Real Cheese In Thailand

[thaigerd]

This sketch reminds me at so many shopping experiences here in Thailand:

".......mai meeeeeeeee"

".......no haaaeeb"

".....alai wah?" (last week in HOMEPRO as I asked for a digital scale)

sometimes I want to use a gun.............

Gerd

[thaigerd]

Asking again -- is it possible for individuals to order cheese from your company?

If so, how does one do it, is there a minimum order quantity or baht amount, how would one actually get the cheese, etc.?

And again..........

Sorry,

it's not possible for individuals.

Gerd

[DAS]

2kg block of cheddar was 620 baht, last week bought another block... same shop, same cheese, same packing cost 930baht...!!!!!

I questioned the price to be told the price has gone up.

used to buy in MAKRO for the same price. Went last week and price was 1,400 baht!!

[jonniebkk]

Here are some likely reasons:

Refrigerated dairy product = high shipping costs

Relatively small market = no large volume discounts from producers/wholesalers

Cheese is very heavy relative to size = high shipping costs

Plus as others have mentioned, high import/excise taxes as imported "luxury" good.

[ignis]

Here are some likely reasons:

Refrigerated dairy product = high shipping costs

Relatively small market = no large volume discounts from producers/wholesalers

Cheese is very heavy relative to size = high shipping costs

Plus as others have mentioned, high import/excise taxes as imported "luxury" good.

That is al very well, but how can it go up by more than 500% in a month ?

[madjbs]

Perhaps they have only just adjusted prices?

[jonniebkk]

That is al very well, but how can it go up by more than 500% in a month ?

500% in one month...can you give a specific example? I think you are exaggerating somewhat here

In any case, like anything in economics...when the price get too high...find a substitute product or stop consuming the item altogether. Cheese is not one of life's necessities (except maybe for the French) and though I like it, don't consume much of it in LOS due to cost and selection issues. It has not affected my quality of life one way or the other. [Plus I fart less , which is definitely a quality of life improvement for my GF.]

Look on the bright side...cheese is very high in fat so the high price should cause you to eat less and be more healthy!

Edited March 25, 2008 by jonniebkk

[ignis]

Pizza. Lasagne, Tacos, Cannelloni, I make often the Thai kids love them all.......... How to make with no cheese ?

In the local shop a small block of cheese cost 97 baht last year, looked yesterday, same block is 201 baht ?

As i said before 2kg block of cheddar was 620 baht, last week bought another block... same shop, same cheese, same packing cost 930baht, this price is the same via 4 different wholesales, beleive Makro and Villa now charge well over 1,000 baht.

[madjbs]

shortage of cheese in Thailand?

[jonniebkk]

Pizza. Lasagne, Tacos, Cannelloni, I make often the Thai kids love them all.......... How to make with no cheese ?

In the local shop a small block of cheese cost 97 baht last year, looked yesterday, same block is 201 baht ?

As i said before 2kg block of cheddar was 620 baht, last week bought another block... same shop, same cheese, same packing cost 930baht, this price is the same via 4 different wholesales, beleive Makro and Villa now charge well over 1,000 baht.

The examples you quote are only price increases of around 100% (not 500%) and took place over many months or up to a year ("97 baht last year, looked yesterday").

Another reason I failed to mention is that the price of milk has doubled or more over the past 12/18 months (for a variety of reasons) and therefore, all products made from milk have also shot-up in price.

Pizza, lasagne, tacos, cannelloni...I love them too...can you invite me over the next time you make any of them...I'll even spring for the cheese

[raybkk]

Than we have got the Gouda in the orange wrapper to be found at Tesco, Foodland etc, etc...

A few months ago Baht 134.- and thas was the price since many years.. all of a sudden the price went up to 165.- baht.. Now, ok I do understand that. However did you notice that the weight has changed as well. It used to be 250 gr. Same as there other range such as edam and vintage.. However the Gouda is now being sold at Baht 165.- for just 200 gr. So they up the prices and reduce the weight from 250 gr. to 200 gr. And that only counts for their Goude cheese. Their other range remains at 250 gr.

I think thats a real rip off.

[vegas]

Bega cheese disappeared from the shelves for few months a while back and then reappeared at a higher rate. Maybe they had some stock, sold out and upped the price when they had to import again. Still, the Aussie dollar has lost ground against the baht so not sure why so expensive.

[PaulHamon]

Gerd,

Got any pepper cheeses... looking for hard cheese with peppers in it Anything really.... tangier the better

Miss my cheese and wine ;( Thailand so pang

Thanks,

PaulHamon

[skippybangkok]

Just youtubed it, greaaaaaaaaaaat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3c3qJIwMDc

Gerd

Gerd,

pls IM me (cant send u message - error notice). Looking for some cheese

[ignis]

Glad to find the price has come down again...

2kg block of N.Z cheddar back to 690 baht...

So why did it jump from 620 baht to 930 baht [some places as high as 1,200 baht] now 3 months later back down?

[IMA_FARANG]

Cheese mafia????

My company is importing around 400 different cheeses from France and other european countries but no problems at all:

http://thaigerd.blogspot.com/search?q=cheese

or

http://www.<URL Automatically Removed>/viewforum.php?f=25

Gerd

Excellant...the person to give us good info on cheese prices in Thialand.

Myself, I'm guessing:

1. Cheese is not (from my experience) a product most Thai consumers purchase often. First of all. it is expensive for the average Thai householder. Also many Thais are lactic acid intolerant and milk/cheese can cause stomach upsets for those people. Thirdly chese is not a normal Thai food item, or not used in most Thai food dishes.

2. For the three reasons above I expect cheese is mostly a "foriegner in Thailand" sales item.

3. Supermarkets make their profit on volume sales, with little profit on each item, but profits come from selling many units of that item. I know this to be true in U.S.A. and expect Thailand supermarkets are the same.

4. I expect the main reasons for price increases lately are:

fuel costs for transportation.

fuel and electricity costs for refrigeration/storage

exchange rate variations (Baht vs Euro for Europe, Baht vs Dollar for U.S. cheeses).

5. Put it all together, and I assume that is why prices have risen. recently.

Is this right, or I am wrong in my assumptions?

[ignis]

Thirdly chese is not a normal Thai food item, or not used in most Thai food dishes.

The younger Thais love cheese, every type of dish with cheese in or on.

[wagoosh]

The Only way to make cheese cheaper in Thailand is to make it here, theyn have milk and logistics, alll that is missing is knowledge and managment.

They should make more cheese in Thailand and then the demand will go up as well, there should be and can be here a few Home Made boutiqe Cheese factories.

From white/ / soft cheese to yellow and smoked cheese, it can be done.

and it will be cheaper,- local ingridients, cheap labour, no transportation costs and mainly no import taxes which are very high...

Maybe i dont know, but are there and cheese making factories in Thailand or Bangkok?

any kind of cheese locally made...?

where and how is the quality?

[skippybangkok]

Just youtubed it, greaaaaaaaaaaat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3c3qJIwMDc

Gerd

Gerd,

pls IM me (cant send u message - error notice). Looking for some cheese

repeat post - Thai gerd, pls drop me a line. need to buy quantities

Edited May 20, 2009 by skippybangkok

[SlackJawChef]

Cheese mafia????

My company is importing around 400 different cheeses from France and other european countries but no problems at all:

http://thaigerd.blogspot.com/search?q=cheese

or

<a href="http://www.<URL Automatically Removed>/viewforum.php?f=25" target="_blank">http://www.<URL Automatically Removed>/viewforum.php?f=25</a>

Gerd

Excellant...the person to give us good info on cheese prices in Thialand.

Myself, I'm guessing:

1. Cheese is not (from my experience) a product most Thai consumers purchase often. First of all. it is expensive for the average Thai householder. Also many Thais are lactic acid intolerant and milk/cheese can cause stomach upsets for those people. Thirdly chese is not a normal Thai food item, or not used in most Thai food dishes.

2. For the three reasons above I expect cheese is mostly a "foriegner in Thailand" sales item.

3. Supermarkets make their profit on volume sales, with little profit on each item, but profits come from selling many units of that item. I know this to be true in U.S.A. and expect Thailand supermarkets are the same.

4. I expect the main reasons for price increases lately are:

fuel costs for transportation.

fuel and electricity costs for refrigeration/storage

exchange rate variations (Baht vs Euro for Europe, Baht vs Dollar for U.S. cheeses).

5. Put it all together, and I assume that is why prices have risen. recently.

Is this right, or I am wrong in my assumptions?

With the week Pound.. Euro.. Dollar .... Wouldn't that make them cheaper to import ???? The baht has more purchasing power than it did last year.... for imports ... It's the exports that will now cost more for other countries to buy Thai ... or am I mistaken ??? 50 thb last year could buy 70p's worth of X ...... this year can buy 1 pound's worth of X

So if cheese is cheaper to import, would you not think the price should go down.... well at least stay the same....

James

[Plus]

There are several local cheeses at Foodland. They call them "local mozarella", "local parmesan" and "local mild cheddar".

I find them perfectly adequate.

In fact local cheddar is the best melting cheese on toast, I've tried probably a dozen of other cheddars for that purpose, nothing comes close.

"Imperial" makes its own cheese here, too, and there's "Caroline" brand of cheddars and mozarella but I, personally, don't like them at all.

There's very little demand for cheese and the market is small. Foreigners alone can't sustain the whole industry and Thais lack experience and taste to demand variety. I've had local pizzas with those terrible processed cheddars slices passing as cheese.

[moo9]

I love cheese, I love wine.....but the lack of both is partly compensated by hmmm....

Seriously I wonder why there are not more local cheese productions. It is a nice niche market for farangs who know how to produce good quality cheese (unfortunately I do not know...).

[wagoosh]

Make Local,

We have milk in Thailand, so why not to make,sell and buy local products?and there is no tax.

There is a new place place you shoul check out: HomeMade-cheese.com

it is a new Boutiqe dairy in Bangkok making cheese and Yogurt and i think it is cheaper then the import.

The quality is good.

[Daren]

Wow. That website looks good, but no hard/semi-hard cheeses? Will give them a try, that is if they deliver, for my next lasagna.

[wagoosh]

I found a place (Actually in Thai Visa forum) making Cheese in Bangkok Thailand.

they dont make yellow cheese or smoked cheese, not yet atleast.But they do have Cottage Cheese, Quarke Cheese,Feta Cheese,Yogurt and cream cheese.According to their website all products are 100% Natural and fresh.

Now all we need to hope is that the Cheese is Tasty as well and we are on the way.

Btw this is their website for information: www.homemade-cheese.com

If anyone tried or tries please let us all know about the quality...

[webworldly]

I found a place (Actually in Thai Visa forum) making Cheese in Bangkok Thailand.

they dont make yellow cheese or smoked cheese, not yet atleast.But they do have Cottage Cheese, Quarke Cheese,Feta Cheese,Yogurt and cream cheese.According to their website all products are 100% Natural and fresh.

Now all we need to hope is that the Cheese is Tasty as well and we are on the way.

Btw this is their website for information: www.homemade-cheese.com

If anyone tried or tries please let us all know about the quality...

Hi WAGOOSH.......I've posted a review of this company (www.homemade-cheese.com) here on ThaiVisa....but as I don't have a link handy (you can, of course, search for it), I'll give you a summary:

The process of ordering is very customer focused. I spoke to Eran both on the phone and then followed up via email (he replied within 5 minutes). We arranged for an order that included about 10 items (from memory....they were quark, two cottage varieties, two feta varieties, Lebanese yogurt, and Tahini) and agreed on a delivery time window of two hours. The order was delivered on time and was well packaged in coolers that resulted in the cheese being chilled even after its journey from the company's location to my place. All items were DELICIOUS....and I think I rated most as 8 out of 10 or higher (scale of 1 to 10). The only one I think I rated as lower.....still a very delicious "7"......was the ricotta, which was a bit creamier in consistency than I prefer (I like very dry ricotta....just a personal preference). Make no mistake....even their ricotta tasted great!

Hope that summary helps.....and I think I put approximate prices in my full review.....I just don't recall them now.

CHEERS!

D

[Daren]

I called the Homemade Cheese Co. the other day and while the man was very friendly, he said they currently don't ship outside BKK. What a pity. I guess we just have to wait and hope.

[wagoosh]

I called HomeMade-Cheese Co.

They were very helpful and nice, and as was mentioned-customer service oriented.

I asked them about the Hygene and Health concerns and they assured me that everything is made by the highest cleaning standart and high qaulity control. They even claim that they got the THAI FDA CERTIFICATE and ministry of health documents and i was allso invited to come and see if i like.

I will make an order probably next week and review it here on the forum.

How is their Yogurt by the way? maybe better if i try first...

They sent me a price list and i tried to attache it to this Reply i hope it works...

if not just email them and they will send you one as well:

Edited May 28, 2009 by thaigerd
Please contact sales for your activities here.

[bkkjames]

I called HomeMade-Cheese Co.

They were very helpful and nice, and as was mentioned-customer service oriented.

I asked them about the Hygene and Health concerns and they assured me that everything is made by the highest cleaning standart and high qaulity control. They even claim that they got the THAI FDA CERTIFICATE and ministry of health documents and i was allso invited to come and see if i like.

I will make an order probably next week and review it here on the forum.

How is their Yogurt by the way? maybe better if i try first...

They sent me a price list and i tried to attache it to this Reply i hope it works...

if not just email them and they will send you one as well:

[email protected]

Great, thanks for that. Question are they B2C or B2B? You mentioned you could go see them? Do they have a storefront? Where?

Thanks

Edit to add: I notice from their menu that besides the yogurt - their pricing structure doesn't offer any incentives for buying the 500 gram portions?

Edited May 28, 2009 by bkkjames

[Plus]

I noticed that they don't give an address or a land line number, they could be stealing the stuff somewhere for all I know.

And they don't have ane aging cheese, only fresh, like cottage.

Feta sounds interesting, though.