Anyone notice their favs disappearing from Villa Markets?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Anyone else notice that a lot of their favorites have been disappearing from Villa Markets in recent months???

I've lived here a number of years, and have gotten pretty familiar with what imported things I can source here and what places have them (or don't). So, from that, I'd worked out a pretty regular shopping list of the imported things that could reliably be found at Villa Markets.

But then after the coup, that seriously began to go down hill. At first, I thought it was just temporary "out of stock" situations until the re-stock delivery arrived. But instead, the re-stocks never came. The products have simply disappeared off the store shelves and haven't been restocked/replaced for months now.

I spoke with my local Villa market manager, and she confirmed that they've been having problems getting certain things imported into Thailand. In one conversation, she said it was something to do with Thai Customs. But at other points, she's been more vague about what's the cause of the hangups. So it's a bit of a mystery to me.

Here are some examples in my experience (pre-coup vs post coup):

--before, Villas were stocking quite a range of Rosarita canned frijoles, including several different flavors. Now, all gone, at least at the three Villas closed to my home. And not just Rosarita, but several other brands they previously had stocked.

--before, Villas were stocking a brand of real sliced cheeses imported from California, including several different varieties. Now, all gone.

--before, Villas were stocking several varieties of Vlasic pickles, including their sliced Sandwich Stackers. Now all gone.

--before, Villas were stocking Eggo and Aunt Jemima frozen waffles. Now, all gone.

Those are just some examples, all things Villa had reliably stocked for years -- and now don't. You might think it was just the market chain discontinuing poor selling items, except, all those things had been stocked for years before and they all began disappearing right about the same time after the coup.

And yet, Villa continues to carry and stock other imported items without a problem. So it's hard to find a pattern there, except that all the items I mentioned presumably are sourced from the U.S. (since I'm an American and those tend to be the things I go looking for). And yet, I still find S&W canned products, Campbell's soups, other stuff....

What the heck is going on? And is anyone else here noticing the same kinds of changes?

Edited April 21, 2015 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[rwdrwdrwd]

I believe this was the reason quoted elsewhere regarding a lack of Kraft products, though it's a bit more recent than just 'post-coup' - http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/02/21/labor-fight-at-west-coast-ports-comes-to-an-end-for-now/

Edited April 21, 2015 by rwdrwdrwd

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Feb. 21:

Last night, the owners of 29 West coast shipping terminals and the union of dockworkers that staff them reached a tentative deal for a new contract, after nine months of negotiations that culminated in four days of meetings with two cabinet secretaries. The ports can now resume normal operations -- or at least start working on the backlog of stalled goods that have been waiting to move in and out.

Retailers, manufacturers and agricultural exporters had been infuriated by the delay, as work slowdowns and lockouts created a massive traffic jam on the docks, and greeted the announcement with relief. But their responses also came with heavy sighs and wagging fingers, signifying a lasting exasperation over the disruption to business as usual -- and worry about whether this might mark the end of these confrontations.

Thanks for posting that... I wasn't aware of it before.

That could explain it... But, if that was/is the cause of the issues here, then things should start reappearing here pretty soon... since the resolution of the labor dispute was now 2 months ago...

It also would explain why all the things that began disappearing that I noticed were American products.

Edited April 21, 2015 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Seligne2]

Here in Chiang Mai I shop for Western foods at Rimping (Nawarat). I too have a regular shopping list of staples. Overall, I am pleased with Rimping, but their restocking leaves much to be desired. I have not done proper research on this, but I note that when I look for an item like Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce and can't find it, I look for it every time I go in. Several times a week. They have been out of it for at least a month now. This applies to other items as well. Some items, like Mezzetta brand hot chili peppers I find once (one jar) and never again. I attribute it to crappy inventory control.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Mezzetta jalapeno and other peppers in jars were other items among my personal list of things Villa once had, and I regularly purchased, and then almost entirely disappeared in recent months. Mezzetta also is a brand from California...

But, unlike the other long-stocked items I mentioned before, Mezzetta had only been a relatively recent brand appearing at Villa, and then disappeared shortly thereafter.

It's funny you mentioned that particular product... I thought about including it in my original sample list of products that have disappeared lately. But I didn't think anyone would recognize the brand or know what I was talking about!

Edited April 21, 2015 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[ExpatJ]

Similar thing happening in Indonesia. It might be due to wealthy owners of local food companies putting pressure on government to rectify foreign food imports I. E. their competition

[bkkbarnstormer]

I have noticed similar things happening in Foodland for 4-5 products I typically buy. I had assumed they had updated their product lines but hopefully I am wrong

[ezzra]

Socking and re stocking of consumer's items and brands in Thailand over all has much to do with what

Thai people/consumers like rather than us, the lowly farangs, It's evident in just about any market

and supermarket around the country, I use to screech my head a lot wondering the same as the OP,

but after losing all/most my hair, I stooped to wonder and to question, it is what it is, if it's not there,

they don't have it....

[maswov]

I'm glad I learned how to make some of the things which are hard to get here.

[carter1882]

Reminds me of Bernard Trink and his ramblings in the Bangkok Post about the availability or not of Dinty Moore Beef Stew. A word to the wise for longer term residents of the metropolis....TIT

[Lobber]

Yes - my little totty on the cash desk has gone

[Junkyarddog]

This has nothing to do with the coup, this has been going for the 30 years I have lived here. Too many products to list. Its not only at stores that are mainly aimed a foreign market but places like Makro as well. I have talked to managers at Makro, its the buyers decisions in Bangkok. They just want to try something new, so they discontinue products with a really good sales history, and put something new on the shelves. They do this with no discussion with the store managers who then have many many customers complaing to them everyday that products they relied on Makro to supply are gone. In the case of restaurants we need suppliers to be there everyday for us or it has a huge impact on our business.

In my latest case, it had nothing to do with Thailand. Three products from Heinz that I use in receipes were discontinued by Heinz for the Thai market as I was told by the importer. These products had been available here for 20 years and were good sellers. Why discontinue them who the hell knows?

Thai stores have a tendancy to reorder when they are out of stock. Even though they all have computers with software in them for inventory management, they still seem to want to do this Thai style. Compounding the problem, the company that is importing the product from abroad wants to work the same way. That explains the products that are missing for several months at a time. Sometimes it logistics, waiting to fill a container so the shipping cost can be managed.

Many reasons, It does baffle me they will discontinue a product that was selling really good.

[Ghostnigel]

Off topic, but my friend just came back from England and brought me 2X160 boxes of PG Tips teabags (fresh, not like the stale crap you get here). 320 teabags....I'm in heaven, only a fraction of the price too. I will now be the happiest chappy on TVF, maybe....

[SOUTHERNSTAR]

Here in Chiang Mai I shop for Western foods at Rimping (Nawarat). I too have a regular shopping list of staples. Overall, I am pleased with Rimping, but their restocking leaves much to be desired. I have not done proper research on this, but I note that when I look for an item like Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce and can't find it, I look for it every time I go in. Several times a week. They have been out of it for at least a month now. This applies to other items as well. Some items, like Mezzetta brand hot chili peppers I find once (one jar) and never again. I attribute it to crappy inventory control.

L & P you can buy at Macro or Tesco for round about +-B 159 per bottle or you can buy the Thai brand for +- B 79.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

This has nothing to do with the coup, this has been going for the 30 years I have lived here. Too many products to list. Its not only at stores that are mainly aimed a foreign market but places like Makro as well. I have talked to managers at Makro, its the buyers decisions in Bangkok. They just want to try something new, so they discontinue products with a really good sales history, and put something new on the shelves. They do this with no discussion with the store managers who then have many many customers complaing to them everyday that products they relied on Makro to supply are gone. In the case of restaurants we need suppliers to be there everyday for us or it has a huge impact on our business.

In my latest case, it had nothing to do with Thailand. Three products from Heinz that I use in receipes were discontinued by Heinz for the Thai market as I was told by the importer. These products had been available here for 20 years and were good sellers. Why discontinue them who the hell knows?

Thai stores have a tendancy to reorder when they are out of stock. Even though they all have computers with software in them for inventory management, they still seem to want to do this Thai style. Compounding the problem, the company that is importing the product from abroad wants to work the same way. That explains the products that are missing for several months at a time. Sometimes it logistics, waiting to fill a container so the shipping cost can be managed.

Many reasons, It does baffle me they will discontinue a product that was selling really good.

I understand and agree with what you're saying.

I've lived here too for many years, and so I have been well-accustomed to the periodic outages of various products from store shelves. All of the things I mentioned have been stocked by the stores for years. And while they sometimes would be out of stock for a month or two, they always eventually came back into stock.

But lately, it's those same things they've stocked regularly for years that now aren't coming back into stock. At least, not over a multi-months period of time. And add to that, the Villa store manager saying it's NOT the store deciding to discontinue items, but instead, that they can't get them imported from abroad for some reason.

My point is, the latest episode seems to be something other than the normal Thai lagging restocking system. Perhaps related to the U.S. west coast docks labor strife that was posted on above, perhaps due to some other factors.

BTW, what were the Heinz products that supposedly got discontinued? At least, I won't wonder why I can't find those!!!

PS - Kraft and Heinz recently agreed to a merger, and supposedly, one of the outcomes of that will be to expand Kraft's current more US focused product distribution to the international realm, where Heinz is a bigger player.

That said, I still managed to find some Kraft cheese packages in my local Villas yesterday, even though a lot of their other U.S. cheese imports had vanished.

Edited April 21, 2015 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Suradit69]

Socking and re stocking of consumer's items and brands in Thailand over all has much to do with what

Thai people/consumers like rather than us, the lowly farangs, It's evident in just about any market

and supermarket around the country, I use to screech my head a lot wondering the same as the OP,

but after losing all/most my hair, I stooped to wonder and to question, it is what it is, if it's not there,

they don't have it....

"has much to do with what Thai people/consumers like rather than us, the lowly farangs"

Nonsense. Villa and some other high end supermarkets have always had plenty of things that would primarily sell to farangs. I have noticed some American things, like Johnsonville Italian sausage have disappeared from Villa and Friendship in Pattaya, but as stated that probably has to do with shipping issues out of the west coast of the US. Those specialty items have been there for the "lowly farang" for years and will probably reappear soon.

Even in Big C Extra there are plenty of specialized meat & cheese items, tinned goods, frozen food items that would appeal to very few Thai people.

The "lowly farang" is catered to and lives far better than the vast majority of Thai people.

Comments like yours, especially "I use to screech my head a lot " are just self-absorbed nonsense from farang who seem to think everyone and everything in Thailand is meant to cater to them before all others. Ger over yourself. Of course most things in the shops are meant to serve the 66 million Thais in the country, but the comparatively small number of farang have no cause to complain.

Edited April 21, 2015 by Suradit69

[AlQaholic]

Those products that the OP mentions I have never even heard of existed, so in my idea maybe the reason why they do not re-stock is because nobody else but the OP is buying it? Personally I have not noticed anything that I usually buy going out of stock or not re-stocked in the villa markets that I visit.

On a side note, I had a similar problem with a 7-eleven shop and a Lotus supermarket nearby where I live in the countryside, I think it is a management problem but haven't figured out the details yet. Whenever something is sold out quicker than it can be re-stocked (i.e. popular stuff obviously) the shop seems to not notice this but continues to re-order the same amount each re-stock period or whatever schedule they follow. So I end up going to the shop and get disappointed every time because the stuff is out of stock. Not only that but after some time of this the store decides that because it is popular and goes out of stock frequently they stop re-stocking it altogether. The logic or absence of logic is unfathomable. In particular this is the case with a particular box wine that I like.

Now imagine how happy I was when a new BigC opened near the Lotus. Happily I went there on opening day and found my favorite box wine and other stuff that the Lotus stopped selling. But after a few months of running out of stock same thing happened here, although BigC is still selling the box wine, it is almost always out of stock. A suspicion came to my mind and I checked with the Lotus store and yes they where looking for a new manager because the old manager resigned. I can only deduce the the Lotus manager moved to the BigC store and is now performing the same mismanagement over again, I bet it is the same guy working at that 7-eleven shop too......

[alanrchase]

Noticed that Tesco are running out of Brook baked beans. Was visiting immigration today so thought I would get a few cans at the nearby Tesco, one can left so now all Tesco for a 50 kick radius are out of stock.

[mercman24]

thai lea and perrins is sh*te, i bought some (cheap charlie) i love it in my tomato juice, but get the real stuff, like i have now

[maderaroja]

Frijoles refritos and pickles and waffles are easy to make at home. No need to wait for them to be restocked. Cheaper than imported ones, too.

[ricklev]

Having lived here through lengthy droughts of canned refried beans as well as dried pintos, I bought a large supply of the excellent Rosarita assortment a couple of months ago. It'l probably be a couple of years before we see them again. Reasonably priced too!

Hard to understand why they can't maintain a steady supply, but it has been getting better.

Edited April 21, 2015 by ricklev

[HooHaa]

Those products that the OP mentions I have never even heard of existed, so in my idea maybe the reason why they do not re-stock is because nobody else but the OP is buying it? Personally I have not noticed anything that I usually buy going out of stock or not re-stocked in the villa markets that I visit.

.

funny i am familiar with them all, and am a regular purchaser of most. I would suggests that indicates you are wrong. it amuses me that you would consider yourself the "norm"

the OP is right, many very regularly stocked items have been out of stock for ages.

[rwdrwdrwd]

Off topic, but my friend just came back from England and brought me 2X160 boxes of PG Tips teabags (fresh, not like the stale crap you get here). 320 teabags....I'm in heaven, only a fraction of the price too. I will now be the happiest chappy on TVF, maybe....

I made my mum bring me a massive sack of a thousand Yorkshire Tea teabags a year ago not even half way through yet, still taste good

[AlQaholic]

Those products that the OP mentions I have never even heard of existed, so in my idea maybe the reason why they do not re-stock is because nobody else but the OP is buying it? Personally I have not noticed anything that I usually buy going out of stock or not re-stocked in the villa markets that I visit.

.

funny i am familiar with them all, and am a regular purchaser of most. I would suggests that indicates you are wrong. it amuses me that you would consider yourself the "norm"

the OP is right, many very regularly stocked items have been out of stock for ages.

I am probably just unfamiliar with the kind of diet that OP uses, probably because I grew up in a completely different culture. I did in no way mean any insult to anyone by presenting my theory that nobody else buys the stuff. And for the kind of stuff I buy which is European cheese such as Gouda, Emmenthal, blue Dana etc, and Salami of various nationalities (Hungarian is the best), beer sausage, Certain bread, Caviar, olives, olive oils, taco sauce etc they are never out of stock.

[alanrchase]

Being cynical I often think that supermarkets do not restock popular brands to force people into clearing the shelves of the less popular brands before they go life ex.

[Ghostnigel]

Noticed that Tesco are running out of Brook baked beans. Was visiting immigration today so thought I would get a few cans at the nearby Tesco, one can left so now all Tesco for a 50 kick radius are out of stock.

You can get packs of 3 in Makro (Korat city). loads left, bought some myself.

[NoshowJones]

Villa is the most expensive for me, ie tins of corned beef, I just don't use them.

[Ghostnigel]

By the way, Makro bacon is the best i have found...yum yum

[alanrchase]

Noticed that Tesco are running out of Brook baked beans. Was visiting immigration today so thought I would get a few cans at the nearby Tesco, one can left so now all Tesco for a 50 kick radius are out of stock.

You can get packs of 3 in Makro (Korat city). loads left, bought some myself.

There is a local Makro but never been sure quite how they work. Can I just walk in and buy? Do I need a card? Can I get a card? How much do I need to buy?

[rbmcn]

Here in Chiang Mai I shop for Western foods at Rimping (Nawarat). I too have a regular shopping list of staples. Overall, I am pleased with Rimping, but their restocking leaves much to be desired. I have not done proper research on this, but I note that when I look for an item like Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce and can't find it, I look for it every time I go in. Several times a week. They have been out of it for at least a month now. This applies to other items as well. Some items, like Mezzetta brand hot chili peppers I find once (one jar) and never again. I attribute it to crappy inventory control.

Rimping Promenade is doing the same thing. Used to be one could order and presto, it would appear on the shelf within weeks. Rimping used to stock John West Smoked Herring. No more. Won't stock it despite requests. They are now substituting canned European herring at exhorbitant prices. Happening to many brands.

Edited April 21, 2015 by rbmcn