Good Alcohol Suppliers In Bangkok

[DJ_Illusion]

Hey everyone, well a friend of mine just recently aquired a pub in bangkok, but she has no experience, she just wanted to gain some experience from the pub itself, now she buys the alcohol from tesco lotus, from the sound of it thought thats probably gonna be alot more expensive by the end of each month.

I tried to advise her if she tries to check out some alcohol suppliers in bangkok, but she said tesco is the same price i really think its not. Anyone know any good cheep suppliers in bangkok to check out, (maybe someone who owns a bar/pub in bangkok can give some tips) i would really appreciate it. Thanks

[tutsiwarrior]

edit/ double post

Edited April 14, 2006 by tutsiwarrior

[tutsiwarrior]

I'm also interested in a reply to the basic question 'where does one buy liquor in bulk'. I live in the provinces and my tipple is vodka but no local retailer stocks it. I'd buy it locally by the crate if possible to avoid weekly trips to tescos 30 km away.

Is there a distributor's system in the boonies for this sort of thing where one could maybe get a discount?

weigh in Lampard...

[vladaman]

Well,

I don't know specific answer to your question, however I have some expeirence how big stores operates. It is very common, that Tesco has better deals then local distributor.

The reason is, that Tesco is buying large amounts, for lower prices. Wholesaler is there to make a big sale, and some bar is not really big customer. Once you get huge volume, you may get good deal. This would require to buy a lot on stock and messing up your cash flow.

Gigantic stores like Tesco gets volume discounts, additional money for listing products and so on and so on.

Some item may be more expensive, some not. I'd try Makro, which is known for screwing up markets and prices worldwide.

I have friend of mine, who is a big wholesaler in Eastern Europe, and he is getting some items from Marko too! BKK may be a different, but I'd doubt it.

Say good luck to your friend with a pub. I am really surprised she has jumped into business, she has no idea about

but she said tesco is the same price i really think its not.

[mark45y]

It is true in America too. Pepsi and coke are always cheaper at the discount stores than from the distributor. As is produce, meat and dairy products. The only advantage of the big suppliers is you don’t have to go pick the stuff up. In a lot of places in US it is illegal for bars and restaurants to buy booze and beer at retail outlets so they have to buy from wholesalers. Plus there is the advantage of paying cash at the discount markets and no paper trail. This is of course not plausible for large establishments but works fine for small businesses. A division of Walmart, “Sams Wholesale” has made major inroads into the pockets of the food and beverage wholesaler’s markets in the US.

[skippy]

http://www.caldbecks.th.com/

[rishi]

I can't say much about circumstances in Bangkok or elsewhere. However, in Chiang Mai, I've checked out prices and it seems that Singha beer (can or bottle), is the only thing I get cheaper at the superstores (Makro. Tesco, Carrefour) than at the local micro-letout. One thing to consider is whether you are VAT-registered or not. In the superstores you'll get a proper tax-invoice - at the local micro-store, you'll not.

There are some exceptions, but for most brands the cheapest, local outlet has (non-VAT deductible) prices, that are lower than the superstore prices, minus VAT ... And the local micro-store brings out the goods, free of extra charge.

One thing's for sure ... Around here, getting things delivered by the regular Coke-truck is the most expensive way to get sodas, fanta, sprite and coca-cola.

Edited April 18, 2006 by rishi

[rishi]

I don't know specific answer to your question, however I have some expeirence how big stores operates. It is very common, that Tesco has better deals then local distributor.

The reason is, that Tesco is buying large amounts, for lower prices. Wholesaler is there to make a big sale, and some bar is not really big customer. Once you get huge volume, you may get good deal. This would require to buy a lot on stock and messing up your cash flow.

Gigantic stores like Tesco gets volume discounts, additional money for listing products and so on and so on.

I'm willing to get corrected, but I don't think that line of thought works in Thailand quite as it would e.g in my European homecountry (where small businesses have to meet the same governmental requirements as the big ones, without having the same "flexibilities" as the big ones). Although the big stores in Thailand probably would get extra discounts from their suppliers, this advantage would be counterweighted by the fact, that these stores would have an overhead of company-tax, VAT-payments, accountants, lawyers, etc., etc.

Small local, Thai distributers can simply just pocket the difference between what the pay their supplier and what the get paid by their customers.