Nuts at nutty prices!

[Celia]

Why are nuts so expensive now? I just checked disco online and they are selling 100 grams of walnuts for $17.50!!!! The cheapest I can get in my barrio is 9.50 for that amount but most places it's $12.

Yes, yes, inflation, but still, the nuts are horrendously priced. Not to mention you can only get walnuts or er, walnuts. Or sometimes almonds so hard you'll break your dental work.

Oh well, anyone seen cheap nuts anywhere?!

 

[Davidglen77]

The eternal question.......why is "xxxxxx" so expensive here??
Answer, taxes, contributions, etc. etc.
Employees in Argentina all have health insurance, paid vacation, union membership, severance pay in the rare case they would get fired, virtually unlimited sick leave, an extra month's salary (aguinaldo) every year AND on top of that, sales tax (IVA) here is a whopping 21% on EVERYTHING. Store employees belong to the "empleados de comercio" union, which is one of the largest and strongest in the country.
Compare this with the USA, where a store employee is paid hourly, no health insurance, if they´re lucky 3 paid sick days per YEAR, and 1 week vacation per after working for an entire year and no severance pay to speak of if they get fired. And there is NO sales tax on unprocessed foods or fruit and vegetables (at least in New York City, where I come from).
Some food for thought.

 

[steveinbsas]

Oh well, anyone seen cheap nuts anywhere?!

Do you have any idea how much self control is required to answer this question politely?

The Asia Oriental grocery store on Mendoza in Barrio Chino had the best prices on raw nuts that I could find in CF. A one kilo bag of sunflower seeds was 20 pesos last June. A one kilo bag of raw peanuts was about 12 pesos. I haven't been there since then. They had other nuts, too (almonds, etc) but I don't remember the prices. Of course they would cost more than peanuts or sunflower seeds.

 

[syngirl]

Like everything else as we get closer to the fiestas -- carne, fiambres, quesos, pescados, pan dulce, frutas secas, nueces, golosinas etc etc etc -- anything that belongs on the christmas table will have prices going through the roof. Frutas secas and nuts get used for pan dulce... so it seems that always around this time of year the prices go crazy.

Sometimes I feel that merchants just take advantage of everyone's bitter acceptance of inflation to jack the prices sky high, and Argentines just don't really complain too much because they just feel, well that's the way it goes. Can you imagine if everything went up by 200% around the holidays back in North America? everyone would be up in arms! There it's the opposite -- absolutely everything goes on sale!

 

[nikad]

You can buy them for cheap on Mercado Libre check out these prices http://listado.mercadolibre.com.ar/nueces

 

[Napoleon]

The place in my old neighborhood where I bought my nuts & cereals charges: AR$7.95/100g for walnut pieces. (STILL)

But when I was there last week, I watched as the guy at the cash register took out a few 100s and then folded them behind a business card and then had someone else in the shop take the money out to a motorcycle cop waiting on his bike in the street.

Maybe having to pay off cops and/or gangs to protect your nuts is part of what is driving the prices up.

 

[cruizes]

Maybe having to pay off cops and/or gangs to protect your nuts is part of what is driving the prices up.

Sounds like we need a nut police in BsAs!

 

[nativexpat]

I want affordable pistachios!

 

[A&A]

...hey,..I got some nuts for ya'! No really. The Disco on Paraguay had in-shell hazel nuts, which for me is a Thanksgiving/Christmas tradition once roasted....

Yes, they were seemingly not cheap, but I will admit to never having bought them back home so who can say for sure. And I mean how many am I gonna eat anyway, dozen, 2 dozen? I just realized I gotta buy a nut cracker....or I'm eating none...Nuts!

 

[starlucia]

Nuts are one of the things that I bring by the pound from the U.S., because I eat them every day and they are SO pricey in BA.

The tip about Asia Oriental is a good one; a kilo of raw peanuts for 12 pesos is actually an excellent deal! (in California a pound of raw peanuts is $4.)

While I don't think other nuts are cheap anywhere in BA, Disco is absolutely the last place I'd ever buy 'em. At Hausbrot, 100 grams of almonds are 11 pesos; at El Rincon Organico they're 11.50. At Disco? 100 grams of almonds are 26 pesos. In my experience, you'll always find better prices on gourmet items at neighborhood shops, or mom-and-pop dieteticas.