Pork chop sandwiches soar as CC finds whopping price differences at local cafes

The Consumer Council (CC) has surveyed the prices of a range of food and beverage items at local cafes and continues to find significant disparities between establishments.

In the latest price update, released yesterday, the CC also found that several establishments have recently increased the price of several popular menu items such as milk tea, coffee, butter toast, and pork chop sandwiches.

In some cases, price hikes were as high as 14.3% (milk tea and coffee), with the highest increase in the food category found to be pork chop sandwiches (+12.5%).

The Times investigated the price differences for some items, noting that the CC’s cheapest price for milk tea was 12 patacas, while the higher priced items were as much as 22 patacas.

An even larger price gap was found for hot coffee, with prices ranging between 12 and 24 patacas.

Similar differences were also noted for ice lemon tea, with the lowest price being 15 patacas and the highest 27 patacas.

Slightly lower variation was found in several food items, such as butter toast (ranging between 10 to 18 patacas) and egg sandwiches (between 13 to 22 patacas). Of the products selected by the Times, egg sandwiches presented lower price increases compared to January this year, with the price remaining stable in most eateries and the highest price increase recorded being 6.7%.

On the other hand, pork chop sandwiches registered, in some cases, a price increase of 12.5%, with a price range of 17 patacas to 30 patacas.

Café T.H.S. Honolulu consistently came out on top for higher prices in Macau in all but one category (the pork chop sandwich), with Café Alves in second place for the most items.

On the other end, the cheaper food and beverage items in most categories reviewed could be found at The Estabelecimento de Comidas Combo at Toi San and the Estabelecimento de Comidas Zuan Pu at Areia Preta.

The Estabelecimento de Comidas Kam Hoi Ma at Rua da Barca and the Estabelecimento de Comidas Kuong Chong at the Avenida de Venceslau Morais also presented very reasonable prices, particularly for food items.

The CC has also recently updated its price investigations for eggs and raw chicken, but unlike with other categories, no reference was made to the previous price of these items making comparison difficult.