November 2007

Hi, on this here first overview, I would like to draw attention to the following table which presents an overview of prices in USD at some of the major supermarkets in Phnom Penh as of 15 November 2007.

Please note that this is the first sample; building on this and (hopefully) on a monthly basis the list will become longer in number of items and wider, including 1 or 2 supermarkets currently not included. Admittedly this list is very 'dairy' heavy. This will gradually change in the coming months. However I do not expect that fresh produce (vegetables, fruit, meat) will ever be included, these are very difficult to compare.

Besides comparing on price, one should also note that there are other factors, such as convenience, service, vicinity, availablity, etc., etc. which influence the choice of supermarket.

Product	Product Specification	Price @ Lucky's	Price @ Pencil	Price @ Bayon	Price @ Thai Huot	Price @ Big A
Tea bags	Lipton, packet, 25 bags	1,15	1,15	1,10		1,15
Tea bags	Lipton, packet, 100 bags		3,30	3,20	3,70	3,95
Tea bags	Twinnings, 25 bags	4,00	3,20	3,10	2,95
Instant coffee	Nescafe Red Cup, jar, 200 gr	3,70	3,55	3,40	3,50	3,55
Soda	Schweppes, imported, Bitter lemon, 0,33 ltr	0,60	0,60	0,60	0,55	0,60
Soda	Coca Cola, Cambodia produced, can	0,40	0,33	0,35	0,30	0,35
Fruit juice	Mallee, orange / apple, 1 ltr.	1,60	1,80	1,55	1,70	1,55
Preservatives	S&W, Various, can, 432 gr.		1,50	1,10	1,40
Flour	Red Lotus special	1,75	1,65			1,60
Flour	Prima top		2,20	2,00	1,70
Plain flour	Self raising, Sunshine, carton, 1 kg	2,60	2,25	2,90		2,95
Eggs	10 pieces	0,95	1,00	1,20	1,20	1,00
Olive oil	Latino Bello, bottle, 1 ltr.	10,40	10,35		8,40	10,00
Sunflower Oil	Sunbeam, flacon, 1 ltr	1,90	2,10	2,00		1,95
Dishwashing liquid	Sunlight, flacon, 900 gr		0,60		0,80	0,80
Pasta	Campagna, 500 gr spaghetti	1,05			0,95
Batteries	Duracell, AAA, 4 pieces	1,80		1,70	1,70
Sugar	Mitr Pohl, 1 kg	0,50	0,55	0,60		0,55
Salt	Prung Thip, 0,5 kg	0,35	0,45		0,30
Tomato ketchup	KK 320 gr	0,50	0,55	0,60		0,55
Oatmeal	Quakers quickcook, 0,4 kg	2,45	2,80	2,50	2,40	2,80
Raisins	Ligo, carton, 312 gr.	1,25	1,30	1,20	1,30	1,25
Pretzels	Pringles	1,45	1,40	1,40	1,40	1,45
Tang	Orange flavour, pack, 750 gr	2,90	2,65	2,60	2,70
Toilet paper	Cellox, soft	0,90	0,90		0,85	0,90
Peanut Butter	Locally produced, jar, 440 gr	2,20				2,55
Peanut Butter	Ligo, 340 gr	1,80	1,90	2,00		1,95
UHT milk	Cowhead 1 ltr	1,30	1,15
Fresh milk	Meiji, plastic bottle, 2 liter	3,35	3,20	3,20
Butter	Anchor, unsalted, pack, 227 gr.	1,80			1,90	1,80
Butter	Orchid, fresh, packet, 227 gr.	1,35		1,30		1,30
Cheese	Lemnos, feta	5,10	4,70	4,50
Cheese	Bega mild 250gr		3,60	3,20
Cheese	Emborg, Danish Brie		3,50			3,40
Cheese	Arla, Mozzarella, 200 gr		2,80	2,90	2,90
Cheese	Coon, tasty 250 gr	3,80	4,50
Cheese	La vache qui rit, triangles, spreadable cheese	1,65	1,90		1,75
Cheese	Cowhead, 12 slices	1,10	1,10

That noted, the overview is intended to draw conclusions towards price. As the list is quite limited, one should note that the following conclusions are limited as well.

But with comparing each supermarket, Bayon supermarket always comes out top. The difference between Bayon and Lucky's is just over 4%, with Pencil more significant, >7%. There is hardly any noticible difference in price between Bayon and Thai Huot (also located practically next to each other, so they probably price accordingly). Big A is consistently the most expensive, though only just.

If you were to buy only the cheapest product available, this shopping around would still result in a more than 4,5% (based on 25 products) savings with Bayon, 4,7% (22 products) for Thai Huot, 9,7% for Lucky's (31 products), 9,8% (33 products) for Pencils and 11,1% for Big A (23 products).

There are also large differences to be obtained: for instance 2 $US on 1 liter olive oil bought at Thai Huot as opposed to Lucky's. Buying Twinnings teabags at the same supermarkets results in a savings of more than a dollar, if bought at Thai Huot.

If you might have any suggestions,just mail me at crossingcambodia@hotmail.com