Parsley Sauce?

Excellent suggestion, as i enjoy wasabi also. That sounds good. I also make my own salad dressings and mayo / miracle whip, google has so many recipes and it really is easy.

Thanks for the replies lads but I dont think I could make it myself as I cant even boil an egg. Maybe I'll get the missus to give it a go.

The perfect customer for the pre packaged vendor, always a market, which is a good thing. I've been cooking my own forever, when possible, it seems. Even before imported was available, just because I can, and find I use better ingredients, no salt, no preservative, msg, better oils, shortenings. Even when in home country, rarely bought processed foods, as much a taste thing as a health thing. Also I grew up cooking and a few jobs doing the same, though the pay isn't the best, so moved on to better income jobs. Some things are too easy, others will definitely take a little knowledge and equipment, so not going to happen. Along with finding the ingredients, which is a challenge. Simple shopping here is a challenge sometimes, going to 4 shops to get all you need, even if not making you are stuff. So items like horseradish at Nobi's and such are a welcome relief.

If cooking, making your own, knowledge of herbs are important. I grow a lot of my own stuff now, have seeds sent over from USA, along with seasonings I can't get here, such as granulated garlic powder, not salt. What is offered here is terrible or way too expensive, other things, if heavy, too practical simply to get here. Pickles is a fine example, anyone can make, vinegar, dill (pak chee), then I mince garlic and anyone can flavor the way they prefer. The mrs adds chilis. Salad dressing is another, mainly for health issue, though cost is a side benefit. Olive oil and balsamic vinegar is too easy. If wanting an Asian flair to it, try Sesame Oil, adds a lot of flavor, a little maggie / teriaki sauce, bit of honey, what ever other seasonings you like, a little garlic, quite good. Much healthy than any processed stuff. Mayo is oil and eggs, wow, that's hard, and you get to chose a much healthier oil, season how you like.

There is definitely a need for imported vendors, don't get me wrong. No matter what, they are going to be expensive. Not possible or practical for most, but I stock up when in Bangkok, bit cheaper than local vendors and I'm there anyway, but seem to have much better expiration dates. Was looking at Bistro Beef Gravy at Ngee Soon one day, and the expiration date was that week. I like cottage pie and beef stew as much as the next person, but using up a small one would take a while. Other things if you must have, you'll have to pay. Cream cheese, and different pasta sauces, pesto and such, yes, they are expensive, but also not easy to make for most people. Though shop around, things have wide range of prices. Pesto sauce is a fine example, 118 at Ngee Soon, 160 or more at other places, worth doing your comparative shopping.

WD....The last paragraph in your post in bang on the mark sir , the sell by date issues and safe arrival of the imported products is the only real bug bear with CC , there certainly is a market for these products even tho expensive but its the dates on some of the stuff thats makes life difficult , most stock is fine like the tinned products etc but others can have too short a date ,,,,, when considering the product is purchaesd in the UK - on container ship for a month then the customs warehouse until the tea money is paid then collected and brought to Udonthani 6 weeks plus are lost . Sell by dates can be from 3 months to 2 years so on the minimum youve lost half the date before its on the shelf .

The last time i went to the import agent (early Feb) in Bkk many products were missing or i didnt get them because of the short shelf life , some have stopped being imported all together becuse of short dates .

I supply Ngee Soon with the imported range this is why their shelves have been out of stock for a few weeks as they want minimum 2 months date on any products supplied .

Ive found its best to tell a cusomer if the product is short on / out of date and if nessesary discount or in some cases give stuff away as freebies .

STILL IT REMAINS THE CAUSE OF ME BANGING MY HEAD ON THE WALL SOME DAYS.

Chareosri ..my offer still stands (2nd post) i have half a tub of Bisto parsley sauce , drop in the shop and you can have it free gratis , im stocking up next week so its no bother.

Mash

Ive found its best to tell a cusomer if the product is short on / out of date and if nessesary discount or in some cases give stuff away as freebies .

I can back this coment up from Mash. He always informs of the shelf life and I have been the lucky recipient of the odd freebie.
We need imported vendors, but a fact of life is the short shelf date we have to live with.

Sadly, I've only noticed on chain market doing that, CarreFour, on packaged products, Makro does it on perishables. Picked up a few premium cookie packs, just what i needed, one gone before I got on the other side of town,

pienmash wrote: ,,,,, when considering the product is purchaesd in the UK - on container ship for a month then the customs warehouse until the tea money is paid then collected and brought to Udonthani 6 weeks plus are lost . Sell by dates can be from 3 months to 2 years so on the minimum youve lost half the date before its on the shelf .




Mash

Six weeks bobbing up and down on a container ship and in a hot Bangkok Customs warehouse can't really be considered ideal storage conditions regardless of the sell by date .Sill y me, I thought the high cost of imported items was due to the airfreight charges .

Some products do come by air TB , such as Walkers crisps they arrive here with max 6 weeks to 2 months sell by date.

The products transported by sea are not effected by bobbing up n down only sinking ...... and the importation/agents warehouse is product by product sectioned into tins bottles / packaged / drinks alcohol / bags powders / boxed , and where nessasary temperature controlled ..... its like a gaint supermarket TB instaed of a trolley you can drive a pick up truck around the isles , and thru a checkout toll ..... cracking setup .

The cost of these i imported items is expensive mainly down to logistics .

Mash.

Simply an inflated price, on most, no more, no less. For some reason, the market bears the price, that's the part that amazes me. If I get a USA name brand item, many times it is made and coming from the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, though not reflected in the price. Total scam on inflated price. Though not restricted to imported good. Thais charge as much as they can, when they can, no matter how irrational it is. Cars are one of the best examples. Vehicles made hear at lower cost, sell for more overseas, and have more options, such as defrosters installed. Higher cost due to emission controls and simply shipping, but sell for 25 % less in the USA. Whether sent from here or manufactured there, the cost should be higher, not lower. Thais are simply raping their own consumers at every turn. Australia has a graduated free trade agreement, but has the price of wine gone down. So typical, they sign and say one thing, while doing the complete opposite, and nobody seem to care. Many things are so much cheaper in Laos, especially wines, as my usual choice for alcoholic beverages, and well worth the visa fee and hop over for a few days. Repeat business doesn't seem to be high an business practices in the LOS. We are not discussing smiles.

I mostly agree with what u are saying WUD .... but the importers have to set their product prices with a few unseen distractions here in los , prime example being the tea money paid to get containers thru custome and out quick changes all the time - notably December /new year when the agent i use was asked for 5 times more than usual , i tend to look at things from both sides not only the consumer as i know the cost of shipping from the UK has increased but my cost at source wasnt increased .

A product is worth whatever a customer is wiling to pay , i see it everyday , some buy without a second thought some do not and limit their purchases , others quite simply cant live without some items and get them regardless .

I shake my head some days ...... , tinned John West red salmon - should i stock it or not ? - very expensice 295bt per tin , i took 1 case to try it and within i week 48 tins gone and customers waiting for it to come back in , some things like that amaze me.



Mash.

I think a lot of people still convert the prices back to their local asda in england or were ever,and don,t see the many hidden costs and the jumping through hoops involved to get the product onto the shelves in udon

pienmash wrote:
A product is worth whatever a customer is wiling to pay , i see it everyday , some buy without a second thought some do not and limit their purchases , others quite simply cant live without some items and get them regardless .

I shake my head some days ...... , tinned John West red salmon - should i stock it or not ? - very expensice 295bt per tin , i took 1 case to try it and within i week 48 tins gone and customers waiting for it to come back in , some things like that amaze me.



Mash.

Even more amazing when you can buy a whole kilo of fresh salmon for less than a tin . But that's similar to the discussion on beer prices. I can never understand why some will pay 70bht for a bottle than can be bought in most supermarkets for 20bht.But we are , thankfully ,all different, and presumably have different priorities Back home I used to enjoy Alpen muesli for breakfast, but here , at over 200bht, I forgo the pleasure. However while shopping last week I discovered a supermarket had them , well dated, on offer at 70bht, so I bought a few . They also had the breakfast biscuits knocked down from 117 to 37 bht, so this week we have been feasting on them . haven't really saved anything though as my kids love them and they have all gone .Now some would call me tight for that but it fits in with my policy that every thing has a value to me at which I will indulge or refrain .Judging where that line is, is your job and I don't envy you .

Not a bad system TB , thats not being tight imo . I get lots of visitors to CC who walk in and the first thing asked is - whats on special at the mo Jon ? this or that 2 for 1 ....... and my favourite - got anything you want to get rid of ? .

Mash