Business | Markets
Supermarkets offer identical products at different prices
A number of identical products sold in a selection of UAE supermarkets have wildly differing price tags, according to information provided by the Ministry of Economy.
- By Robert Ditcham, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 August 30, 2006
Dubai: A number of identical products sold in a selection of UAE supermarkets have wildly differing price tags, according to information provided by the Ministry of Economy.
Click here for selected commodities prices (pdf)
Although most goods have minimal price tags depending on which supermarket you go to and in which emirate, certain goods are priced about Dh15 cheaper in some stores than in others.
The biggest difference was in meat and fish products, while price tags varied by less than Dh5 for most other goods in the survey.
On the fish counter, Omani shrimp was priced Dh27.90 per kg in Umm Al Quwain's Lulu Centre, but Dh38.50 in Carrefour, Sharjah a Dh10.60 discrepancy. The cost of shrimp was generally cheaper in Dubai than in other emirates.
Chilled mutton with bone was Dh15.75 in Lulu Centres in Dubai, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain and Fujairah, but around the Dh20 per kg mark in most other stores.
A huge price difference of Dh15 exists between the cheapest and most expensive UAE-sourced fresh boneless chicken breasts.
Dubai's Lulu Centre charged Dh13.50 per 500 gm, while they were around Dh28 in Sharjah's Carrefour and Sharjah Cooperative Society supermarkets. Most other stores priced the item in the region of Dh25.
Meanwhile, bathroom and kitchen products included in the list were priced very similarly throughout the UAE.
In the fruit and vegetables section, prices were generally within a couple of dirhams of each other, although Omani eggplants were substantially more expensive in Lulu Centre, Fujairah than most other stores.
The majority of supermarkets priced Basma frozen green beans at around the Dh2 per 400gm mark, but Carrefour in Abu Dhabi labelled the product with a Dh3.60 tag.
Dairy products were priced almost identically.
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