Wednesday, October 06, 2004

Of Safeways, MetroTown, London Drugs, and ChinaTown

Why are there such great differences in prices of foodstuff (and everything else) between different shops in Vancouver? What are the components for deciding actual pricing?

From what I see:

Safeways are generally providing quality food at PREMIUM prices. Relatively value-for-money stuff include promotional items like meats (ValuPacks). Milk and eggs are also generally cheap there. (5/10, as benchmark)

MetroTown: The Real Canadian Super Store, good for buying stuff in bulk. Cheaper than most other supermarkets for mostly everything, and promotional items are very good buys. (8/10)

London Drugs: Look out for their weekly best buys, dudes and duddettes! Their normal stuff is not cheap, but best buys are really best buys! Can buy! Best buys often include canned foods, confections, and other household appliances. They also have 1.5l softdrinks at 99cents throughout the year! (5/10[normal buys] to 9/10[best buys])

ChinaTown: Hands down best place to buy fresh grocery like meats and vegetable. Freshness guaranteed and prices are uber low compared to others (40% - 60% lower). Want to buy anything asianic, also must come here. Also good for morning dim sums. And Hon's Wonton House. Yumz. (11/10)


What about the basic value of products, generally speaking? I think labour costs account for the high costs in products. Why can I get a can of spaghetti @ 1 dollar whilst eating outside cost around 4-7 dollars? Why is cooking so much cheaper than eating outside? I can only think of labour costs. Singapore has a relative cheaper labour force, judging from the $2.5 - $3.5 char kway teow sold everywhere *drool*...

Some cheap stuff here, relative to Singapore prices:
Chunkies!! Definitely cheap! Costs around 1.5 - 2 per can and is a very good substitute for a meal in school.
Drumsticks compared with chicken breasts here has a reversed relationship compared to that in Singapore! Must eat drumsticks like siao here!!!
I'll think of more and tell you later....
Or better still, go clck some stuff up there, then come back here and leave a comment to tell me what you think is cheap in Canada?

No comments: