Just returned to Australia and looking to stock up big on some Asian ingredients, but not sure average prices… most Asian supermarkets around me don't have websites to compare easily. Any cheap online retailer(s) to gauge what is considered a reasonable/cheap price? Looking at mostly East Asian: Chinese, Korean, Japanese ingredients + teas (but South / South East Asian ingredients are on the horizon). 10kg+ sacks of rice I need to stock up on too. Canberra region if that helps.
Thanks :)
All you need to know is asian supermarkets are generally cheaper than Coles/Woolies.
items dont go on special though
If I think about it, the prices at the asian supermarket for some items that I buy are the same or still cheaper than when they're on special at the usual supermarkets. Like noodles, sauces and drinks.
Any particular country in mind, e.g. Chines groceries, Japanese, etc
The more you shop (around), the more you know.
Some shops have some cheaper items but other items could be more expensive than the competitors - vice versa.
if it was me in your shoes,
i would pick the 10 things i think are most expensive or exclusive on that list…eg. rice, oil, and specialty sauces.
compare the price of those items. pick the shop that is the cheapest… for those
if you have basket of items that 50- 100 items long, then i would pick 10 or 15 items to compare.
if your basket is only 10 items long, then i guess it won't take that long to compare all the items.
Unfortunately, Asian grocery prices are less transparent as items stocked might not even be in Woolies/Coles so that means it comes from a special distribution channel.
The only way to know is going to multiple shops to get a sense of pricing. Even in Sydney (where is a bigger competition), some Asian marts are cheap for certain items compared to others and vice versa. After a while you get a sense of whats better priced where.
Go to Dickson, there are about 3 or 4 Asian grocers so if they are too expensive then people will just walk down the street to another one.
Rice you’ll fine depending on what type of grain you like, might actually be cheaper at the majors (I always see jasmine rice go on sale). I get short grain (or the sushi one) and it’s not stocked at the majors. If you go to a generic asian grocery, it’s not that cheap BUT you go to a specialty asian grocery store (like a Korean one) it’s cheaper
Pop over to your city's equivalent to Sunnybank, Hurstville, Box Hill etc and have a look around. Where there is competition, there is competitive pricing.
Oddly enough my local Woolies which is in one of these areas is super competitive in pricing, and have a large section for Asian groceries. Skews heavily towards SEA Chinese stuff with some rare sights such as 100 Plus drinks being sold in Woolies.
My parents often drive quite a way to Inala to stock up on some stuff more available in Vietnamese markets, such as Jasmine rice, SEA fruits and veg, etc.
100 plus is in practically most metro Coles/Woolies here in Sydney.
Marry or take an Asian person with you, my partner has blacklisted several shops based on the extortionate fees for Bok Choy they were charging, whereas I didn't notice the 30 cents more they were.
Just shop around and get familiar. If you don't want to shop around then you probably don't value the saving anyway, so in that case, buy whatever.
If you're not buying an Asian supermarket staple OP but you see something else you like, like a brand of chips or an uncommon drink, then buy it in bulk.
Because there is a high chance it may not come back in stock for whatever reason later on.
As a Chinese living in Canberra I would say that Asian supermarkets in Canberra lack competition compared to those in Sydney and Melbourne. I usually go to the Deji market in Dikson or the Hualong market in Gungahlin. Their prices are usually relatively reasonable. I can only say that the prices for everything are very unreasonable compared to local prices in China, so for me I would just compare which market is cheaper for the item. I also suggest you download a Hungry Panda, which is takeaway platform has many asian markets. You can compare the online price * pick up discount to get an idea of the price of this product.
idk if you are familar with Asian culture but if an asian food shop is selling at UNreasonable prices they got basically zero chance of surviving.
Typically the everyday items (eg rice, veggies, noodles, soy milk etc) are generally in-line with other asian shops - my local shops sometimes have special limited imports of whatever is popular in Taiwan/ Japan/ HK etc - and its priced super high compared to what it retails for in the asian domestic markets, but there is literally no one else importing it..so i guess its fair game.