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[dannyconrad]

Wanting information about grocery stores, I perused the forums only to find outdated information. I took it upon myself over the last 3 days to visit grocery stores for price comparisons only. Since I have frequented all in the past, I will also give some insight from my perspective about each beyond price. I don't talk about, and really don't care about service and a smile as A) I am retired and have all the time in the world, and I have been here long enough not to expect a smile in the LOS.

Except for Foodmart, all seem to have fairly good bakery's, pretty good selection of fresh vegetables, decent meat and cheese selections, and on-sight butchers with quality fish/meats with hygienic facilities. They all do carry some items a farang may seek, however they are all a bit different in the variety and quantity.

I had 11 items on my grocery list so this is what I choose to do the price comparison with. I expand below on the comparison's. If you feel my "basket" should have contained other items, please feel free to do the research and share with this thread.

In General, I have determined there are generally 4 categories (again price only). They are listed below cheapest to most expensive.

-- Makro is in a class by itself as it is a warehouse grocery. It's prices are the lowest but you must buy many items in bulk.

-- Big C/Lotus - both mall/grocery stores with generally low prices and good selection in both size and type.

-- Friendship, Best, Foodland and Foodmart - Mid-range prices with limited selection in both size and type (although Foodmart was the most expensive of all stores).

-- Villa/Tops - both upscale and both have the highest prices (except for Foodmart).

Makro - 2 locations, Pattaya Nua (accross from north bus terminal) and Sukhumvit (south of Thepisit), the former carrying only grocery's.

--Makro gives the traditional warehouse feel with many items only available in bulk.

-- If you are long stay, I would not necessarily recommend Makro.

Lotus - 2 major locations, Pattaya Nua (half way between 2nd and 3rd), and Sukhumvit (corner of Thepisit).

-- These are mall/grocery stores with many choices for shopping/eating outside the store proper. Prices I checked were comparable to Big C.

Big C (formerly Carefore)- 3 major locations, Central Center, 2nd RD (near Pattaya Nua), Pattaya Klang (just east of 3rd) and Sukhumvit (corner of Pattay Tai).

-- Also mall/grocery stores with many choices for shopping/eating outside the store proper. Prices comparable to Lotus.

-- Central Center also has a Movie Complex

Foodland - 1 location on Pattaya Klang (half way between 3rd and Sukhumvit).

-- Prices are generally higher here than the above. Selection and bigger sizes are limited.

--They do have a very reasonable restaurant with on-gong specials.

--There has been a rumor for 2 years they will be building a new one on Thepasit, probably because of a Foodland sign there.

Friendship Market - Pattaya Tai (at the south end of Soi Bukow).

-- This grocery is less upscale, but prices are just a bit above Big C/Lotus and just below Villa/Tops. As noted above, many items a fraang may seek, including refrigerated and frozen items.

-- They have school supplies etc on the second floor and a newly opened store next door catering to all your baking needs.

Best Market - Pattaya Nau at 2nd (Dolphin Circle).

-- This grocery is also less upscale and the prices are in the middle of the pack.

Foodmart - 1 location, Therapra at Thephisit (in or at least near Jom Tien).

-- This is also less upscale but unfortunately the prices are upscale. I would suggest Foodmart for convenience only.

-- Jom Tien has longed for a decent grocery for years. Unfortunately Foodmart is the grocery that is clearly the worse of all in selection of sizes and brans and is the most expensive of all.

-- Very tight isles, in some cases, only one basket wide. Many displays are boxes of the product stacked up. Butcher and Bakery smallest of all.

Tops - 2 locations, Central Festival (Beach RD), and the basement of Tukcom (at the south end of Soi Bukow).

-- The Pattaya Klang/2nd RD location is closed.

-- Prices considerably higher than the above, but the appearance is upscale.

-- At 9:30pm Tops used to cut the prices in half on bakery, sushi and some other daily goods. This practice continues however the time is now random and not necessarily at 9:30.

-- Central Festival has a Movie Complex.

Villa Market - 1 Location at The Avenue on 2nd RD at Soi 13.

-- This too is an upscale in a appearance and price. I would say Villa probably has the best selection of items a farang may seek, or at least tied with Friendship.

-- The Avenue has a Movie Complex

The Comparison......

As noted above, I had 11 items on my grocery list the other day. Below is the breakdown of my pricing comparison. Many items were not available in the original comparison size, but I still jotted them down with the size noted. If you wish (as I did) you can do the math and get a near apples to apples comparison. Also, I have noted the sales price if applicable. I am not including my calculations however Makro was 8.3% cheaper than Lotus/Big C. The others were more expensive than Big C/Lotus however Foodmart stood out to be the most expensive.

The following is a jumble, however I was unable to upload the spreadsheet. Perhaps you can copy and past the info into excel???

Makro Lotus BigC Foodland Tops Friendship Villa Best Foodmart

USA Liquid Laundry Soap 400 ml 35 3 pak 46 sale 39 51 sale 38 n/a 79 2/800 55 800 ml 80 800 ml 49 110 900 ml

Downy Fabric Softner 700 ml 59.5 2 pak 66 2 pak 66 2 pak, sale 59.50 67.5 sale 56 69 sale 61 69 69 79 sale 68 41 375 ml

Nestle instand coffee red cup 400 g 290 600 g 219 219 221.5 sale 199 219 n/a 120 200 g 235 152 200 g

Nestle Coffee Mate 900 g 120 1000 g 115 115 119.25 115 124 1000 g 119 126 1000 g 75 450

Nestle Krmatop 1000 g 93 98 98 n/a 54 500 g n/a n/a 55 500 g n/a n/a

Loaf LG Farmhouse WW Bread Large 36.5 37 37 37 37 37 n/a n/a 37

Anchor Salted Butter 227g 105 n/a 116 108.5 111 108 109 108 116

Meijii Milk 2000 ml 91 91.75 91.75 91.75 91 92 91 105 98

Lea & Perrins Worcestershire 150 ml 76 2 pak n/a 97 78 84 80 sale 74 129 290 ml 72 82

Tabasco 60 ml 45.99 3 pak+ 1 free 65 65 56.5 79 59 sale 49 63 75 sale 49 82

Tipco Double Tomato Juice 1L 59.67 3 pak 72 72 n/a n/a 65 75 56 n/a

Maylee Tomato Juice 1L 51.67 3 pak 69 56 70 54 57 50 56 60

[seedy]

Topic here - http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/897421-grocery-store-updates-feb-2016/

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