Supermarket Price Watch - 6th and 7th June, 2009

This week’s trip to TOPS Bangna and Villa Thong Lo.

We had some stuff to do at Central Bangna so we did some of our weekly shopping at the TOPS supermarket there.

They renovated the place with a view to attracting more of the growing expat community in that neck of the woods, and now stock more items that will appeal to expats. However, they neglect to stock the shelves in an expat friendly fashion - all the facing labels were in Thai so if you don’t read Thai you would be turning every item (brand) to find the one you are looking for, eg the Nautilus Tuna in brine.

Some items only have labels in Thai, but for those which are bilingual, it would be nice to have a portion of the items with the English version facing out. A small point, but it would ease things for the expat crowd. On more than one occasion my wife has helped out expats who appeared to be lost when buying detergents and other household items for example.

Price Changes

TOPS - Straw mushrooms were 145 baht/kg (169 baht last week), Nautilus tuna chunks in brine 33.5 baht (36 baht previously), Double Pagoda Groundnuts 19 baht a pack (19.50 previously), Healthy Boy Mushroom Soy Sauce 43.5 baht (48 baht in mid-April) and Nestle Pure Life Drinking Water 53 baht for 600mlx12 (usual 65 baht).

Villa - S-Pure Chicken Breast is up 10 baht/kg, to 125 baht/kg (115 baht/kg last week), lime is 25 baht for 6 pieces (35 baht in early May).

NOTE: I (usually) update this Price Watch every week. If you come to this page from a Search Engine and it is more than 2 weeks old, search this site for a more recent entry. Alternatively, go through older entries for prices of items that may not be included here. Just click on the Tag “Food and Grocery Prices”.

General Notes
1) Please note that especially when it comes to fresh produce, quality can vary from supermarket to supermarket, as does price. Villa for example usually has very meaty pork spare ribs, and the chicken legs (bone-in) are larger than I see elsewhere.
2) These price indicators are as per items I actually purchased, and are as of the date I made the purchases. They do not represent a commitment on the part of any supermarket mentioned to sell the items at said prices. Also, whilst said items were available at the time I made the purchase, things do run out.
3) I do not get paid or receive any other benefits from any supermarkets mentioned to publish this post or make any comments. If and when any supermarket sees fit to advertise here, I shall be pleased to run the ads. My priority remains to shop for items that we require, and to post information about them as a general service.