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interestedinhanguk
Joined: 23 Aug 2010
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 Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 4:05 am Post subject: Decent blue cheese at Homeplus |
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I had some decent blue cheese from Homeplus yesterday.
It was marked down to about 5,000 won for 125g (I think) as its expiry date was soon approaching. It was Bleu D'auveregne. Now, it was in a sealed package. It was a whole wedge, however. It was beginning to weep a bit. Still, it was pretty good, especially for Korea. I would say it was on par with a typical blue cheese from an American supermarket cheese counter. Not the world's best, but it sure as heck filled the craving. |
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Xuanzang
Joined: 10 Apr 2007
Location: Sadang
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| Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 5:08 am Post subject: |
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| The markdowns only come once in a while. I think Costco sells gorgonzola though. Better than the High Street market or normal supermarket price. |
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plato's republic
Joined: 07 Dec 2004
Location: Ancient Greece
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| Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 6:44 am Post subject: |
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I just wish my local Homeplus/Emart would sell BIG blocks of cheese for a decent price, instead of those overpriced piddly little things that don't even last five minutes...
Where (besides Costco) can I find a decent selection of cheese in Seoul/Bundang? |
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Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System
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| Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 2:41 pm Post subject: |
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Any Seoul Hyundai or Lotte Department Store should have a decent selection as well.
Not sure about a decent price. |
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eamo
Joined: 08 Mar 2003
Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.
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| Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 3:19 pm Post subject: |
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| plato's republic wrote: |
I just wish my local Homeplus/Emart would sell BIG blocks of cheese for a decent price, instead of those overpriced piddly little things that don't even last five minutes...
Where (besides Costco) can I find a decent selection of cheese in Seoul/Bundang? |
The only time in my 10 years in Korea that I've seen decent cheese at a reasonable outside of Costco was in the Russian shops at Dongdaemun Stadium......and that was only a couple of varieties.......
In Korea, you have to go to Costco for Cheese and coffee or you will get shafted.
Remember, the three things we in the west see as daily consumables, cheese, wine and good coffee, are seen as luxury goods in Korea. |
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orosee
Joined: 07 Mar 2008
Location: Hannam-dong, Seoul
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| Posted: Tue Mar 29, 2011 4:06 pm Post subject: |
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If you're willing to pay the going rate for this... Foreign Food Mart and Highstreet Market both sell cheese in 1 kilo bricks (no discount over the 100g slices), "cheddar" at FFM and Gruyere at HSM.
"Going rate" meaning that I always get nosebleed after a purchase. |
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sojusucks
Joined: 31 May 2008
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| Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 12:47 am Post subject: |
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Good info, OP.
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In Korea, you have to go to Costco for Cheese and coffee or you will get shafted.
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True. |
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interestedinhanguk
Joined: 23 Aug 2010
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| Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 3:09 am Post subject: |
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| Just looked again yesterday, no more marked down cheese at my local Homeplus. The same stuff at full price is about 10,000 and change. Not worth it at that price. |
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mkishon
Joined: 07 Sep 2010
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| Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 5:51 pm Post subject: tastes terrible |
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| terrible |
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methdxman
Joined: 14 Sep 2010
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| Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 6:05 pm Post subject: |
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| eamo wrote: |
| plato's republic wrote: |
I just wish my local Homeplus/Emart would sell BIG blocks of cheese for a decent price, instead of those overpriced piddly little things that don't even last five minutes...
Where (besides Costco) can I find a decent selection of cheese in Seoul/Bundang? |
The only time in my 10 years in Korea that I've seen decent cheese at a reasonable outside of Costco was in the Russian shops at Dongdaemun Stadium......and that was only a couple of varieties.......
In Korea, you have to go to Costco for Cheese and coffee or you will get shafted.
Remember, the three things we in the west see as daily consumables, cheese, wine and good coffee, are seen as luxury goods in Korea. |
Cheese and wine aren't expensive because they're "seen as luxury goods". They're seen as luxury goods because they're expensive.
And they're expensive because their is overall very little demand for these products, although my guess is that the wine industry is experiencing double digit growth now in S. Korea.
Same thing goes for those of you who think Korean electronics are expensive here because Koreans are "willing to pay a substantial premium" for a Korean product because of national pride. No, that's not the way it works.
Let's get our logic/causality correct folks. Come, let's break it down folks (clapping). |
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Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System
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| Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 6:57 pm Post subject: |
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| I fail to see how Cheese going from 5,000 won to 10,000 own turns it into a luxury good putting it out of affordability range... |
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eamo
Joined: 08 Mar 2003
Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.
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| Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 7:53 pm Post subject: |
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Cheese, wine and good coffee don't have to be so expensive in Korea. I think the import tax on these categories of foreign foods is only about 8%. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Good wine costing around $10 in the US or about 7 euro in Europe should hit the Korean shelves at around 15-20k........allowing for tax and a decent margin......but they don't, they're 50-100% more.
These foods cost more because they're status symbols. The distributors and retailers have just gotten used to whacking up the price of imported stuff because they see them as commodities for the rich. And the rich can afford to pay more.
This seems to be a decreasing trend though. As consumption of wine, cheese and real coffee is now filtering down to the 'middle-middle'-class of Koreans. The market is getting bigger. The prices are starting to fall. |
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methdxman
Joined: 14 Sep 2010
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| Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 8:17 pm Post subject: |
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| eamo wrote: |
Cheese, wine and good coffee don't have to be so expensive in Korea. I think the import tax on these categories of foreign foods is only about 8%. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Good wine costing around $10 in the US or about 7 euro in Europe should hit the Korean shelves at around 15-20k........allowing for tax and a decent margin......but they don't, they're 50-100% more.
These foods cost more because they're status symbols. The distributors and retailers have just gotten used to whacking up the . price of imported stuff because they see them as commodities for the rich. And the rich can afford to pay more.
This seems to be a decreasing trend though. As consumption of wine, cheese and real coffee is now filtering down to the 'middle-middle'-class of Koreans. The market is getting bigger. The prices are starting to fall. |
IImport tax is one thing but that's not the biggest effect on price (although 8% is pretty big anyway). I think you're missing some pieces of the puzzle here.
1) If we're talking about domestic products, low demand drives up prices for following reasons:
a) Producers are almost always producing "under capacity" which means they have high fixed costs and high unit costs brought on by relative under production.
b) Distributors are not buying in big quantities so they aren't getting any discounts. If cheese were huge in Korea, distributors/stores would be buying from producers/other distributors in high quantities, which drives down unit cost.
Big quantity purchases also allow producers to plan their production better and drive down their own unit costs, that's why they offer discounts in the first place. Not to mention cost savings that can be realized in the transportation of these products when demand is higher and more steady.
2) For imported products, demand plays an even bigger role.
In areas of low demand, you exacerbate the problem of higher shipping costs and more middlemen (distributors in the middle adding to final price) with unsteady demand and no discounts on big quantity purchases.
They're not setting the price because of how people view the product. It's much more complicated. You always plan your cost side first before you even bother setting prices. So you calculate your basic unit cost (at any stage of the supply chain) and you set your sell price accordingly to cover a certain margin. Maybe they can charge more or less depending on market conditions, but they're not making huge margins even on cheese/wine. Food is always a volume game not a margin game.
If it's so profitable for them, more players will come into the business here and sell wine and cheese. But they can't right now because the demand is still relatively low. But once the industry becomes super attractive here, there's no stopping more distributors/companies from coming in, which means lower prices. At this point it won't matter WHAT the consumer thinks about wine or cheese.
And the industry will become attractive once they see demand rise.
To answer your question, yes, cheese and wine DO have to be that expensive here. I don't think they're making huge margins off cheese and wine.
I do think; however; that products at department stores are "unfairly" (I use that term very loosely) marked up but for a whole different set of reasons. |
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eamo
Joined: 08 Mar 2003
Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.
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| Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 8:53 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| They're not setting the price because of how people view the product. It's much more complicated. You always plan your cost side first before you even bother setting prices. So you calculate your basic unit cost (at any stage of the supply chain) and you set your sell price accordingly to cover a certain margin. Maybe they can charge more or less depending on market conditions, but they're not making huge margins even on cheese/wine. Food is always a volume game not a margin game. |
It's these market conditions that I'm talking about. In Korea, the market for imported food has always been the rich. The Korean masses were never going to start buying French wine, Swiss Cheese or Colombian coffee......only the elite Koreans were interested in that stuff in the decades after the Korean War.....
......so, Korean importers have just always marked this stuff up accordingly.........as well as the price determining factors you mention, there is also the marketing strategy of charging what you think your target market can afford.
This is 2011. It's pretty much a global market. Modern bulk shipping makes low overheads possible for importers.
In the UK, we often see the imported foods as the cheap choices!! The locally produced foods are usually the expensive options.
I don't think normal market forces make imported foods expensive in Korea......I think it's a mixture of protectionist policies and the status given to imports by importer and customer alike. |
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