Why is food so much cheaper in China town?

[Jean in Newcastle]

I can get naval oranges 40 cents cheaper a pound, fish is at least a couple dollars a pound cheaper and there is much more variety, the list goes on. . . The only problem is that China town is harder to get to for me. Do you know why they can afford to sell things for so much cheaper?

[....]

The Korean grocery store is always a ton cheaper than the regular grocery store. :thumbup1: I pass up rice all the time in the grocery store because it seems like a rip-off. I'm like, "I can get a gargantuan bag of rice at the Korean store for just a little more than the little bag o' rice at kroger!!" One little bag of rice...my husband could eat that at dinner! :tongue_smilie:

[Ginevra]

Low wages in the population? Don't know.

[Dobela]

Low wages in the population? Don't know.

Our Asian store has ridiculously low prices on rice and some other things as well. I noticed all the rice was from China there but most of the rice in the grocery store was from USA. My only guess was that Chinese farm laborers must make way less than American ones. Other than that I have also noticed that there are fewer 'middle men' brokers for the Asian products than for American. The imported Asian goods also don't have to meet as many safe food regulations as the American foods (I know fish in particular this is true for).

[stripe]

High turn over on commonly sold items, lower profit margin on some items because they know their target population will shop around. Regular grocery stores are just not going to sell as much of certain items. Spices are a big rip off at regular stores. But they come in nice glass jars!

 

Some ethnic stores near me seem to be buying from produce auctions or something, there's like organic cauliflower that expires tomorrow and whatnot.

 

I took my husband to a Japanese grocery store a while back and he almost fainted. Cheap it was not! But all the produce was perfect and neatly arranged on styrofoam trays, ha ha.

Edited June 1, 2011 by stripe

[Laura Corin]

Lower rents? Bulk items? High demand for certain items so can sell in volume? Perhaps family concerns with different wage structures?

 

Laura

[....]

My husband (he was born in Korea) says that one of the big reasons why the Korean grocery stores are cheaper is that Korean people are extremely price-competitive. Also, there really isn't a huge variety of different kinds of foods and EVERYBODY buys the big ol' bags of rice. When we were dating, I made some comment about how the Korean food probably didn't have to meet the safety standards that US food meets and was met with an icy, date-jeopardizing glare. :D

 

Oops. :tongue_smilie:

[....]

The imported Asian goods also don't have to meet as many safe food regulations as the American foods (I know fish in particular this is true for).

 

Have you seen the fish in some of the Korean grocery stores?! :eek: They're gigantic and it's the whole fish. Our store has all kinds of bizarre aquatic animals. My kids are speechless when we walk thru that section. They're running into things.

 

We have never bought the fish there, tho. We usually go for the rice, fruit, 20 different kinds of Kimchee (of course) :tongue_smilie: and those little grape drinks. :D

[Jean in Newcastle]

I took my husband to a Japanese grocery store a while back and he almost fainted. Cheap it was not! But all the produce was perfect and neatly arranged on styrofoam trays, ha ha.

 

Yes, the specifically Japanese stores are expensive but I can get the same rice crackers etc. at the local Vietnamese or Korean store.

[Shifra]

Also, a lot of these stores have family members running the store the whole time the store is open. So they are not paying wages for workers.

[TXMomof4]

I think it just has to do with buying a greater quantity. At the grocery store by my house in Dallas I paid $3/lb for poblano peppers. When I went to Fiesta (a Hispanic store), they were .50/lb. Where we had huge piles of potatoes, they had huge piles of peppers. Pineapples were half the price there, tomatoes, avocados - things used more frequently in Mexican dishes were WAY cheaper. I went to the Tom Thumb by my house - they're owned by the same company.

[Mejane]

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Edited June 7, 2011 by Mejane

[Jean in Newcastle]

I think I need to be more purposeful in planning my shopping to include these stores. I think it will help our bottom line quite a bit. Also the things offered - fruit and veggies in a much wider variety than the local American grocery and seafood esp. is so healthy for us!

[Brilliant]

Sometimes the quality is not as good. I have shopped at Asian and Mexican markets for really good deals on produce. But sometimes I have to pass on the "deals" because, for example, the cilantro has already started to turn black around the edges. Yeah, it's only 10 cents a bunch, but I'd rather pay 50 cents for something fresh.

[LibraryLover]

This really depends. Some city supermarkets are more costly. I've seen both, and it depends on the items. It's not across-the-board cheaper here, although rice is much cheaper. I've also seem some less than wonderful looking produce. Although you cannot beat the fish/poultry/pork/beef/bones/innards/extremeties selection.

[stripe]

I rarely buy produce at regular markets as it's so much higher, but you do have to look at freshness.

[missmoe]

Also, a lot of these stores have family members running the store the whole time the store is open. So they are not paying wages for workers.

 

 

Yes, this!

[stripe]

Also, a lot of these stores have family members running the store the whole time the store is open. So they are not paying wages for workers.

This is true. There is an Indian shop near me where the man works round the clock. They are not a cheap store, but reasonably priced. Some ingredients, regular grocery stores don't stock (like atta flour, Roo-Afsa, frozen Indian vegetables), or are vastly more expensive there (most spices). However, I also shop at big ethnic stores with many employees (>10, different ethnic groups, the size of a small "regular" grocery store, not a tiny hole in the wall). If some are family members, I don't know, but I'm (almost) positive they're not all family members so I don't think in that case that no one gets paid.

 

In my local Chinese store, which is reasonably priced but not bargain basement, the produce is always fresh. Some other ethnic markets, that are cheap, not so much. I am fairly sure they're buying from auctions, as I mentioned earlier. Some are downright rotting! Others show a very near expiration date. I've also bought some juices that weren't the variety named on the package!