# Anyone see Rice for less than 1.19 Euro Per Kg in Dublin?



## bullworth

Every supermarket I walk into seems to have a common minimum price for rice for the last few years. 

1.19 Euro for a  Kilogram bag seems to be the minimum. I haven't had much success browsing the various ethnic stores either although I have picked up some relative bargains on other items.

If anyone can advise me where in Dublin I can find a better price please let us know.  I don't mind buying in bulk/buying a large 10kg bag etc as it will be used eventually.


----------



## bullworth

Even on  the way home today I popped into a Tescos and next to their bags of rice they had a sticker ''proudly'' proclaiming that their 1 Kg of rice matched the Aldi/Lidl price.
If they undercut the price that would be a reason to put a sticker on the thing... but thats probably more suited for letting off steam. I am still searching and still nothing less than 1.19 Euro per Kg can be found in Dublin.


----------



## RonanC

bullworth, 

Have you tried the new Indian/Asian food market out beside Liffey Valley? It is beside Power City in the Fonthill Retail park. They sell large bags of rice but I have no idea how much they are. The shop is always very busy with Asians and Irish stocking up and buying in bulk.


----------



## bullworth

Hi RonanC

No I never heard of it. I am rarely out in that direction. Do you go there often ? If so perhaps you could look at the price of a bag of rice and report back ?


----------



## pudds

Looking at the stg prices per kg on Amazon €1.19 seems like a bargain!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb...grocery&field-keywords=rice+10kg&sprefix=Rice


----------



## RonanC

bullworth said:


> Hi RonanC
> 
> No I never heard of it. I am rarely out in that direction. Do you go there often ? If so perhaps you could look at the price of a bag of rice and report back ?



I might be down that way tomorrow, if so I'll pop in a check them out for you.


----------



## ClubMan

A lot of _Asian_ stores sell rice loose so it might be cheaper that way? Haven't bought it that way in a while but used to in the _Asian Food Company, Mary St_.


----------



## ajapale

I checked a few local asian stores. I was looking for Bastmati rice but it was cheaper in the supermarkets. Cheapest Bamati is now €1.49/kg (SuperValue and Tescos) and its €1.89/kg in Dunnes, Lidl and Aldi. It was greater €10 for a 5kg bag in the asian stores. However im not sure that "ethnic" customers can possible haggle a better deal than the headline price. I dont do haggle.


----------



## Guest105

ajapale said:


> I dont do haggle.


 

It's great fun and the more you practise it the better you get


----------



## bullworth

RonanC said:


> I might be down that way tomorrow, if so I'll pop in a check them out for you.



Thanks RonanC. I am wondering if rice has a negligible margin everywhere or whether the price is being unspokenly fixed. From Google , rice seems to be a lot cheaper per Kg in places like Egypt. You never see rice here even at 1.18 Euro per Kg yet Tesco makes a big deal out of matching the Aldi/Lidl price of 1.19 Euro/Kg , something I find absurd. Brown rice has a premium above this but competition seems to be also lacking there.

I will keep an eye open over the weekend and much further. I am glad this thread sparked some interest. Theres a lot to be said for finding the lowest price for healthy staples such as rice which store well especially in a recession.


----------



## Sue Ellen

bullworth said:


> healthy staples such as rice which store well especially in a recession.



Hope you're opting for the brown rice   It may be more expensive but I've been eating rice for too long and would definitely prefer Uncle Bens of all the different brands.


----------



## ajapale

Sue Ellen said:


> .. definitely prefer Uncle Bens .


 Fair enough but UB's is very very expensive compared most other brands. Tilda is also very expensive.


----------



## Sue Ellen

ajapale said:


> Fair enough but UB's is very very expensive compared most other brands. Tilda is also very expensive.



I agree it is very, very expensive but worth the extra IMHO and I would use quite a bit of rice each week.


----------



## bullworth

Sue Ellen said:


> I agree it is very, very expensive but worth the extra IMHO and I would use quite a bit of rice each week.



I dont' think theres much difference in taste for the price if your goal is to eat on a  prudent budget especially since the flavors in the meals I make would come from the portion of the food added to the rice. I found my rice improved siginficantly once I left behind this ''boil in the bag'' idea and put the rice loose into a pot.

I checked some Asian/Ethnic stores around Mary/Parnell Street today and the rice seems more expensive there than 1.19 Euro/Kg. They seemed very busy today even selling a lot of items which are cheaper elsewhere such as noodles.
I did however pick up 2 litres of Milk for 1.15 Euro in one of the ethnic stores. We use so much milk that shopping around for it can produce worthwhile savings compared to the usual 1.49 Euro per 2 Litres price. Usually the ethnic stores have cheaper milk. Even Iceland in the Ilac Centre bumped up it's price of milk from 99 cent, probably a bad move for them as it gives me no reason to visit them and perhaps pick up an ''impulse buy'' there.


----------



## RonanC

bullworth, 

I checked out that store over beside Liffey Valley today and the cheapest way (per kg) of buying rice was a 10kg bag for €14.99. Not cheap at all


----------



## bullworth

RonanC said:


> bullworth,
> 
> I checked out that store over beside Liffey Valley today and the cheapest way (per kg) of buying rice was a 10kg bag for €14.99. Not cheap at all



Thanks RonanC . It seems to be the same story everywhere regarding the price of rice. I seem to have pretty much exhausted my search around the city centre but next weekend I will check out the prices around the Meath Street area during the Saturday markets and market stalls they have there. I'm not sure that rice is a big feature of what's on offer there but you never know until you look. If anyone can think of anywhere else which might be good to search then please let us know .


----------



## RonanC

I'm friendly with a local chinese take away owner and he told me before that the price of rice went through the roof but he couldnt put his prices up to match the cost rise. He has taken a hit on the wholesale rise. I asked him how much should he be charging for the rice, he said double at least.


----------



## Luternau

RonanC said:


> I asked him how much should he be charging for the rice, he said double at least.



If 1kg of rice retails for Approx 1.20, they must be buying it for less than that. They sell cooked rice - Approx 75g uncooked rice per portion for minimum €1.50 or more in restaurants. This is cooked in advance, in a rice cooker. Little or no additional costs. It has to be mega profitable for them even now!


----------



## RonanC

Luternau said:


> If 1kg of rice retails for Approx 1.20, they must be buying it for less than that. They sell cooked rice - Approx 75g uncooked rice per portion for minimum €1.50 or more in restaurants. This is cooked in advance, in a rice cooker. Little or no additional costs. It has to be mega profitable for them even now!


 
They like most other chinese take away's give the rice as part of the main dish, so they dont get €1.50 per portion.


----------



## irishmoss

Hi Sue Ellen, do you mind me asking what you have compared UB too?
I've tried Roma, yuck and most supermarket rice.
I moved over to buying Thai Jasmin Rice from the Asian store in 2kg bags but now could not face going back to UB, it's far superior and cheaper. So to me there is a huge difference in taste. 



Sue Ellen said:


> I agree it is very, very expensive but worth the extra IMHO and I would use quite a bit of rice each week.


----------



## Petermack

Just seen this website being advertised on the Bargain Alerts board and the cheapest rice these guys have on offer is 10Kg bags of long grain rice for €9.85 http://www.fairfayre.com


----------



## ajapale

Interesting site Peter, but order value - greater than or equal to  £250 (€287) with free delivery.

Some of the prices are being beaten at the supermarkets ie 1.77/kg for basmati rice is €1.49 at tescos.


----------



## Petermack

True ajapale. The guys on Bargain alerts seem to think the cheese is of particular good value. It only makes sense if you are buying in bulk and willing to spend €287 in one go.


----------



## Luternau

RonanC said:


> They like most other chinese take away's give the rice as part of the main dish, so they dont get €1.50 per portion.



That's great then, but the post I quoted referred to the owner telling you he should be charging double for rice than he does. Twice nothing is still nothing.;-)


----------



## RonanC

Luternau said:


> That's great then, but the post I quoted referred to the owner telling you he should be charging double for rice than he does. Twice nothing is still nothing.;-)



He has obviously factored in the cost of the rice into the meal price and therefore meant he should be increasing those prices but he hasnt. I understood from the conversation with him that the rice had doubled in price.


----------



## Sue Ellen

bullworth said:


> I dont' think theres much difference in taste for the price if your goal is to eat on a prudent budget especially since the flavors in the meals I make would come from the portion of the food added to the rice. I found my rice improved siginficantly once I left behind this ''boil in the bag'' idea and put the rice loose into a pot.


 
As my daughter is coeliac she regularly eats rice on its own because there are so many dishes that cause her problems.  Its at times like this that the flavour is more noticeable.  I would never use boil in the bag as it is even more expensive.


----------



## bullworth

Sue Ellen said:


> I would never use boil in the bag as it is even more expensive.



It's not only more expensive but it produces inferior ''mushy'' rice compared to loose rice which is drained after cooking in my opinion.



Petermack said:


> Just seen this website being advertised on the Bargain Alerts board and the cheapest rice these guys have on offer is 10Kg bags of long grain rice for €9.85 http://www.fairfayre.com



Thanks that's an interesting site. Perhaps the minimum order would be a bit much for rice even though rice does keep well but if I find some other items on the website which would be bought at higher prices over a few weeks shopping the minimum order could perhaps be justified somehow. Now I wonder if theres anywhere similar in Dublin where I could collect.


----------



## mcaul

as per my reply ion sugar prices - rice is a tradeable commodity and rises / falls depending on demand and crop yield.

Demand is up and crop yield down recenlty, so prices have doubled in past year or so. 

At retail you don't see a 100% increase as the processing & packaging costs are stable.

Also, the 20c - 30 saving you make ion cheap rice is not worth it from a taste & texture point of view imo.


----------



## bullworth

mcaul said:


> prices have doubled in past year or so.
> 
> At retail you don't see a 100% increase as the processing & packaging costs are stable.



The retailers can absorb a doubling in price and still make a profit  at 1.19 euro per kg ? Would that not mean they had a truly massive markup beforehand ?


----------



## wishbone

A little off topic, but not much - I've started again using brown rice, and was looking at the nutritional value of it on the bag of Aldi Brown Long Grain Rice vs Aldi Basmati Rice, and noticed that the fibre content of the brown rice was less !! than the basmati...how does that make sense?  It is real brown rice in that it is nutty and chewy (not just colour coated) and takes yonks to cook...but I would have expected it to be higher in fibre than white basmati...


----------



## mcaul

bullworth said:


> The retailers can absorb a doubling in price and still make a profit at 1.19 euro per kg ? Would that not mean they had a truly massive markup beforehand ?


 
?? - I'm not sure you understand what I was saying.

The raw rice picked from fields, unwashed and in large lorry loads has dubled in price. There are many other cost invoved before it reaches the shop shelves and all these other costs are stable.

Probably about 50% of the price is to do with the raw cost and it is this part only that has increased in price. The price of transporting it, washing it, packing it etc, did not rise. Hence a 100% increase in the commodity market does not bring a 100% increase at retail.


----------

