Abby, Zoë and Enzo

Today Irene stopped by on her way to Hiper and picked us up to tag along.  We weren't in dire need of a shopping trip, but we thought we'd better take the opportunity to be able to stock up on some things without having to carry the heavy stuff back ourselves.  Also, I thought it would be a good time to look at baby stuff with Irene, since last time I looked there were things that I didn't quite understand.

Chris and I both paid attention to what Irene put in her cart and asked questions about everything, from how to prepare things, to what stuff was in the first place.  We put off buying diapers and nursing pads again, but did get wipes.  It was definitely helpful to go with Irene, and especially nice to be able to not only have a lift to and from, but a lift for the groceries as well!

Wal-mart owns Hiper Bom Preço (Hyper Good Price), but I don't think their slogans are the same.  I don't see any prices being rolled back here in Brazil.  It is actually quite the opposite.  Wal-mart isn't known for quality goods in the US, nor is it here.  The goods seem to all be sourced from the same place, mostly China.  Unfortunately here, almost every single item is more expensive than the Wal-mart in the US.  Why is this?  Doesn't Wal-mart globally have the purchasing power to effectively standardize their prices across all stores, regardless of country?  It seems that they can charge more, for the same or less quality goods here than they can in the US.  It seems contradictory, as they earn less here, are taxed 17% on purchases, and the prices are higher for the same goods.  It can't all be explained as importation and logistics of goods in shipping containers from China.  I am shocked to see that 250g of Oatmeal costs R$2.08 = US$1.27.  The name brand product in the US would cost US$0.97, a difference of US$0.30 (33% more expensive).  We spend US$2.12 for a huge container of oats, lasts at least 1 month.  You also don't save money here buy purchasing the larger amount.  The larger 500g box of oats was R$4.38.  This holds true for all other items I noticed, cookies, rice, beans, everything.  If you buy two of the smaller packages, you are saving money by consuming more packaging.  I think it is because most Brazilians can not purchase so much at once, but 250g of oatmeal only almost 4 breakfasts for the girls, and if I am having any, just barely 3 breakfasts.  Butter without salt costs R$3.53 = US$2.16, with salt costs R$2.53 = US$1.55 for 200g (0.44 pounds).  At Shaws or Walmart, we get a pound of unsalted butter for around US$2.27.  Salted butter here costs US$3.51 per pound, unsalted butter US$4.90 per pound, 54% and 115% more expensive respectively than in the US.  Surely there are cows and dairy here, and we aren't getting the most expensive product here for the comparison, but the least expensive as I am too frugal.  Cheese here, I won't even detail, even the local soft cheese are more expensive pound for pound than our cheeses, and the imported cheeses like Cheddar, Gouda, Gorgonzola, Blue, Feta, Bree, etc...  are so expensive, that it would be cheaper to eat gold shavings.  There is a benefit to these prices, we are curtailing and limiting our dairy products.  We only use a small amount of butter for our pan when cooking eggs, and the girls are only have some liquid yogurt with fruit.  I have been buying rolls, which I toast up in the pan, and then place some Guava jelly or banana jelly and fry it again until the jelly is hot and runny. It is a tasty treat, and every time I make it for the girls, I think of their great grandfather Elio, and how he enjoyed jelly bread.  Eggs here are less expensive than at home, R$7.49 = US$4.57 for 30 eggs (US$0.15 per egg US$1.83 per dozen) versus the all natural omega 3 eggs at US$2.79 per dozen (US$0.23 per egg).  Comparable eggs without the omega 3's are about 40% less expensive than in the US.  Health and beauty items, like shampoo, skin care, and sunblock are outrageously expensive.  The middle range bottles of shampoo were US$20 and up, for a medium sized bottle, smaller than the US packaging.  Where we spent US$8.18 for 473 ml (16 oz US$0.0173 / ml) of No Ad sun block SPF 60, here 120ml of the cheapest stuff SPF 30, cost R$21.40 = US$13.06 (US$0.1088 / ml).  The same size product that we bought at home would have cost us more than US$50.  We buy 5 pounds of flour at home for US$1.88, here we bought 1 kg of flour for R$2.75 = US$1.69.  It is almost twice as expensive as in the US. 

Let me know if you want me to keep my eyes open for anything specific to compare.