Supermarket inflation

[marie]

Hi Guys!I am Mariel and of course I am Argentinian. I just happened to see that my fiancee, mike1, is posting here and I was just reading what Sergio says and well, it is a question of finding your way here. To tell you the truth , I have been in the States many times, over one month last year and FGS! You can NEVER compare prices here with the ones of the States!.Even buying the best brands here you never spend as much money as you spend in the States. I could barely survive in the States without Mike's help.
What Mike says is true. Let me tell you that for us, Argentinians: Jumbo, Norte and Disco are the most expensive and overpriced supermarkets, and we ALL try to avoid them (unless you are from high society you can join them) . Let me also tell you that I have studied all of my life in Palermo and Barrio Norte ; it was not difficult for me to find un "almacen",una "verduleria" (for vegetables and fruit) or a "Chinese market" with reasonable prices, it is only a question of walking around your "barrio" and "buscar precios".Any question you want to ask about anything in Buenos Aires , I will be happy to answer it.

 

[sergio]

It's reassuring to know that prices in Argentina are so reasonable and that I would be paying a lot more if I were in the US. I guess I've just been halucinating when I go to the supermarket in BA. Thanks, folks, for setting the record straight.

 

[G]

Yeah, sergio you are indeed hallucinating and I think just like me these high prices in BsAs being just in our imagination is made worse by us drinking that water from our bongs. Thanks for the clarification. Wow man!

 

[sergio]

Let's not forget that last year a top govt. official stated that "there is no inflation".

 

[rmartinbuenosaires]

No Sergio, you are not crazy. You are absolutely correct about the prices. I have lived here for five years and food prices have skyrocketed for crappy quality, half-filled boxes and often stale. As far as local vegetable markets go....I live in Recoleta. The other day one of the few vegetable markets near me, was asking 20 pesos per kilo for puerros! They were asking 3 pesos a kilo at the vegetable market at Paraguay y J. B. Justo! Please. I just came back from the States too and DC at that. I am telling you...the prices here for lack of selection and poor quality is much higher than there. And even for arguments sake they weren't....does anyone think that two rolls of "paper towels" here are the same quality as two rolls in the States? PLEASE. It takes one roll here to clean up one little mess. The trash bags are so thin that you need to use two of them at a time and more often that not, the lettuce is already brown and mushy at the supermarkets.

 

[HDM]

I'm not yet in BAires so can't compare, but if you're interested in an accurate listing of various grocery prices in the US, here is the web site I use for ordering groceries delivered to my flat -- don't have a car, so when buying bulk or more than I can carry in a bag from a local market, I use this service. The food comes from Giant, which is considered to be a discount supermarket in the DC area, somewhat less than Safeway. If you really want to spend some money on food, go to Whole Foods, where it is easy to fill a grocery bag with some meat, chesse, bread, a bottle of wine, maybe some mussels or clams, and spend a couple of hundred dollars. But the quality is without compare, anywhere.

I buy wine mostly from a place called Trader Joe's, because it seems to have a decent selection of drinkable wines around $10 a bottle. Much less than that and you are probably getting rot gut, unless you get very lucky. Yesterday I bought a bottle of Bodega Norton Malbec, 2007, for $14.50. In typical liquor stores it is closer to $18.

Anyway. Here's the link:http://www.peapod.com/site_frameset.jhtml?NUM1=1208519462462

If you go to the Peapod home page, you can type in any US postal code and check prices for other areas. This happens to be for Washington, DC.

I'll be curious to read how these prices compare with yours.

 

[Mike1]

Hey HDM, maybe you can verify this for me. I was at the local butcher shop today and bought Angus beef at $17.60 ARS per kilo (1 kilogram=2.2 pounds, 1 USD=3.15 ARS). Which brings the price to an "all-time high" of a "whopping" $2.54 per pound. What's the current price for Angus beef back home right now? Oh and by the way, there are supermarkets here that delivers to your home too, but you have to pay for everything in person and it has to be over $50 ARS and delivery is free. You just have to check and see which ones offers that I know that Carrefour has a "se lo llevamos a su domicilio" line. As far as ciggies, I'm smoking the local brand called Indians, which is a stronger version of American Spirit for a "high" price of $1.20 ARS.

 

[marie]

Well, guys I was born in Argentina and it is actually 39 years I am living here. there has always been inflation if you take a look at our economics records but want to know the most expensive places in BA? Here they are: Recoleta, Palermo, Belgrano and a few more... you know why? wealthy people live there. look at this , I just came from the butcher's and bought 1/2 kilo of already prepared "milanesas" for 15 pesos. While in the States , one less than a pound of steak cost me 6 dollars! ( about 19 ARS) want to see the receipts?? , it is not that I say prices there are cheaper , I mean in those "barrios" on the contrary , you are in the most expensive area in town. We, Argentinians , know that those places are for wealthy people and prepared for tourism that is why they keep prices high and because they know tourists come with money.

 

[HDM]

All I can offer is that last weekend my wife got two hunks of filet mignon from Whole Foods up the road in Glover Park (we live in Georgetown), just over a pound and a quarter in total weight, and paid $28 US for them. Call it about $24 a pound. But that was Whole Foods. Cut the price in half for Safeway. And yes, they were worth it.

Don't smoke and really don't know how much cigarettes costs, not enough, certainly. When we lived in Berlin, a smoker we knew paid about 3 Euros a pack for Marlboros, so that would be, at this rate of exchange, nearly $5 a pack.

Since we are told our flat will be in Palermo, I guess we will have to pay for it.

 

[G]

HDM, when you get to Buenos Aires drop me a line or two. We can bargain hunt together without compromising on quality. I believe it is doable. If you really want good stuff you must be willing to pay for it, albeit in pesos, dollars or euros. Am I not right?