How much is the price of 1 liter box of 100% pure orange juice? Why am I asking this question? When I first came to Vancouver, Canada, I was very surprise because everything is so expensive here. Worse, if you buy something, the listed price does not include taxes yet. They have GST (Good and Services Tax) and PST (Provincial Sales Tax) here. In total, we have to pay additional 14% of the listed price!!! Fortunately, we don’t need to pay PST for some products, like some food products.
One the products that made me quite surprise when I first came here was orange juice. I like drinking 100% pure orange juice (and also apple juice). When I went to the supermarket, I just can’t believe looking at the price. It is fantastically expensive. Just for comparison, I would like to compare the price of 1 liter box of 100% pure orange juice in three different countries, i.e. Germany, Singapore and Canada. Why these three countries? It is simply because I have lived in those countries in the last five years. I know this is not a fair comparison because the juice makers are different; thus the quality of each product may be different too.
- Country: Germany (Stuttgart, Bochum)
Brand: Rio Doro
Supermarket: Aldi
Price: EUR 0.49 (tax included)
Price in US$: $0.41 - Country: Singapore
Brand: Ceres
Supermarket: Fair Price
Price: S$ 1.65 (tax included)
Price in US$: $1.02 - Country: Canada (Vancouver)
Brand: Sunrype
Supermarket: SaveOnFoods
Price: C$ 1.99 (tax excluded)
Price in US$: $1.71
As you can see here, the price of orange juice in Canada is about twice more expensive than Singapore. Note that the price in Canada does not include tax yet!
Some of you from Canada may argue that SaveOnFoods is one of expensive supermarkets in Canada. I can give another example. When I bought the same orange juice from Costco, 12 x 1 liter of orange juice costs C$15.99 (excluding tax). It means 1 liter of orange juice costs C$15.99 / 12 = C$1.33 = US$ 1.14. It is more expensive than Singapore! Just for your information, we cannot buy 1 liter orange juice in Costco. We have to buy 12 liters (= 12 x 1 liter) because they always sell products in large quantities.
As I said, the comparison of orange juice may not be so far. Let’s take a look at another product, i.e. a chocolate bar. I use one of my favorite chocolate, Ritter Sport. How much is the price of 1 Ritter Sport chocolate in each country?
- Country: Germany (Stuttgart, Bochum)
Supermarket: Lidl
Price: EUR 0.85 (tax included)
Price in US$: $0.71 - Country: Singapore
Supermarket: Fair Price
Price: S$ 2.70 (tax included)
Price in US$: $1.67 - Country: Canada (Vancouver)
Supermarket: SaveOnFoods
Price: C$ 2.19 (tax excluded)
Price in US$: $1.88
Once again, this may not be a fair comparison because Ritter Sport is a German chocolate. The price is, of course, much cheaper in Germany. However, if we compare the price between Singapore and Canada, then Canada is still more expensive (even when tax is excluded).
Note: I have a comparison of living cost between these three countries too.
Having read your comments about the price of orange juice, I can only agree with you about how expensive food is in Vancouver. I\’ve just moved here from England and find that prices are significantly higher, there is less choice and the fact that tax is not included in the price is such a pain! I could not believe that economies as developed as the US and Canada still show net prices despite the fact that the tax has to be paid. Somehow, I can\’t see that changing so no doubt I\’ll get used to it soon enough.