During the past two weeks, I made a very amazing discovery about the price of imported food and drinks in Bacolod City! Some of the stores have really jacked the prices up on a lot of food items that many foreigners enjoy buying. Can we get real here? If Walmart in Florida USA can sell a plastic bottle of mustard for only 68 cents US, and you know they are still making money, how come in Bacolod, some stores have the very same item for as much as $3 USD? Each!
Canned red kidney, pinto, Northern and lima beans are as cheap as 2 cans for $1 in the USA, however, at one of the local delis in Bacolod, the going price is P134 or more than $3 for a can of US beans! SM Supermarket has the exact same canned beans and the very same size can and brand for only P43, which is about $1! I have added the famous deli to my personal list of the El Groupo Gougers!!
I fully realize that stores in the Philippines have to make money but I think some of the stores are taking advantage of the market and have become greedy! Without researching the actual Philippines Republic Act number, I know there is a law on the books to prevent gouging of consumers, however, this is mostly in times of natural calamities. Yes, it is mostly Filipinos who are targeted by greedy vendors and shop owners but they can be in serious trouble for doing so!
It is not only expats who often get hit with the higher prices, as affluent Filipinos or other Filipinos with means are also gouged on a regular basis
The Meaning of Suki!
One of the first things I think an expat should learn in the Philippines is about suki. This patronage system in the Philippines has existed for decades and expats can avail this system, while also developing a close friendship & relationship! For being a loyal or regular customer of one particular vendor or shop owner, they will receive a reduction in product prices and even establish a line of credit in times of need. This is fabulous, isn’t it? I personally have suki with a number of vendors in the Bacolod Area but thankfully, I never had to ask for a line of credit! Another aspect of the suki system is customer satisfaction. Many Filipino vendors will go that extra mile to meet their customer’s needs and often exceed their customer’s expectations concerning their services and quality of products.
I have met some generous expats in the Philippines, who fully realize the poverty level in the Philippines and who understand that if they pay up to P10 more for food and drink items, it is not a big deal to them! I have told more than one that if they cannot afford an extra 25 cents, they should think about going back home! Of course, I understand that if I am charged 25 cents more on every item I buy, it will add up over time, but that is not the real situation on the ground. The real situation is that many items in the Philippines are produced locally and are not at imported prices. These items are already amazingly cheap in our area of the Philippines when compared to shopping in Florida!
One expat recently told me that he was sad because he destroyed his year long suki with a vendor at one of the public markets because his carrots were P10 more per kilo than another vendor at the market and he bought the cheaper carrots to save 25 cents! The expat told me that when he goes to the market now, the vendors are laughing when they see him. Without a doubt, they are also privately calling him kuripot, which in English means Cheap Charlie or a tight wad!
I don’t mind paying a little extra on certain items because I have the means and it doesn’t hurt me one bit to put an extra P10 in the pocket of a Filipino, who has a wife and children because I know first hand the daily struggle to feed the family on the vendors income. However, I take offense when rich store owners, some with chain stores all over the Philippines, want to charge me $3-$5 for an item that sells in the States for $1 or less!
In fact, I am going to boycott all the El Groupo Gougers and strengthen my suki in the Bacolod Area! I am never actually ripped off because I never pay more for anything than it is worth to me. However, some of those $3-$5 imported food items just lost their worth to me.
i agree w/ you, just stick to your “SUKI” and you can enjoy your routine as a good client to them..
Thanks, Audrey, that is my plan. Have a great day!
~ Gary ~
Have a friend that has worked for Walmart for sometime said a few years ago that they were going to open in the Philippines. Well time went by and asked him again what happened to Walmart going to the Philippines? For some reason they changed their mind to open. Maybe in the years to come. How are they doing in China?
HI Rich,
Walmart was going great guns in China when we moved from there in 2009. They had many branches in various cities in China. Personally, I don’t see Walmart coming to the Philippines unless they accept owning only 40% of the business and having a Filipino partner or partners with 60% of the business. The owners of SM, Robinsons, Gaisano, Rustan’s, Lopues, etc, are against 100% foreign owned competition. I see Henry Sy maybe willing to partner up with Walmart since SM stores are #1 in the Philippines! Imagine owning all of SM and 60% of Walmart in the Philippines!
Have a great day!
~ Gary ~
As many years as I have been going to the Philippines I have long grown accustomed to paying a “white skin tax” on almost all my purchases. My wife buys a can of beans P35. I buy it, P75. Sometimes I don’t mind, I’m a big boy and realize with my backpack I take up two seats on the jeepney. But, in general, I leave most general shopping to the girls and keep the savings for us to dine out.
When you buy canned goods they are already marked and have only 1 price. I am a white man in this country and the only things I have ever paid more for (or they try anyways) is taxi fares. In general though, the cost of such things as canned beans, mustard and American branded soups is higher here because most Filipinos don’t eat those things and the marketer is buying in limited quantity. I would guess that Wal-Mart sells more kidney beans in a day than are eaten in a year in this country. I know of only one person besides myself who has ever even looked for them here. The same is true for such foods as sauerkraut. I have introduced that to several Filipinos who have decided they like it, but the only place I have ever found it is in the imported foods sections of a couple (not all) Robinson’s supermarkets.
Hi Ponani,
My wife does the vast majority of our shopping at the public markets and while I know the local market prices, I prefer to let her shop there. I do the vast majority of the shopping in the supermarkets because I am mostly the one in our family who buys things to eat or to use as condiments, in those type stores. The exception is when my wife buys shampoo, soap and washing powder & detergent, which are not available in the public markets. The sari sari stores sell the small sachets of those items and it is not cost effective buying such small quantities; Many Filipinos buy the small quantities due to their lack of cash at one time.
~ Gary ~
To prevent being conned for being foreign stick to chain stores or stores with price tag readily visible rather than ones that price their goods base on the way the customer looks or how they feel that day. You’d be surprise the big stores’ prices are competitive. The end of the “suki” is near.
I have maintained for years that the value of any item is not determined by the seller or even the manufacturer. Sure, we all know what MSRP means but if I want an item that has a MSRP of $100.00 but the retailer will take $75.00 and I offer him $50.00 and he accepts it I know the value of that item is actually only $50.00 or less (suggesting the retailer is still making a profit.)
I have heard and this is purely rumor or gossip or maybe even wishful thinking that the S & R stores here are a well hidden joint venture between Wal (Sam’s Club) Mart and Robinsons.
S & R is owned by Puregold, which is a competitor of Robinson’s and is modeled after Sam’s Club and COSTCO, but not part of those companies.
S&R was owned by Sol & Robert Price and their business connection was with Costco in the States. S&R also sold the Kirkland brands of food products. The latest is that Pure Gold bought out S&R.
Gary
Sir,
Some supermarkets are rising the prices of imported goods because of the taxes levied upon imports. We have to consider that these supermarkets are buying from US Supermarkets too at exact prices. Definitely, they could not sell the products at the same prices as that in the US.
The Foreign Investment Act prohibits foreigners from establishing a retail enterprise here in the Philippines. Retail industry is intended for Filipino citizens only. Foreigners could still own a retail establishment by forming a cooperation in which 40 % of the shares belong to the foreign partner and 60% to Filipino partners, or qualify based on the Retail Trade Liberalization Act of the Philippines.
I can understand about increases in the import taxes. However, I am referring to just one glaring difference among many. Two exact products, both being the same size and the same brand. How can one retail outlet sell the item for P43 and the other one sells if for P134? Isn’t the import tax the same for all?
~ Gary ~