Food inflation, local trend or worldwide?

Last few weeks, seems prices at cafes gone up a small amount in Kaoshuing. Also talking to Friends and Family in Japan, Hawaii and New Zealand they mentioned higher food prices, so was wondering anyone else notice this or is it just the places I eat?

3 Likes

Yeah price of vegetables is insane here now. Partially drought related ? Wife was telling me three potatoes were 80NTD ?!?

And I have mentioned quite a few times coffee prices in particular have gone up .

I mean the prices in the supermarkets for almost anything seems high to me. I constantly get sticker shock :joy::grin:.
They just don’t offer good deals

8 Likes

Beef and all food it seems, COVID part of the reason as more people eat at home it seems

https://www.foodbusinessnews.net/articles/18624-food-price-inflation-is-on-the-horizon

1 Like

It has been going on in the U.S. since March 2020.

3 Likes

My comment is about recent food inflation in response to the pandemic in Taiwan.

Local streetside/traditional market vendors have gone up, no doubt. Their middlemen suppliers will seize any reason to hike prices and gauge, a lot of the time spurious. It’s more of a case of is the reason for the hike “believable”. I bought a tiny pineapple off a local roadside fruit stand the other day for 100 NTD! And a big bunch of bananas for 58NTD. I actually, for the first time ever in Taiwan, complained about the price to the vendor! Maybe pineapples are nearing the end of the season? I suspect the middlemen, who basically hold a lot of this stuff in refrigeration, have had some supply issues. My local neighbourhood grocery is cleaned out every day by lunch time, I suppose people not eating out means more demand for vegetables and fruits.

Regarding supermarket prices, it is harder to say. As Carrefour have rebranded and restocked Wellcome supermarkets, they are putting their house brand items in. So the competing products to their house brand products are moving around in price a bit. PXMart largely unchanged from a small sample. I can unequivocally say, nothing has gone down at either supermarket.

3 Likes

I saw the price of items like guava and apple rise about 10NTD on average in Carrefour the week previous to the outbreak, so I think it must be the combination of the drought + the recent increased demand.

3 Likes

Yes, prices will go up in retail, food. People need to earn back part of the money lost last year.

1 Like

Taiwan has generally had relatively expensive meat and vegetables prices for many years already.

But yes, expect food to become even more expensive over the years…mostly due to environment and land management, but political issues, logistics, population growth in various regions,bpoor nations becoming better off etc will all play their part.

To be honest, when i look at all the food waste here all i can say is “Food is too cheap”

1 Like

Saw USA inflation report, was up 5% last month. Taiwan food is still much cheaper.

This is US$5 in America , triple Taiwan Kaoshuing price
Taiwan’s Civil War… Over Rice Dumplings - The News Lens International Edition

1 Like

Food inflation has got pretty bad here according to the wife price of both meat and veg has shot up again recently. And they weren’t cheap before.

1 Like

I bought potatoes from RT-Mart through UberEats at 38 NTD per kg yesterday.

1 Like

@DKaoshuing how much is a pineapple in the US?

Some selected prices from recent purchases in Taipei city. I generally buy from outside stands, or traditional markets.

Pineapple 110.
Small yellow watermelon - 140
Kiwi fruit 25 each (bigger ones).
Guava 20 each
Paw paw 40 each
American fuji apples, 30-40 each
Lychee bunch, purchased today - 153
Citrus just crazy prices at this time, 40 for like one orange or mandarin! I suppose Northern hemisphere season has ended.

2 Likes

USA Hawaii Pineapple (local one) about US$5-7 each (based on KG) at the foodland supermarket (per thier online site), so Taiwan is less. In Hawaii maybe less at the farm, maybe. https://shop.foodland.com/shop/fruits_and_vegetables/fresh_fruit/tropical_and_specialty/local_tropical_gold_pineapple/p/12496

Taiwan local fruits are somewhat less some more, prepared foods much higher… I will be back for summer Hawaii visit and guess will have price shock. (My relatives tell me this).

1 Like

To be fair it does make me lot more sense Hawaii is more expensive than the mainland due to logistics.

I have always found usa to be cheaper when buying groceries. Not going out to eat.

Fun fact. Things like guava, papaya, lemon have all bottomed out wholesale. Farmers are getting 1 to 4 dollars a jin…lots of reasons, but it has led to a lot of food left rotting on the farm because they will lose money picking it. Of course, it all fluctuates constantly.

1 Like

I can confirm papaya has gone down a lot in the last maybe 3-6 months. But the quality has gone down too.

In the USA eating out is expensive, very expensive. Even McDonald’s will set you back close to 10 dollars after tax, eating at restaurants will set you back much more considering you have to pay the “optional” tip even for bad service. I ate buffets a lot in the states simply because it really seemed like a better deal.

Meanwhile Hawaiian one US$4.99+GET (Hawaii GST Tax) = apox NT$150, Kaoshuing ones are always a great deal to me.


1 Like

If you are earning the same wage in Taiwan as in Hawaii, sure thing.

2 Likes

I am case maybe higher in Kaoshuing with International office location, but yes Hawaiian wages are higher than Taiwan on average but can be much lower than the mainland (California, ect). So if your comparing Income vs. Expenese I think Taiwan wins, but since two years ago just wanted to show rising food costs, a bit shocking.

2 Likes

Packets of 3 bananas at PX Mart, 45 NTD per packet yesterday.