So these are the exact same products from Albert Heijn in the Netherlands and Wellbees in Malta priced today 8 June 2024. It’s really a sad joke, grocery stores in this country are a scam. This store isn’t a cheap store in the Netherlands, actually considered among the pricier ones. Rent, employee expenses, utilities, permits and any other conceivable expense will be significantly higher there yet only one product in this example is slightly cheaper here. It’s not mean to be a scientific study just a random selection.

The only thing that might be cheaper for Dutch stores is transportation and bulk buying discounts but I struggle to believe it could result in such a stark difference. The MCCAA should be looking out for this but are they really?

by halibtalbenna

8 comments

  1. Why the hell are you buying from wellbees? Its the most expensive place here. Pavi Pama and Eurospin have the best prices.

  2. These are only a select few items. Most items sold in ah (and other nl supermarkets) are way more expensive than any other store in Malta. Also if you look at price per kg for the parmigiano it’s actually more expensive in nl, based on your pictures.

  3. There’s most certainly a cost of living crisis, with rampant inflation, but it’s happening all over Europe, including the Netherlands. I don’t think that the premise of your question is correct (that Malta is significantly more expensive). It’s unfair to compare the higher-end stores for affordability. You should be looking at “What’s the cheapest I can get [product]” as a more fair comparison.

  4. I understand your point/frustration but there’s economy of scale. Malta is just too small to get a proper logistics chain going.

    Nevertheless I wouldn’t be surprised if some supermarkets still take advantage of the local situation.

    Also, compared to 15 years ago at least there’s much bigger choice of products and supermarkets available.

  5. 1. Dutch people are cheap af

    2. You are shopping at a premium store in a highly international part of Malta with people having international wages

    3. You are looking at imported brands, these come with a premium when imported to Malta which is slight larger than Groningen… being a distributor doesn’t give you any scalable leverage. Some times they are even covering Malta via Italy. Freight is an issue.

    4. Dutch people are cheap af

    ⭐️☀️👍🥰

  6. Uhm, yeah? Malta is literally just a small island, that import costs money

  7. You’re living on an island so there’s import costs too, and ofc it had to be a Dutch person complaining about something that’s only one euro more in their own country.

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