I am a creature of habit.
Some people in Mexico get a thrill out of shopping for the food they are going to prepare that day by going to four or five different shops. Not me. When I find a store that provides me with a wide-range of good food, I tend to do all of my shopping there.
It helps that I have weaned myself from the Stalinist recipe-oriented method of meal preparation. I tend to look for interesting or new fresh vegetables I can combine in some original fashion with whatever is fresh at the butcher.
If you have been stopping by these pages very often , you already know my favorite grocery store is named Hawaii. In San Patricio.
I have been shopping there exclusively for almost eight years.
The first couple of years here I shopped at various vegetable stands around town. I then noticed I was spending more and more time at Hawaii -- for one very specific reason. Alex, the owner, is a master businessman. He has turned his store into an emporium of the exotic. If you need a bottle of citrus-infused soy sauce or Tillamook extra sharp cheddar, he has it.
Bit by bit, I transitioned to Hawaii, and have been shopping there ever since. Partly because I know the staff and like them. They always make me feel as if I am paying their wages. Which, I guess, I do. In a small part.
One of the most common questions I am asked by friends up north is how much does it cost to live in Mexico? Is food inexpensive? My answer is the same. "It depends. Yes and no."
As a public service, I will show you what was in my two reusable bags when I left the store Friday afternoon. If you have looked at the photograph, you already know.
Because I only had two bags, I was a bit surprised at the price. $961 (Mx). Just under $50 (US). If I had walked out of the Bend Fred Meyer with two bags costing that much, I would not have thought about it. But I hear a lot of people talking about how inexpensive food is here. It is. But not always.
Let's check those bags.
- 2 packets of ham lunch meat -- $220 (Mx) -- $11.20 (US)
- a loaf of bread -- $48 (Mx) -- $2.45 (US)
- hummus -- $105 (Mx) -- $5.35 (US)
- a tube of veggie-chips -- $71.50 (Mx) -- $3.65 (US)
- a bag of vegetables -- $51.50 (Mx) -- $2.63 (US)
- a large canister of cashews -- $465 (Mx) -- $23.71 (US)
The vegetables were the only bargain on the list. I am willing to guess that the lunch meat. bread, hummus, and snack chips would cost about the same in The States. Maybe a little more, but, at least, comparable.
The outlier is the canister of cashews. At least, I think that is true. Maybe that canister would cost $24 in The States. I don't know. I do know that it added up to almost half of my bill on Friday.
You may have noted the brand name. Kirkland. The cashews are imported. They are American cashews.
When I first started visiting Mexico in the early 1970s, while I was in flight training at Laredo, I would no more have imagined finding cashews in a Mexican grocery than I would finding a fresh serrano chili in Fred Meyer. The border acted as a trade dam for a long time.
When I discovered Hawaii around 2009, Alex had a few imported items. But they were very expensive. Over the next few years, availability increased, and prices came down.
Until the bottom fell out of the Mexican peso in 2016. Because of the unfavorable exchange rate, the price of northern goods spiked. A can of Campbell's tomato soup sells for the equivalent of $3.27 (US). They have remained there ever since.
I have previously written about the cost-of-living in Mexico. Apparently, cost was one of the major driving forces for some people in their move here. I get that impression listening to some northerners talking about groceries.
The outlier is the canister of cashews. At least, I think that is true. Maybe that canister would cost $24 in The States. I don't know. I do know that it added up to almost half of my bill on Friday.
You may have noted the brand name. Kirkland. The cashews are imported. They are American cashews.
When I first started visiting Mexico in the early 1970s, while I was in flight training at Laredo, I would no more have imagined finding cashews in a Mexican grocery than I would finding a fresh serrano chili in Fred Meyer. The border acted as a trade dam for a long time.
When I discovered Hawaii around 2009, Alex had a few imported items. But they were very expensive. Over the next few years, availability increased, and prices came down.
Until the bottom fell out of the Mexican peso in 2016. Because of the unfavorable exchange rate, the price of northern goods spiked. A can of Campbell's tomato soup sells for the equivalent of $3.27 (US). They have remained there ever since.
I have previously written about the cost-of-living in Mexico. Apparently, cost was one of the major driving forces for some people in their move here. I get that impression listening to some northerners talking about groceries.
"I can buy five bags of groceries for 100 pesos." "100? I can get the same groceries for 25." "25? Spendthrift. I can get ten bags of the same groceries, a side of beef, and three cases of Victoria -- and the grocery will pay me 1000 pesos for the privilege of my custom."
So, that is the reason, there is no helpful answer to the question of what groceries cost here. They cost whatever Alex charges me for the items I pull off his shelves.
One last note, do not be beguiled into buying those veggie-chips. They are perhaps the vilest snack I have ever tasted. And that includes Twinkies.
I should have saved the 71 pesos to buy postage stamps.
So, that is the reason, there is no helpful answer to the question of what groceries cost here. They cost whatever Alex charges me for the items I pull off his shelves.
One last note, do not be beguiled into buying those veggie-chips. They are perhaps the vilest snack I have ever tasted. And that includes Twinkies.
I should have saved the 71 pesos to buy postage stamps.
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