccoli, Yorkshire puddings (organic eggs and flour) etc and salads in the summer tasted no different to mine - I wasn't cheating by using MSG. Nor did her corn fed pork free range chicken, grass fed beef. I really couldn't tell any difference, neither could her husband; we had the discussion many times over several years. The only difference we could agree on was that she paid a lot more for her shopping than I did.

Foods that are grown faster to maximize profits don't taste as good, and are not as good for your body. It's not rocket science.

I can accept that argument for meat and poultry, but you can't force fruits vegetables, seeds, nuts, and such like to grow faster. I know a lot of people in Australia that won't eat chicken because they don't want to get 'man boobs', there has been a lot of coverage in the media about the relationship between the hormones being given to chickens to make them grow faster/bigger/different and young girls developing breasts earlier than past norms and pre-pubescent boys developing breasts. That is an obvious one that you can see. Very young girls and boys with boobs. I try not to spend time thinking about what the anti-biotics BigFarmer gives to the pigs, cows and sheep are doing to us (of course we don't know what they are doing to us YET). I don't want to think about it because I like eating and don't want to scare myself into becoming a {shock horror} vegetarian.

With crops, things grow differently in different places. As a child I looked forward to summer for Jersey potatoes, strawberries and tomatoes from Uncle Den. We didn't get them in November or March. Now you can but they're a different kind and/or grown in different soils and conditions so they will never taste the same. I was back in UK last June, and can attest to this, after treading the difficult line of spending exactly the same amount of time at each of two houses. My mum bought her English tomatoes and English strawberries from M&S and they were just like Uncle Den's. My mother-in-law bought Spanish strawberries and (I think) Dutch tomatoes from wherever for a lot less money. They tasted just like the rubbish you get everywhere now, including here. Both strawberries and tomatoes were white in the middle and had very little flavour. I have to say that there are a few weeks every year here in CM when the strawberries are nice if you can find the good ones. In amongst all of the good, local, seasonal strawberries there are a lot of the 'whities'. Different strain, grown in different growing or soil conditions or not local produce are the only reasons I can think of for this. When you find a good strawberry seller, keep going back to the same one. And she'll be back next year.

GMO really pisses me off. There's this great tech, genetical engineering. You'd think they'd use that to make better fruits and veggies - better tasting, healthier, perhaps? But no - they use this technology to increase pesticide resistance so they can spray more! Or to make tomatoes not go squishy when they're old, so they can sell us old tomatoes. In other words, the tech is used in bad ways, none of this is beneficial for humans.

I agree with this 100%. When I was growing up I thought all of these 'miracle' crops we saw on science progammes on TV would in the future be modified for feeding the people in the world who were starving. Instead it's being used to make the people in the developed world obese, whilst the unfortunates are still starving.

PS every wondered about all those huge fat kids? Could not possibly have to do with the fact that they've been on a steady diet of growth hormones from meat and milk? Right?

Don't forget the contributions from the chickens at KFC

Edit: Grammar fix-up (tut, tut)

I definitely need more Vit A.