Grocery Shopping

Grocery shopping has its differences in Hong Kong.  The grocery store where we do most of our shopping, called International, is part of a huge Park N' Shop chain with stores all over Hong Kong.  Our store just services our neighborhood, so it is pretty small.

One of the main differences, for me, has been the prices.  Groceries are not something I spent a lot of money on in St. Louis.  I would try to combine sales and coupons and spend less than $50/week.  Our food budget has increased dramatically in Hong Kong.  

Many of the items, definitely all the meat and dairy, are clearly marked with what country it is from.  Most of the chicken is from China, which I try to stay away from, they sell a lot of pork, and this seems to be the most reasonably priced meat.  We get most of our pork from Brazil.  (Brazil and China are usually the only options.)  There is also very little beef (I haven't seen any from China).  It is mainly from Australia and Canada and usually very expensive.  (Around $7-10USD/lb for ground beef or thinly sliced strips.)  They also sell lamb and fish.  There is a butcher counter, but I haven't bought anything from there.  Those items are even more expensive.

Beef package from Australia

Dairy is also VERY expensive.  I paid around $10USD for a 1 lb bag of cheese.  That was the value package!  Milk is about $2.50 for a quart (so $8/gallon equivalent), on sale.  Regular yogurts are at least $1 each and greek yogurt is around $2.  They do discount the yogurt occasionally, often a week or more before the sell by date, so I have picked up some better deals.

Produce prices are actually pretty similar to prices in the US.  Just like you would expect, in season items are cheaper, and if you want specialty fruit imported from the other side of the world, it will cost more.  Some items are cheaper at the open air markets, but not all.  For example, oranges are about the same, but they both have Sunkist stickers on them and are probably from the same source.  Items that are grown locally are often much cheaper in the market.

Our store has a pretty small selection of items.  There are usually only a few choices of brand for different items.  Most items have a store brand.  If items don't have a store brand (like tortillas), they are usually pretty expensive (Almost $4USD for a pack of 8).  I am assuming the Chinese don't eat many tortillas and it is considered a specialty item.  Of course there are a few items that have a large selection.  I wanted to buy some soy sauce and they have a whole section.  I never knew there were so many different varieties. 

Soy sauce

They also have quite a selection of rice.  Of course, you can't buy it in a 12 oz. box like in the US.  Most people buy it in a 5 kg (around 11 lbs.) bag.

rice

There are a few basics I have not been able to find, like baking soda.  I will have to look at a bigger store to see if I can find it there.