Are some of the vegetables being imported to DR?

Koreano

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Jan 18, 2012
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My wife and I had this talk the other day. My wife says some of the veggies can't be this expensive here in DR unless it's being imported. I don't watch the prices carefully so I would not know. But veggies like Garlic, cabbage and etc said from my wife that its more expensive to buy here in DR then in US. I said the otherwise, with the weather and land like DR why would they even import veggies and even rice or beans from other places around the world?

So if my wife is true...
Why would they import these with weather and land like here
and if I am right....
How in the world veggies can cost more to buy here then US?
 

Jumbo

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Jul 8, 2005
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I doubt they import cabbage. I guess it depends on where you live and shop. The cost of tranport has gone up.
 

flyinroom

Silver
Aug 26, 2012
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Maybe they do import if someone somewhere is trying to unload at bargain basement prices.....
Btw, as an aside... I spotted some baby bok choy in a Montreal grocery store that was imported from the Dominican Republic.
I love it when that happens.
 

Castle

Silver
Sep 1, 2012
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And there are those for whom anything grown, built or made abroad is always going to be better than local stuff. So you can usually find a imported vegetables and fruit section in the supermarkets to cater to them...
 

Chip

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Jul 25, 2007
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Santiago
It depends on where you buy. For example Supermecado Nacional has some of the highest prices of produce I've seen here in Santiago. They are cheaper in the colmados, vegeteleras and on the backs of pickup trucks.
 

dv8

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Sep 27, 2006
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both. there is plenty of local produce that grows just about anywhere: yautia, batatas, yuka. these are quite cheap, especially bought on the street, from the farmers, from the back of the pickup truck, in the market. some are grown here but exclusively in constanza/jarabacoa area and the price is truly idiotic: strawberries, grapes. for the price of a small tray of strawberries here i could have in poland half of a bucket (in season). very strange.

there is some imported stuff like mushrooms, mindbogglingly expensive. other imported things not so much (some herbs for instance).

some things are expensive when out of season (mangoes right now) and dirt cheap in season (oranges can be 50 pesos for 50-100 fruits). some things depend on the weather and can cost more after it was too dry/wet in the season and the harvest was poor.

some stuff is exported and it may be actually cheaper to import the very same thing from abroad. remember the sandy sugar? dominican sugar goes out of the country and it is actually cheaper to import it from outside than sell it here...
 

Criss Colon

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Jan 2, 2002
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yahoomail.com
The California Imported Asparagus I bought at Supermercado National, at 50% off, was less than one poster paid in California!
If you buy in Supermercados, go on "Discount Vegetable Day"!
First class produce, great prices!
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
 

Givadogahome

Silver
Sep 27, 2011
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The DR exports its best quality stuff, and imports bottom shelve stuff other countries would reject.
best place to buy are the vans that come down the streets selling the local farm produce. If you buy from the supermarket then you have a good chance of buying low quality foreign. It is absurd it is cheaper for supermarkets to import the same varieties that we grow here, rather than buy locally, but that just tells you the bottom rack quality you are being sold. I never buy from supermarket unless I can see it comes from here, nothing to do with price, purely that we import cheap crap, and export our good crap. Crackers, I know, but remember where we are.
 

Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
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It's usually labelled as imported. I almost always avoid anything that is not produced locally unless there is no alternative, like apples, kiwifruit or blueberries, and even then those are relatively rare treats.

Mushrooms - the ones with 'Hongos del Caribe' label are produced locally, still very expensive though.
 

Givadogahome

Silver
Sep 27, 2011
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Nothing is cheap in DR, people need to stop thinking like this. Things can be cheaper than another store, but nothing is in comparison to other countries, nothing!

ive never seen a native order a salad, his system may go into shock.
 

Koreano

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Jan 18, 2012
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I knew nothing is cheap here but when my wife and I was talking about general restaurant business in DR. Vegetable and meat came up and the way the things costs it would be next to impossible to make a profit and offer quality product at same time. Hence the questionable reddish-brownish hamburger meats that are fried and sold as Hamburger in the Moca.

I was talking to one of my friend who is in to distributing to Supermarkets in NY/NJ area said that they import some quality Dominican yucca, plantains and many fruits... So Givadogahome is right export quality stuff to US cheaply and import crap in to DR....
 

Chip

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Jul 25, 2007
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Santiago
I knew nothing is cheap here but when my wife and I was talking about general restaurant business in DR. Vegetable and meat came up and the way the things costs it would be next to impossible to make a profit and offer quality product at same time. Hence the questionable reddish-brownish hamburger meats that are fried and sold as Hamburger in the Moca.

I was talking to one of my friend who is in to distributing to Supermarkets in NY/NJ area said that they import some quality Dominican yucca, plantains and many fruits... So Givadogahome is right export quality stuff to US cheaply and import crap in to DR....

With all due respect I doubt the DR imports the majority or even a significant part of the vegetables consumed like giveadogabone would have us believe. I expect he is guessing like many of the posters on this forum. Take it with a grain of salt.
 

Lothario666

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Oct 16, 2012
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With all due respect I doubt the DR imports the majority or even a significant part of the vegetables consumed like giveadogabone would have us believe. I expect he is guessing like many of the posters on this forum.
Take it with a grain of salt.

But, Got Dam it, I don't like salt on my vegetables!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



"R"
 

Chip

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Jul 25, 2007
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Santiago
I just a friend of mine who owns a small supermarket here in Santiago. All of the produce he buys is local.

As I expected the only imported vegetables would be in the few big chain supermarkets, hardly a majority in this country. So much for the knowitalls. Next.
 

Koreano

Bronze
Jan 18, 2012
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With all due respect I doubt the DR imports the majority or even a significant part of the vegetables consumed like giveadogabone would have us believe. I expect he is guessing like many of the posters on this forum. Take it with a grain of salt.
Chip...

Yes. plenty of grain of salt and don't try to make sense of many thing since it's different culture and many things works differently in DR. But, I just can't help it. Something really bothers me and it really doesn't make sense, like when people here in Moca are thrilled that La Sirena is finally opened and saying thing are cheap to buy there. Cheap compare to what? My wife had been shopping at Special Saving Days to save but to my surprise our cost of living doesn't shrink vastly. Yes, I do understand that they probably get their source of diet from relatives or house that owns yucca, plantains and banana trees, but we also get vast source of our main diet from US like Rice and the packaged noodles from Amazon. Does our cost go down? Nope? As we look at our shopping list and receipt, things got more expensive then last year! How in the world that get paid about $200-$250/Month, say La Sirena is cheap?

Makes me scratch my balding head....
 

Koreano

Bronze
Jan 18, 2012
1,546
0
36
both. there is plenty of local produce that grows just about anywhere: yautia, batatas, yuka. these are quite cheap, especially bought on the street, from the farmers, from the back of the pickup truck, in the market. some are grown here but exclusively in constanza/jarabacoa area and the price is truly idiotic: strawberries, grapes. for the price of a small tray of strawberries here i could have in poland half of a bucket (in season). very strange.

there is some imported stuff like mushrooms, mindbogglingly expensive. other imported things not so much (some herbs for instance).

some things are expensive when out of season (mangoes right now) and dirt cheap in season (oranges can be 50 pesos for 50-100 fruits). some things depend on the weather and can cost more after it was too dry/wet in the season and the harvest was poor.

some stuff is exported and it may be actually cheaper to import the very same thing from abroad. remember the sandy sugar? dominican sugar goes out of the country and it is actually cheaper to import it from outside than sell it here...
How in the world did I forgot about the sandy sugar. I thought DR importing sugar? WTF?
 

Chip

Platinum
Jul 25, 2007
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429
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Santiago
Chip...

Yes. plenty of grain of salt and don't try to make sense of many thing since it's different culture and many things works differently in DR. But, I just can't help it. Something really bothers me and it really doesn't make sense, like when people here in Moca are thrilled that La Sirena is finally opened and saying thing are cheap to buy there. Cheap compare to what? My wife had been shopping at Special Saving Days to save but to my surprise our cost of living doesn't shrink vastly. Yes, I do understand that they probably get their source of diet from relatives or house that owns yucca, plantains and banana trees, but we also get vast source of our main diet from US like Rice and the packaged noodles from Amazon. Does our cost go down? Nope? As we look at our shopping list and receipt, things got more expensive then last year! How in the world that get paid about $200-$250/Month, say La Sirena is cheap?

Makes me scratch my balding head....

Honestly I said the colmados were cheap, not the big supermarkets.

Compared to the cost of food in the States it is much cheaper here. I spend about US350 a month on food for 5 people. I hardly buy anything imported. That is the secret.
 

granca

Bronze
Aug 20, 2007
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Just a plea, please. Could you give all prices in Dominican Pesos, which is what they are in the Colmados and Supermarkets not in what are presumably American Dollars. Yes my savings etc are in US dollars but I live and buy in the Dominican Republic NOT Yonkers or South Carolina.
 

Givadogahome

Silver
Sep 27, 2011
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2
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With all due respect I doubt the DR imports the majority or even a significant part of the vegetables consumed like giveadogabone would have us believe. I expect he is guessing like many of the posters on this forum. Take it with a grain of salt.

Well Chip, 'I doubt' as you state makes it evident that you are guessing, like many on here. And I am also not guessing that I am talking about your friends little independent store. We are talking about large chains, the DR imports the crap no one else will accept, and exports the fine quality stuff it produces. The DR takes anything at the reduced price, clothes, toys, FOOD.
So yes, there are places that do sell local produce. It would not be financial sensible to import huge quantities of second rate food. But it is cheap than buying local for the large chains, so no, I'm not guessing. {Dog passes the salt around}