Highlights of the latest bi-weekly price
survey, released today (August 13) and conducted on a basket of 15
commodities (11 food and 4 non-food items) at a total of 18
different retail outlets in the Tseung Kwan O Po Lam/Hang Hau
district include:
- In the food sector, the items were found with price differences
ranging from 5.2% to 57.9%. The biggest price difference was found
in Soy Sauce 600ml ranging in price from $18.3, the lowest, to
$28.9, the highest, a price difference of $10.6 or 57.9%.
- High price differences were recorded in 2 other food items:
Fried Noodle Seafood Oyster Sauce 118g (from $5 to $7.6 or 52%
difference); and Chilli Garlic Sauce 226g ($10 to $13.9 or
39%).
- Notable price differences were found also in Spiced Pork Cubes
142g (from $9.5 to $12.9 or 35.8% difference); Chicken Franks 12oz
($9 to $11.9 or 32.2%); Instant Noodle with Soup Base 100g ($3.5 to
$4.4 or 25.7%); and High Calcium Low Fat Milk Powder 850g ($66 to
$80.9 or 22.6%).
- The remainder 4 food items were also found with price
differences of a smaller extent between 5.2% and 18.3%.
- Grocery/frozen food outlets scored the most items with lowest
prices (8 out of 11) while major supermarket chains 2 items and
drugstores 1 item. Conversely, 10 items with highest prices were
recorded in the major supermarket chains, while 1 item each in
grocery/frozen food and health and beauty chains.
- Some of the major supermarket chains offered bulk purchase
discount, e.g. Steam Dumpling 16 pieces at a unit price of $12.45
for purchase of 2 packs but the discounted price was still higher
than that at grocery stores; also Fried Noodle Seafood Oyster Sauce
118g at unit price $5 for purchase of 2 items was as cheap as the
lowest price recorded in a grocery/frozen food outlet
surveyed.
- In this survey, Spiced Pork Cubes 142g was recorded with a
price difference of 35.8% (from $9.5 to $12.9), which compared
favourably with a price difference of 65.6% (from $9 to $14.9) for
the same item in a previous survey on June 18.
- In the category of the 4 non-food items, the price differences
of the items in the survey ranged from 36.3% to 99.5%.
- The higher price difference was found in Shampoo for Normal Hair 750ml (from $20 to $39.9 or 99.5% difference), followed by Floride Toothpaste 130g ($21 to $35.9 or 71%), and Tooth and Gum Care Alcohol-Free Mouth Rinse 750ml ($25 to $39 or 59.6%). Generally, drugstores were cheaper by comparison with the big supermarket chains and health and beauty chains for these household items.
Results of the bi-weekly price survey are available for reference of consumers at the Council's website www.consumer.org.hk/pricewatch, its Consumer Advice Centres as well as the Public Enquiry Service Centre of Sai Kung Office.
Price comparison report (Chinese
only) :
Microsoft Excel format /
PDF format
Issued by
Consumer Council
13 August 2008