Wednesday 30 January 2013

Price Check!

A friend of mine took some pictures of groceries in the States and I took some pictures in Haiti to compare prices.  We decided to do a blog on it to show you how much more expensive it is to buy food in Haiti.  Haiti products are on the left all the time and I have converted the Haitian gouds to US dollars.


Apples: 5 dollars but a pound less of apples

Bagels: $2.95

Bailey's: $4.28

Boneless chicken: $5.86.  Chicken is $4.60 for pound while in the States it is $1.99.

Chips, way smaller bag, (Chloe's favourite): $5.26

Diet coke: $30

Salad Dressing: $4.33

Icecream: $11.90

Jam: $5.14

Kitkat bars: $1.67

Romaine Lettuce: $9.88

Powdered milk: $26.19

Peppers: $11.55


Pepsi, (case of 36verses 24 in the US): $34.29

Raisin Bran: $9.79


Popsicles: $10.36

Rice Krispies: $7.26
Laundry Detergent: $35:41

 
You catch a glimpse from these comparisons that, not only is food much more expensive to buy in Haiti, but also the overall cost of living is much higher in Haiti.

5 comments:

  1. This is depressing.

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  2. You have to keep in mind though that all of that is at a grocery store/supermarket. Those veggies and fruits (besides apples) can all be bought for A LOT cheaper in the open markets. At least where I live in Cap Haitien. The majority of Haitians don't shop in those stores, yes because they cannot afford to, but thats is not their way of life. Yes life is more expensive for Foreigners living here if you want to continue living the way you did your country, but one can live without those things and without spending the ridiculous amount of money on them. All that being said, it is sad that it costs that much for those things....but they keep selling them for those prices because somehow people still buy them...

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  3. Thumbs up, Teri!!! Still wondering about those foreign missionaries and humanitarians coming to Haiti to do a good will, raising thousand of dollars for their own support-just to allow them to live abroad lavishly by "dumping" that money in Haitian supermarkets buying necessities for such a radiculous price! Nonsense!!!! PLEASE be wise- BUY LOCAL PRODUCE, support local production for MUCH LOWER price!

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  4. The Broersmas said nothing about what they actually buy. The blog was about the price differences and the cost of living... and all "those veggies and fruits" in the blog were apples, romaine, and bell peppers... that's it. Neither of which are produced locally in any quantity, not to mention that Haiti's wonderful organic produce is seasonal, so if you want to have nutritional variety year round, which I would hope for the poor and rich alike, you might want to buy some imported produce once in a while. You will not find a bigger advocate of buying locally than myself, but local production and QUALITY control has to happen before buying locally is feasible for everything. I buy locally made cleaning supplies, for example... but most of them are sub-par, the prices do not reflect the absence of import costs, and many necessities are just not made locally. The fact that locally made mop solution is the same price as the imports, for example, is evidence of greed and poor marketing strategy .....or poor raw material sourcing? This blog shows how many great opportunities there are for business development to undercut import prices, create jobs, and provide new and affordable products to the masses in Haiti... Corn flakes and spaghetti are made locally , employ locals, and are consumed by the poor because they are affordable. Why not dairy? Why not apples? Why not romaine? At any rate, I've noticed that most of the people who write judgmental trollish things on blogs are named "Anonymous"... I guess it's easier to act that way without a name. It's also easier for me to call you an ignorant jerk. I'd never talk that way to a person, after all.

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