I'm coming with a group of 25 on Monday, can't wait to get there! I was just wondering, we plan on buying groceries and cooking in our room. Are groceries a lot more expensive than here in good old Indiana? For example how much is a loaf of bread?

Thanks,

Angie

Angie,
A sample list from February (this year) at Cultimara
(all prices in NAf)
3.25 Genoa Salami, 0.142 Kg
4.50 Coke, 2 ltr
3.74 fresh pears, qty. 5
7.74 fresh tomato, qty. 3
7.00 potatoes, 5 lbs
5.81 red cabbage, 1.49 \Kg
0.90 hard roll, qty. 2
3.65 iceberg lettuce, 0.73 Kg
3.35 canned pineapple juice, 46 oz
5.45 Ragu spaghetti sauce, 1 lb 10 oz
0.90 fresh lemons, qty 2
4.15 box of rigatoni, 0.5 Kg
4.10 Heinz Ketchup, 20 oz
2.85 mustard, 1 lb
3.35 eggs, doz.
9.78 ground beef, 0,978 Kg
figure approx. 1.75 NAf per $

Prices seem to run about 2-2 1/2 times that in US supermarkets.

Shipping them that extra 1,200 miles (from the US, or 5,000 miles from Holland, or flying them in from Ecuador) does seem to add up. Shopping around to see who has what on any given day is our way of life re: groceries. Tropical Flamingo, More for Less, and Warehouse Bonaire are all good places to shop too. A loaf of bread, depending upon what type & where you buy it, runs about $1-$2.

Some of the larger (resort) restaurants that can seat a group as large as yours might do a meal plan for your group for your stay (even if for only one meal/day, even if you're not staying at a resort) that could be more economical than doing it all yourself. Unless you're a group of chefs, buying, cooking & cleaning up for 25 seems like a lot of work for a vacation. IMHO. Okay, maybe not totally "H" (humble); I admit I'm biased-I'm a restaurant owner!

They do???

Not in my supermarkets - most of those (with only a couple of exceptions) are in the same range as I see.

You realize that's Naf, not US dollars and kg, not lbs, right?

Help me with the math it seems that a doz eggs are $1.90us (I pay about $1.00)--1 lb of ground beef is about $5.58us( I pay $1.00 -$3.00 based on fat cont.)--1lb of rigitoni $2.37 ($1.00 a box for pastas here.
Here are a few items from this weeks Kash n' Karry supermarket here in the Tampa area
2 liters of coke $1.09
Ragu spaghetti sauce 16-26oz 2 for $3.00
1lb kash n karry brand spaghetti 2 for $1.00
Chicken of the Sea solid white tuna $.99
Kaizer rolls (6pk) $1.50 =$.25 ea
Ground Chuck (not to exceed 20% fat) 1lb $2.69
Head of lettuce $.79
Heinz Ketchup 32oz (not 20oz) $1.79
Unless my math is very flawed it still looks like 2-21/2 more that the US. Here is a site you can check prices at www.kashnkarry.com
ATG

9,78 kg / 2.2 = 4,45 nafl per lb
4,45 lbs / 1.75 exch = 2.54 US per pound
We have no such thing as fat content grading as far as I can tell.

Here on Bonaire:
I just paid nafl ,55 for .5 kg so about US .31 per lb for spaghetti noodles.
tuna chunk light in water US 1.09
spaghetti sauce (shur fine) US 2.68
(they were out of my usual canned US name brand at 2.25)
canned veggies US .97 to 1.09 per can
six pack of sandwich rolls US $1.09

Buying groceries takes a little more investigating here. For example, one US brand cake mix was 9,70 while another was 4,65 - both well-known brands, same kind of cake. Two choices of shredded cheese - 2 cups each and almost the same difference as the cakes. This was in the same store with items side by side.

When buying items in the states, I found Tang, Chef Boyardee products, Kraft mac and cheese, and Hamburger helper all to be about the same price as Bonaire when I can find them here.

Thanks for correcting my math on the beef. As for grading , ground beef w/25% fat is about $.99-$1.29--20% fat about $2.20-$2.70 and so on.
Chet posted that this is what he paid at Caltimara in Feb. I posted todays price at a US supermarket chain. Bonaire prices, as posted, still seem to be about 2 time higher than US prices.It would seem that if Chet is paying $2.37 for pasta and you are being charged $31 for pasta Chet is paying over 700% more. Chunk light tuna is $.50 a can ($.39 on sale)and canned veggies are about $.50 for a 14.5oz(411g).
ATG

The ground beef on Bonaire is generally extra lean in my experience (nothing like ground chunk that I've ever purchased). Also, the price for ground beef looks like it's from the butcher counter at Cultimara. You pay quite a bit less from other sources (in frozen form usually).

I've also compared prices to super markets in the Northeast and California, and Bonaire's prices for non-produce items (which usually are more on Bonaire) are on par. I'm sure that your mileage may vary regionally across the U.S.

BTW, how do you get $31 from $0.31 (which is what Linda posted)?

I know we do reference checks on occasion to NetGrocer.com, and they are usually similarly priced or more expensive than stuff on Bonaire (and not out of line with what's at normal prices at Shaw's in New Hampshire).

Also, I note that the 79 cent price you listed for lettuce was if you had a supermarket courtesy card - normal price is $1.29.

Might be more reasonable to compare regular prices on items, as sale items are typically loss leaders (i.e. sold at a loss to bring people in to buy more profitable good).

Jake

Having that hamburger on Bonaire...

priceless

It seems to me that the tomato products are about 3x California but everything else on the list looks just like buying groceries in "remote" areas of The States like Lake Tahoe.
(BTW - It's not fair comparing Bonaire to Tampa. Cost of living in Florida at my last check was about 1/3 to 1/4 the price of a comparable lifestyle in California. - That's why all of us Californians retire in Florida.) ;-)

Joe, check again. try //houseandhome.msn.com and you will find it's 25%-34% cheaper to live in Tampa than CA. not the other way around. The lifestyle of $100,000 in Palm Springs cost $77,742 here in Tampa Bay area, Medesto to Tampa $92000, L.A. to Tampa $68,000 and San Diego to Tampa $71,000. As for food prices these are from a supermarket in the Boston MA area (lived there for 55yrs.) Shaws supermarket
Pepsi and Coke products 2 lt $ .79
7-UP 1.00
Schweppes ginger ale 1.25
Mustard 14oz 1.00
Ketchup 14oz 1.00
Pasta 16oz .50
Ragu pasta sauce 1.33
Franceso Rinaldi pasta sauce 1.00
Solid white tuna 1.00
Light chunk tuna .44
Canned veggies 8oz .33
Frozen veggies 2lb bag 1.59
California green-red-black
and red globe grapes 1lb .88
So as you can see prices in Boston are about the same as Tampa.
ATG

Arthur,

Those look like sales prices to me. What about regular prices (which are a better measure of cost than loss leaders like sales items)?

Jake

I agree. The only brand names you mention are also obviously sale items.

I live in Massachusetts also, by the way. I never buy generic/store brand if I can help it (no kids, don't need to buy in bulk, or for that matter to save for college), and I think you are using generic prices when you aren't stating name-brand sale prices too.

Just because a brand in Bonaire is unknown to us, doesn't necessarily mean it's a generic and so comparable.

While it was fun discussing vacation costs with everyone, I do have to leave and get ready for our trip which I am really looking forward to (despite the slightly inflated cost of groceries).
One piece of advice for Arthur:
Grin and bear it. (key word 'grin')
Angie: Bring enough in travelers checks to cover the cost of the same number of days in NYC or DC. (I recently visited Indiana (Holiday World + Caves) and things are really inexpensive there compared to elsewhere. Really friendly too! ;-) )

I compared prices in Cultimara with a few items here that I regularly buy in Alabama. A can of Campbell's soup was about twice as much in Bonaire, I usually pay around 70 cents for a can of Vegetable beef. Can of Starkist tuna runs about 70 cents too. Unfortunately I don't normally but fresh food and cook it often but do remember the high priced hamburger cost around $3.25 a pound. Whole chickens run around $2.50 to $3.00 Things like celery or lettuce we pay by the head or pack. Head of lettuce used to be 80 cents. I can check and re-verifiy these prices or for any specific item if someone wants to see how it compares to rural Alabama.

Whenever I travel to other parts of the US, I notice: a) How much more upscale the stores I frequent near my home seem (clean, well lit, selection of produce/meat/cheese/breads, larger organic selections, great selection of most things!) compared to other regions of the US; and b) How much higher our grocery prices are (probably as a direct result). [Note: This is not just *my* observation...]

In order to do a fair comparison, one would need to figure out a way of accounting for cost variations -- between stores on Bonaire (some regard Cultimara as one of the more expensive groceries on Bonaire); between stores/regions in the US (there is a big difference between an Aldies in Iowa, a Larry's Market in Seattle and a mini-mart in remote Alaska, and a Super Wal-Mart in the Seattle area); and between different brands of the same product (see Linda's post above).

Here is what works for me: I expect to pay somewhat more in Bonaire than I do at home. I remember how much I am saving compared to eating out. If I am looking to economize, I shop at more than one store and look for products that meet my needs (versus exactly what I would buy at home). I like fresh milk too much to pass up the stuff that arrives at Cultimara each week (and I plan accordingly).

Have a great trip, Joe! Carole

I thought I should clarify my earlier post -- grocery prices/selection vary market to market. That is not a bad thing. I am used to what I see every day -- and so is someone in Iowa, Georgia or Montana. It is just that we each do not see the same thing every day and so our expectations differ. In other words, Angie will view the costs differently than I do.

Even among shoppers using the same store in the same city, they each are probably used to paying a different price point for a commodity. At a medium size grocery near my house (http://ralphsthriftway.com) non-whipped butter (all in $/lb) runs from $3.49 (Western Family) to $5.99 (Organic Valley) and more (Kerrigold Irish tops the list at $9.98). Those are three of the probably ten options.

Arthur- That's a grand generalization to say Bonaire's grocery prices are 2-2.5 times higher than the US. It's a big country! I live in the US, and Bonaire's prices are almost he same as what I pay. I live on Nantucket Island, where, like Bonaire, everything must be shipped here on a freight boat and the cost is passed on to the consumer. That's my reality, such as it is. PS- Regular gas is $3/gallon. I'll take Bonaire!

How much is a case (24) of Amstel in Bonaire?
(I understand the containers are a little smaller. What are they? 11 oz?)

About $20, including the appx. $4 deposit (returned to you when you bring back the case & empty bottles). Amstels are 8.7 oz (25cl).