Consumer Council released its first 'Supermarket Price Survey' of this year dated 17th January. In comparison with last time's survey, prices of around 60 percent of the surveyed products, mainly beverages, cleansing and hygienic products, had been decreased and recorded no change in price. Around 40 percent of the surveyed products recorded minimal increases in price. In the current survey, prices of 108 products, or 31 percent of the total number, had dropped, they included beverages, cleansing and hygienic products. Prices of around 27 percent of products remained unchanged. Shampoos and shower gels recorded minimal to about 4 percent of decreases in price while rice, canned foods and cereal products recorded no change in price. About 40 percent of products, mainly cooking oil, seasonings and dairy products, recorded minimal changes of less than 1 percent increase in price. Meanwhile, price increases recorded in seasonings ranged from 2 to 6 percent. Price increases were also observed in frozen food in which average prices of 7 of the 9 surveyed products had been raised slightly to up to over 16 percent. Among the 11 fixed choices of supermarkets surveyed by the Council, Tai Fung supermarket in Taipa recorded the highest percentage of on-shelf lowest price items, which meant that around 60 percent of over 250 items sold at Taipa Tai Fung recorded the lowest price among all surveyed supermarkets in the current survey. Park'n Shop at R. Areia Preta came next, with 24 percent of its over 180 on-shelf items having the lowest price. 20 percent of the over 260 items sold at Lee Fong supermarket at Almirante Costa Cabral also recorded the lowest price. Consumer Council reminds consumers that among the various supermarket chain stores surveyed, selling prices were found to vary in different branches in different regions. In this month's survey, price discrepancies were observed mainly in branches of San Miu supermarket in which about one third of the surveyed products sold at its R. dos Mercadores branch and Millennium Court branch were found to have different selling prices, price differences ranged from 5 to 10 percent were observed and found mainly in cereal products and canned foods. Prices of 10 products were also found to differ up to 60 percent in different branches of both Royal Supermarket and Park'n Shop. Consumers are advised to check with the information available on the 'Supermarket Price Information Platform', especially the function of 'Top Ten Price Differences' for the surveyed products. Consumers can also download the 'Supermarket Price Information Platform' iPhone and Android apps to make price comparisons. The latest 'Supermarket Price Survey' is now available on Consumer Council's website (www.consumer.gov.mo), and the 'Supermarket Price Information Platform' iPhone and Android apps. The survey is also available free of charge at the offices of Consumer Council, IACM's Iao Hon and S. Domingos Markets, bookstores and libraries. Consumers may also access the resources through WAP channels on their mobile phones. For enquiry, please call 8988 9315.
