Shock at the Supermarket

[pervis]

Soy and other export commidities that bring in USD to the government reserves (which USD they use to prop up the peso) are down. Energy imports which drain government USD reserves are up (ergo the YPF hijinks). The current CFK government mistakenly believes a strong AR peso is good, thinking that is perhaps persuaded in the same way GW Bush believed it was necessary to invade Iraq after 911 - to double down on his father's approach without regard to current conditions. With CFK, it's her husband.
To continue to prop up the AR peso, the AR admin needs to acquire USD reserves and to do that it must eliminate imports which drain USD reserves. Ergo, all imports, food and non-food, have been taxed heavily to the point where the EEC, EEUU, Japan, 40 other WTO countries, and several neighboring Mercosur countries have formally complained about unfair import duties and procedures.
Elimination of competitive imports drives up domestic prices which fuels inflation which in turn drives up prices... until at some point the bubble bursts much like the midnight hour in Cinderella where horses turn back into mice.
CFK will turn into KFC, Anses will be unable to pay pensioners, the USD will fetch 8 pesos and life for us expats will return to normal. The locals, however, will suffer while KFC takes young lovers in Ibizia.

 

[YanquiGallego]

Like I said, it had been awhile since I went to the supermarket, the last time being a few months ago, between the sticker shock and the long queues, I have mostly hit up some staple places for cheap menus and gotten what little food knick knacks I need around my place at chinos, but I must say I was flabbergasted. Also, the concept of paying a grocery tab in cuotas astounds me, as, assuming I would have paid for the stuff I got yesterday in cuotas, I would literally be financing for several months some food items which I will consume in 2 weeks (max) or less.

Regarding the imports: It's not that I had the desire to purchase Pepperidge Farm, I dont even have a sweet tooth, however back in the US we all know they are pretty common cookies and was just using it as an example. The only import I thought twice about (and later did not get) was that 40 peso frozen pizza which in Spain costs me 2 euros.

My general point and consensus is that if even we the ex pats (sometimes known as human ATM machines to some) are bewildered by these astronomical prices, I can't imagine how those on 5000 peso salaries with families are managing.

 

[Bajo_cero2]

If you go to the real market, I mean the Central Market, you can find many things at 50% or even less of what you are paying at supermarkets.
Regards

 

[irina]

at the Jumbo at Unicenter the mexican salsas were 25-30 pesos. Not that helps a lot but it sounds like the place you at was ridiculously expensive, more than usual.

 

[jazrgz]

If you go to the real market, I mean the Central Market, you can find many things at 50% or even less of what you are paying at supermarkets.
Regards

hahahhaha good one !! the mercado central is the REAL ?? market ??? it´s a good thing you can find a mercado central in every other corner in every city/town in the country, otherwise i would believe you to either be crazy or just f*** with us

 

[PhilipDT]

Good recomendation Philip as that was a breakfast staple in our house. How much is the average wedge these days - last time I bought it in Jumbo July 2011 it was 17pesos..any increase there?

$180 / kilo the other day. Not sure what the average wedge size is though. If its 150-170g? That'd mean a good increase over last year.

 

[FerLiu]

If you go to the real market, I mean the Central Market, you can find many things at 50% or even less of what you are paying at supermarkets.
Regards

What about people living in other provinces in Argentina? Do they have to go to the "real market" too? How so?

This government is pure bullsh*t. Nac&Pop is just a big fat lie.

 

[pervis]

Selective shopping in search of discounts is tantamount to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
"Milanesas para todos" now rings hollow - I paid 62 pesos for a tasteless milanesa Neopolitana (1/2 order) in Banchero's on Corrientes and Talcahuano the other night. Add 26 for a sopa ingles,16 for a small soda, 10 for a coffee so that with tip the tab exceeded 135 pesos- more than many teachers earn in a day- for a very mundane meal in a mundane joint.
That was on my way to see a Excalibur, a Corrientes show (145 pesos buying from the Tickets window for discounted same day shows) that was to Broadway shows what my milanesa was to fine dining.
This is not the Bs As I have come to know. The economy is going to implode soon.

 

[LuvBA]

Having grown up in Argentina and lived in the States since age 17 (now 39) I must say you cannot compare cheese from the States and here. Our habits and and palate differs greatly. Arg do not produce cheddar, swiss, american massively and only recently, some of the main manufacturers (i.e. La Serenisima) started to. But the end result is not really good as you all said. Most important is not yet in the minds of the consumer so no one really cares to improve it. Instead, the best cheese to look for are brand less "Queso de maquina", sort of sliced American, for sandwiches, Holanda for picadas and PortSalut for cooking or with toasted bread or crackers. These are the most common types and you can find a 300-gram chunk of Holanda for 15 pesos, Port Salud for 20 and 100 grams of sliced queso de maquina for less than 10 pesos. (I shop at Dia, Disco, Carrefour express or the local store in my street). If was to buy a similar product for in the USA, it will cost over 10 USD for a tiny piece. In sum, i believe you need to look for those types of cheese and quit the extravaganzas. I disagree with those who think that getting local brands will help you find cheaper cheese. Not necessarily true.

 

[Stafford]

Hi all,

I've been following this thread with some growing curiosity since someone mentioned the "Canasta de la Semana" deal where you get a basket of goods for $50 pesos. I'd never heard of that and have no way of judging whether its a good deal just by eyeballing it.

Since I'm sort of a geek and get off on this kind of thing, I decided to run a little cost analysis, comparing the total amount of goods offered by the Canasta Semana company against Coto.

Methodology: I used prices listed in "Coto Digital". I know that Morgan mentioned earlier in the thread that Coto Digital can be more expensive than the in store prices. So that's something to take into consideration. Also, I followed the Canasta description (ie Manzana Roja, instead of just picking any random apples), but always selected the cheapest products and always those that were on sale. (ie regular papas blancas instead of papas blancas de selecion).

Conclusion: The canasta deal is a good one. But not as good as I would have guessed. This week, you would save about 37% over Coto. But you have to consider whether you actually need all the things in the basket. Also, having the items delivered lowers the savings (although, I admit I didn't include the Coto delivery fee into the equation). Finally, I am positive that in my case, there is serious opportunity cost as this little exercise took up some of my precious time. Considering the margins are negligible (by Argentine standards, where shopping around can save you 10-50%), one would probably need to do this exercise each week in order to determine the savings. Also considering you are forced into buying everything canasta is selling, you have to consider depreciation. Things you may not need or use, will go bad and you'll end up throwing them away. But, if the Canasta items are actually fresher and taste better than they do at Coto, then its probably worth it.

Below is a screenshot of my excel spreadsheet where I did the comparison.
Since the Forum doesn't allow .xls uploads, PM me for the original if anyone wants to update it or correct any errors I may have made.

And on a completely separate note, I can't be bothered at the moment, but a similar analysis would be worth doing on the official Mercado Central prices. They can be found here and are updated weekly.

* I found per kilo prices on everything, except Acelga, which is priced by the bundle. I assumed the price should be comparable to spinach and used the coto price for that ($12.99). If anyone has a good idea for the price of Acelga x kilo, please let me know and I will update this.