cheese, why so pricey??????????

[biscuitz]

why is cheese so expensive in thailand compared to th west or even laos??? i know its imported & has to be refidgerated but so arnt other western foods, but most items are quite reasonable nowadays, considering importation cost but not cheese tho, is there a special hidden import tax on it or do th supermarkets know its only really farang not thai that like th stuff so hike up the gross profit, (just wundering)

[rickfarang]

Well...let me take a stab at it:

Most cheeses are exotic imports (in general Thais don't like cheese, though tastes among the young are changing), and as such, the retailers feel free to charge a premium well in excess of the markups they apply to staple foods.

In other words, its more expensive because we will pay more for it.

[BobHelm]

200 gram block of Cheddar (Cathedral City) from Sainsbury 1.97 GBP.
So at todays exchange rate approximately 100 baht.
Import Duty - bit of a problem here. the nearest to accurate data I could come to was this..

Thailand no longer applies specific duties on most agricultural and food products, and ad valorem rates have been reduced in accordance with Thailand's WTO commitments. Nevertheless, import duties on some agricultural and processed food goods have an average tariff rate of 25.4 percent. Moreover, bound duties on many high value fresh and processed food products will remain high, from 30 percent to 40 percent, even after Thailand implements reductions required under its WTO commitments.

From this American Government 2008 report...
http://www.ustr.gov/sites/default/files ... _14611.pdf

Assume the lowest rate of 25% & the price goes to 125 baht. I think most of the Major Supermarkets sell it for 147 baht a pack. So, if the duty is at a higher rate & considering shipping costs maybe not too out of line.

I do know that the price of Cheese rose when nearly all commodities went up, a couple of years ago. The price in the supermarket went up to about 169 baht a pack. So, it might be a large mark up, but it looks, to me, that the local supermarkets are actually following the global price.

[stattointhailand]

If you buy 1 or 2kg blocks of cheese, it works out much much cheaper ...... well under B100 per 200g

[Aardvark]

We pay 300 baht a Kilo here in Oz for a normal Cheddar, if you get it for that or less your on a winner

[stattointhailand]

It would be much cheaper Aardvark, but getting it from England to Oz must put up the price a bit !