Comments on: Are we really that expensive?

By: James T. Savidge

James T. Savidge — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 22:19:26 +0000

Regarding Noka, It is made here in the Dallas, Texas area, and a local food blogger did an eleven piece story about them, and their chocolate: What's Noka Worth?

By: Kieran

Kieran — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 15:44:56 +0000

Good point, Ivan, about the supply chain! Of course having such a small, diffuse population makes things more challenging in terms of selling more locally, also a huge difference in terms of appreciation for local produce as compared to Italy, France, etc.

By: Ivan

Ivan — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 15:33:25 +0000

I agree completely on super-premium products, but what is disappointing is how expensive general, decent food is, compared with other places: I was in Italy last week and bought the most delicious speck for €14/kilo, and good local cheese for €10/kilo.
Locally-produced, vey short supply chain (producer sells to retailer, who sells to me), and great value. Here, so little is sold locally that the big supply chain takes all the money, leaving the producer with nothing, and the consumer with bad value.
Exceptions exist in Ireland (Traas’ apples in Tipperary, for example) but are far too rare.

By: Aoife

Aoife — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 10:49:18 +0000

I like a good bargain, but most of the Aldi and Lidl items are made or produced abroad. It’s time for us to value what we do here in Ireland, appreciate that we create excellent food, and realise that the whole economy is interconnected!

By: Lorna

Lorna — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 21:27:58 +0000

This post summed up a lot of my frustration too. There is so much now about how so many people are shopping sensibly by shopping in Aldi and Lidl. I don’t have a problem with shopping in these stores but it is hyped as if people are wasting money if they spend too much on good food – when surely – we are what we eat.

By: Kieran

Kieran — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 14:55:40 +0000

Thanks, everyone, for your comments! Henry, thanks for so perfectly illustrating the points I made in this post. I’ll try to avoid holidays in the future.

By: Henry Barth

Henry Barth — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 13:12:08 +0000

In Sligo, your ice cream – made in Ireland — is EUR 7.95 for a 500-ml container.

Haagen-Dazs, imported from the US, is usually around EUR 6 for 475-ml (The US Pint)

Irish-made Murphy’s Ice Cream has much more air in it than Haagen-Dazs.

I don’t know the weight of each, but given the air in Murphy’s, I’m sure Haagen-Dazs is heavier with cream.

The best value with great taste in ice cream in Ireland is the SuperValu brand which I believe is made by Musgrave’s.

EU 7.95 is very expensive for the airy ice cream, guys.

Or are we also paying for trips to Japan?

By: Gordon Smith

Gordon Smith — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 16:02:46 +0000

There’s a great quote from the chef Giorgio Locatelli – not verbatim, but the gist is, ‘never ask why a food is so expensive. You shoudl ask instead how it can be so cheap.’
Very few people seem to realise that producing good food has a fair price, because we’ve been brought up to believe that it should be cheap. No-one seems to have made the connection between our ‘need’ for cheap meat, for example, and the recent pork scare. If something isn’t mass produced – and more importantly, a bit of time, love and effort has gone into making it – then obviously it will cost more, but you’d have a job convincing anyone of that argument, especially these days. Anyway, in time like these, who doesn’t need a little cheer-me-up food every once in a while? Don’t let the recessionistas bring you down!