Food Shopping in Surin

Wanderer

Surin Dinosaur
I know I have a bee in my bonnet about the standards in Thai supermarkets, but I did the rounds this morning and thought it was worth passing on a couple of messages.

1) Tesco Lotus - lots of staff employed relaying the counters somewhat but more importantly putting new yellow price labels on the shelves.
Importantly all these prices were higher, and in some cases significantly higher than the previous ones. I watched them for a while.
What is the sense in that?
I'm guessing that this might be a short-term ploy so that when a "now we are CP" day arrives there will be all sorts of supposedly lower price introductory offers.
These things happen.

I went to buy some fresh shrimps because theirs and Makro are the best (plus a stall on the market). But they are now sold sitting in a bath of water instead of on ice. This was the case a couple of days ago as well and I complained to them and made it clear I wasn't buying any and why. Pick a shrimp up and see how much water falls out. That is expensive water.

2) BigC - I bought some shrimps there instead, also in water but I drained them as best I could. Looking at them now, they are rubbish, second grade quality, hence the low price and a lot of water has still come out. This should not happen. I would swear these are cheap market shrimp, Bangkok style, rather than bought from contracted farms.

The range of products in BigC isn't like it used to be in Casino days. More and more different suppliers for the same products, but less of a variety. Prices are lower than the others, but when it comes to their buying of fresh/chilled goods, there is no such thing as a free lunch.

3) Tops - It was just before 10.00am and zero checks again at the entrance.

The 2 frozen turkeys have gone (I wonder??) - but there were now lots of Pukka Pies in the freezer, from UK - however the interest drained when I saw they were all chicken or vegetarian, with no steak pies and such and just their big pork sausage rolls. I bought one of those and it has reminded me why I don't ever buy such things.

There were also the ready to cook whole chickens that Merlin was asking about. Left hand edge of the chill cabinet - big ones and also baby ones, very small. It must be a bit disconcerting to some, to watch those very young ones go down the processing line. I well remember at Birds Eye, donkeys years ago, seeing that all the birds, hanging upside down on shackles, were being stunned dead and bled before thy reached the rollers that took their heads off. And I asked why some seemed to be lifting their heads up just before those rollers.

I also bought a bottle of drinking yoghurt without checking and when putting it in the fridge I realised that again it is already beyond the best before date.

We are not well served in Surin and it is getting worse.
I must start going to Makro again, early morning or evening - otherwise I can't cope with the check-out queueing and delays.
The opportunity for Nookie et al can only be getting greater.

I think it is worth the while we alert each other to good and bad happenings re-food. We do that, but often it is under different headings as a spin-off from something else, and gets missed.
 
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Was told yesterday that BigC had put up their whole salamis by another 160. Now just under 1000 baht for a whole salami.

Best place to shop for price, service, and variety is actually the Makro in Buriram. Covid's f**ked that shopping trip up.
 
Living closer to Buriram than Surin, I do use the Buriram Makro more than Surin, and find it far superior. Tops are good for bread -a far better range than in Suirin. Otherwise I use Tesco in PKC (no alcohol as across the road from a school)
 
I don't go to big C Surin much any more. But the last time I went, just recently, it was noticeable that the prices there, have snuck up quite a bit. The car park there was always full in the past and its not now. I don't think it is just Covid keeping customers away. Bye the way I don't think it is the lack of Cambodians either. They only ever went to Makro.
 
I do believe I have once upon a time. I was desperate for a sausage. Because of the price they taste very good. However, Nookie is delivering tomorrow and he supplies very good sausages for half that price.
 
I do believe I have once upon a time. I was desperate for a sausage. Because of the price they taste very good. However, Nookie is delivering tomorrow and he supplies very good sausages for half that price.

But as you are aware, I prefer the pork and tomato sausages from Nookie whereas you prefer a different sausage. We all have different tastes which appear to be more diverse with sausages. The Mallon's sausages from Tops were also expensive but I was prepared to spend the extra (at that time) because they were very much to my liking.

Unless I have negative reports I shall try 500 gms of this product (and which I will probably share with young Mr. Grace).
 
A typical British understatement. The aged, NZ Tenderloin Beef Steak, sold by Nookie, is only 375 baht/kilo. The joint I cooked for my birthday bash just melted in your mouth. I think I would prefer the steak to an over-priced sausage at 578 baht/kilo. :) :) :)


Bingo!!!
 
A typical British understatement. The aged, NZ Tenderloin Beef Steak, sold by Nookie, is only 375 baht/kilo. The joint I cooked for my birthday bash just melted in your mouth. I think I would prefer the steak to an over-priced sausage at 578 baht/kilo. :) :) :)

I have tasted neither the Wicks Manor sausages nor Nookie's NZ tenderloin so I cannot comment.
 
I have tasted neither the Wicks Manor sausages nor Nookie's NZ tenderloin so I cannot comment.
I bought the Wicks Manor Old English Pork Sausages at Christmas, to go with the butterball turkey.
The turkey was surprisingly good.
The sausages were absolute crap - dry, tasteless and never ever worth half that price, even at Christmas.

They were actually a bit better cold, which says it all.
Never again.
 
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Tesco Lotus prices.

2 weeks ago today I watched products in Tesco Lotus being re-priced upwards and I suggested CP`must be putting all the Tesco prices up so that they can bring them down again soon and claim special offers under CP ownership.
And they have !! Already!! Hundreds of them.

There is still no re-naming of the store itself, or mention of CP around the place, but all those yellow price stickers are now replaced by new yellow stickers quoting new lower prices.
And those lower prices are still higher than they were before 2 weeks ago, particularly for non-CP products, cooked meats being a prime example.

And, using cooked meats again, there are now many more CP brand packs and fewer of the competition, which is no surprise.
But it means I'll start going back to BigC more again.

I used to work with CP, their seafood division, in getting approval of their raw materials for use in UK retailers products.
I respected them greatly compared to their competitors.
I now realise why their retail side received a lot of criticism from other Thai businesses, and some in government, when their takeover of Tesco Lotus was being considered.
This price manipulation is so blatant, and done over just a few days, that it beggars belief, and I'm amazed if Thailand really does not have any consumer protection laws whatsoever.

To me it still doesn't make much sense.
Maybe the CP "re-branding" is taking longer than they expected.
In which case the temporarily high prices will inevitably be driving customers away from them and maybe they have hit the "oh shit" barrier already.
Or maybe the "authorities" have realised what was going on and words have been spoken, (or maybe I'm dreaming about that).
We shall see.

On a positive note there was no doubt that somebody has put a kick up the backside of the food section.
A return to better standards of presentation, including shrimps and produce, and shelf stocking. Things had been deteriorating.

But prices are still higher than they were before.
So - Up Yours, Mr CP.
 
Tesco Lotus prices.

2 weeks ago today I watched products in Tesco Lotus being re-priced upwards and I suggested CP`must be putting all the Tesco prices up so that they can bring them down again soon and claim special offers under CP ownership.
And they have !! Already!! Hundreds of them.

There is still no re-naming of the store itself, or mention of CP around the place, but all those yellow price stickers are now replaced by new yellow stickers quoting new lower prices.
And those lower prices are still higher than they were before 2 weeks ago, particularly for non-CP products, cooked meats being a prime example.

And, using cooked meats again, there are now many more CP brand packs and fewer of the competition, which is no surprise.
But it means I'll start going back to BigC more again.

I used to work with CP, their seafood division, in getting approval of their raw materials for use in UK retailers products.
I respected them greatly compared to their competitors.
I now realise why their retail side received a lot of criticism from other Thai businesses, and some in government, when their takeover of Tesco Lotus was being considered.
This price manipulation is so blatant, and done over just a few days, that it beggars belief, and I'm amazed if Thailand really does not have any consumer protection laws whatsoever.

To me it still doesn't make much sense.
Maybe the CP "re-branding" is taking longer than they expected.
In which case the temporarily high prices will inevitably be driving customers away from them and maybe they have hit the "oh shit" barrier already.
Or maybe the "authorities" have realised what was going on and words have been spoken, (or maybe I'm dreaming about that).
We shall see.

On a positive note there was no doubt that somebody has put a kick up the backside of the food section.
A return to better standards of presentation, including shrimps and produce, and shelf stocking. Things had been deteriorating.

But prices are still higher than they were before.
So - Up Yours, Mr CP.
I went into the PKC Tesco at 6.25pm last Thursday. They close at 9pm. At that time they had cleared all the prawns and fish from the display and bagged them up, and were doing the same with the various meats, Still 2 and half hours to go till closing time!
 
I know I have a bee in my bonnet about the standards in Thai supermarkets, but I did the rounds this morning and thought it was worth passing on a couple of messages.

1) Tesco Lotus - lots of staff employed relaying the counters somewhat but more importantly putting new yellow price labels on the shelves.
Importantly all these prices were higher, and in some cases significantly higher than the previous ones. I watched them for a while.
What is the sense in that?
I'm guessing that this might be a short-term ploy so that when a "now we are CP" day arrives there will be all sorts of supposedly lower price introductory offers.
These things happen.

I went to buy some fresh shrimps because theirs and Makro are the best (plus a stall on the market). But they are now sold sitting in a bath of water instead of on ice. This was the case a couple of days ago as well and I complained to them and made it clear I wasn't buying any and why. Pick a shrimp up and see how much water falls out. That is expensive water.

2) BigC - I bought some shrimps there instead, also in water but I drained them as best I could. Looking at them now, they are rubbish, second grade quality, hence the low price and a lot of water has still come out. This should not happen. I would swear these are cheap market shrimp, Bangkok style, rather than bought from contracted farms.

The range of products in BigC isn't like it used to be in Casino days. More and more different suppliers for the same products, but less of a variety. Prices are lower than the others, but when it comes to their buying of fresh/chilled goods, there is no such thing as a free lunch.

3) Tops - It was just before 10.00am and zero checks again at the entrance.

The 2 frozen turkeys have gone (I wonder??) - but there were now lots of Pukka Pies in the freezer, from UK - however the interest drained when I saw they were all chicken or vegetarian, with no steak pies and such and just their big pork sausage rolls. I bought one of those and it has reminded me why I don't ever buy such things.

There were also the ready to cook whole chickens that Merlin was asking about. Left hand edge of the chill cabinet - big ones and also baby ones, very small. It must be a bit disconcerting to some, to watch those very young ones go down the processing line. I well remember at Birds Eye, donkeys years ago, seeing that all the birds, hanging upside down on shackles, were being stunned dead and bled before thy reached the rollers that took their heads off. And I asked why some seemed to be lifting their heads up just before those rollers.

I also bought a bottle of drinking yoghurt without checking and when putting it in the fridge I realised that again it is already beyond the best before date.

We are not well served in Surin and it is getting worse.
I must start going to Makro again, early morning or evening - otherwise I can't cope with the check-out queueing and delays.
The opportunity for Nookie et al can only be getting greater.

I think it is worth the while we alert each other to good and bad happenings re-food. We do that, but often it is under different headings as a spin-off from something else, and gets missed.
Nick, The yellow stickers are normally products that are past there use by date. [ Old and cheaper. ]
 
I bought the Wicks Manor Old English Pork Sausages at Christmas, to go with the butterball turkey.
The turkey was surprisingly good.
The sausages were absolute crap - dry, tasteless and never ever worth half that price, even at Christmas.

They were actually a bit better cold, which says it all.
Never again.

Prior to me reading your post (or maybe prior to you posting), my wife had already been in Tops and purchased 500 gms of Wicks Manor sausage on behalf of Young Mister Grace and myself. Fortunately, she bought the pork and apple and not the Olde English.

Young Mister Grace cooked his yesterday and reported this morning that he "liked them". I therefore decided to try a couple of mine (he had 4, I had 3). I cooked them in the air fryer brushed with a little olive oil (I have yet to obtain a spray) and served them with air fried frozen chips. I also found them good but not ฿ 578.00/kg good.

I shall no doubt revert to Nookie's pork and tomato sausages for the immediate future.

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Prior to me reading your post (or maybe prior to you posting), my wife had already been in Tops and purchased 500 gms of Wicks Manor sausage on behalf of Young Mister Grace and myself. Fortunately, she bought the pork and apple and not the Olde English.

Young Mister Grace cooked his yesterday and reported this morning that he "liked them". I therefore decided to try a couple of mine (he had 4, I had 3). I cooked them in the air fryer brushed with a little olive oil (I have yet to obtain a spray) and served them with air fried frozen chips. I also found them good but not ฿ 578.00/kg good.

I shall no doubt revert to Nookie's pork and tomato sausages for the immediate future.

7 seems a strange number!
 
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