Cost of Living in the Philippines in 2008 (Part 2)

This is "Part 2" of my "Cost of Living in the Philippines in 2008" series. This part consists primarily of food and beverage. Pardon me for putting "creamer" inside "beverages" as I don't know exactly what category it should be included in. Anyway, the prices indicated below are SM Supermarket prices (particularly SM Manila's) gathered on August 18, 2008 (Monday) unless otherwise specified.

Gathering all these information took me about a little less than two hours of running up and down the aisles and listing down the prices manually (with pen and paper), with people staring at me much of the time (also, I think some of the supermarket personnel were suspicious of me... either that or I'm just being paranoid). For this, I would like to emphasize that although much care is taken in assuring that all information provided herein are correct, some errors MAY still be present... after all, I'm only human. As such, you SHOULD subject the information contained herein to further verification before using them for whatever reason. And of course, all these are subject to change from over time.

Just for the record, I did buy a few things during my wandering... a carton of Cowhead Pure Milk (1 liter carton), a 300-gram bag of Milo, a 170-gram box of Nestle Coco Crunch, and a (big) refill bag of Joy (Antibac) dishwashing liquid (the price of which I didn't bother to take down anymore).

(Just to give reference points, I’ll be including the latest monetary exchange rates and the minimum daily wage in every post I make regarding this matter)

Philippine Peso Exchange Rate:
to the U.S. Dollar = P45.59527 (as of August 20, 2008 – 1:27 pm)
to the Euro = P67.01274 (as of August 20, 2008 - 1:28 pm)

Minimum Daily Wage (as of August 20, 2008): P382.00

Rice:

• Dinorado (Bonus – 25 kg): P1260.00 (or P50.40/kg)
  
• Sinandomeng (Harvester’s – 2 kg): P114.5 (or P57.25/kg)
  
• Wagwag (Bonus): P52.50/kg
  

Beverage:

• Milk


• Powdered Filled Milk:
  
• Nestle Bear Brand (900 g can): P279.50
  
• Alaska (800 g can): P242.50
  


• Full Cream Milk Powder:
  
  • Birch Tree (900 g can): P374.50
    
  • Nido (900 g can): P339.50
    


• Fresh Milk:
  
  • Cowhead (1 Liter carton): P67.50
    
  • Nestle Fresh (1 Liter carton): P63.50
    

• Kids’ Energy (Choco-Malt) Drink:
  


• Milo (300 g): P57.50
  
• Ovaltine (330 g): P59.50
  

• Coffee:
  


• Nescafe Classic (200 g in jar): P199.50
  
• Nescafe Classic (110 g refill): P69.50
  
• Nescafe Classic (50 g refill): P34.50
  
• Nescafe Decaf (200 g in jar): P279.50
  
• Nescafe Gold (200 g in jar): P419.50
  

• Non-Dairy Creamer:


• Nestle Coffee-Mate (Original)
  
• 170 g: P59.50
  
• 80 g (refill pack): P19.95
  
• 200 g (refill pack): P40.00
  
• 450 g (refill pack): P89.50
  

• Soda:
  


• Bottled:
  
  • Coke (“Sakto” 200 ml): P5.50
    
  • Coke (8 oz.): P8.00
    
  • Coke (12 oz.): P10.00
    
  • RC Cola (240 ml): P5.00
    


• In Can (330 ml):
  
  • Coke: P18.00
    
  • Coke Light: P20.00
    
  • Sprite: P18.50
    
  • Royal Tru-Orange: P18.50
    
  • Pepsi: P17.50
    
  • Pepsi Light: P17.50
    
  • 7-up: P17.25
    


• In PET Bottle (500 ml):
  
• Coke: P21.00
  
• Coke Light: P22.50
  
• Royal Tru-Orange: P21.00
  
• Pepsi: P20.00
  
• Mountain Dew: P20.00
  
• Mirinda: P20.00
  

• Beer (in can - 330 ml):
  


• San Miguel (Pale Pilsen): P26.50
  
• San Miguel (Super Dry): P32.50
  
• San Miguel (Strong Ice): P32.50
  
• San Mig Light: P27.50
  
• Red Horse: P26.50
  
• Colt 45: P24.50
  

• Bottled Water (500 ml):
  


• Summit: P11.50
  
• Absolute: P12.50
  

Breakfast Cereals:

• Nestle Coco Crunch (170g): P74.50
  
• Nestle Corn Flakes (150g): P59.50
  
• Kellogg’s Frosties (175g): P74.50
  
• Kellogg’s Corn Flakes Classic (150g): P66.50
  

Dairy Products:

• Cheese:
  
• Kraft Eden Filled Cheese Original (180 g): P33.00
  
• Magnolia Cheezee Filled Cheese (185 g): P37.00
  
• Magnolia Cheddar (185 g): P59.00
  
• Kraft Cheddar (180 g): P61.00
  
• Kraft Cheez Whiz (220 g): P58.50
  

• Butter:
  
• Anchor (Salted/Unsalted) 227 g: P78.00
  
• Lurpak (Salted/Unsalted) 200 g: P154.00/P156.00
  

• Margarine:
  
• DariCreme Classic (225 g): P37.00
  
• Magnolia Buttercup (225 g): P31.00
  
• Selecta Butterfresh (225 g): P25.00
  

Condiments:

• Sugar:


• Hermano Washed Sugar (1 kg): P33.25
  
• Peacock Brown/Cane Sugar (1 kg): P29.75
  
• Peacock White Sugar (1 kg): P38.25
  
• Bonus Brown/Cane Sugar (1 kg): P29.50
  
• Bonus White Sugar (1 kg): P38.00
  

• Iodized Salt:


• Bonus (500 g): P8.00
  
• P.V.L. (500 g): P9.50
  
• Marco Polo (500 g): P13.50
  
• McCormick (140 g – shaker): P15.50
  

• Soy Sauce:


• Silver Swan (385 ml): P12.25
  
• Marca Piña (500 ml): P18.00
  
• Bonus (350 ml): P8.50
  

• Vinegar:


• Datu Puti (385 ml): P10.85
  
• Bonus (350 ml): P7.50
  
• Marca Piña (385 ml): P10.95
  

Cooking Oil:

• Golden Fiesta Soya Oil (1 Liter): P126.50
  
• Golden Fiesta Canola Oil (1 Liter): P144.50
  
• Golden Fiesta Palm Oil (950 ml): P108.60
  
• Bimoli Vegetable Oil (1 Liter): P103.50
  
• Minola Lauric Oil (1 Liter): P103.25
  
• Baguio Vegetable Oil (1 Liter): P106.00
  

Chicken Eggs (Medium – 1 dozen):

• Bonus: P57.00
  
• Masagana: P59.00
  
• Bounty Fresh: P59.00
  

Chicken (Magnolia Brand):

• Quarter Cut: P118.00/kg
  
• Breast: P138.00/kg
  
• Drumstick: P145.00/kg
  
• Wings: P145.00/kg
  
• Whole Leg: P138.00/kg
  
• Whole Chicken: P117.00 to P120.00 per kg
  

Pork (SM Bonus Brand):

• Pork Belly (w/ skin on): P156.00/kg
  
• Menudo Cut: P165.00/kg
  
• Pork Cubes: P167.00/kg
  
• Shoulder/Kasim (w/ skin on): P148.00/kg
  
• Pigue (leg/ham): P148.00/kg
  

Beef:

• Oxtripe: P107.00/kg
  
• Short Ribs: P182.00/kg
  
• Beef Rump: P200.00 to P250.00 (as of August 14, 2008 from http://www.bas.gov.ph)
  
• Beef Brisket: P160.00 to P200.00 (as of August 14, 2008 http://www.bas.gov.ph)
  

Fish:

• Galunggong: P132.00/kg
  
• Tulingan: P148.00/kg
  
• Dalagang Bukid: P170/kg
  
• Bisugo: P200.00/kg
  
• Pampano: P270.00/kg
  
• Danggit: P145.00/kg
  
• Labahita: P201.00/kg
  
• Lapu-Lapu (black): P420.00/kg
  
• Bangus: P120.00 to P130.00 pr kg
  
• Tilapia: P94.00/kg
  

Vegetable:

• Ampalaya (Bitter Gourd): P56.00/kg
  
• String Beans: P39.00/kg
  
• Native Tomato: P49.00/kg
  
• White Onion: P67.00/kg
  
• Red Onion: P87.00/kg
  
• Garlic: P34.00/kg
  
• Ginger: P124.00/kg
  
• Eggplant: P30.00/kg
  
• Squash: P24.00/kg
  
• Cucumber: P63.00/kg
  
• Sayote: P26.00/kg
  
• Baguio Beans: P64.00/kg
  
• Carrots: P64.00/kg
  
• Pechay Baguio: P34.00/kg
  
• Potato: P47.00/kg
  
• Okra: P29.00/kg
  
• Cabbage: P35.00/kg

Click here for Part 1

Click here for Part 3