Belarusians posted photos and the cost of their groceries from a Polish store and blew up Threads. It reached as far as Kazakhstan
“We went grocery shopping on Saturday. Question: how much would a similar set of products cost in your city?” — Belarusians wrote and added photos.
Photo: gigantskij_zhuk / Threads
The entire set of products, purchased from two stores, was spread across five photos. The post itself garnered over 120 thousand views and more than 1000 comments from various countries within a day.
The products in the photos cost 410 zlotys, which is about 115 dollars or about 330 rubles.
In the comments, someone immediately suggested that in Belarus, such a set of products would cost twice as much. And it took off.
Photo: screenshot from Threads
Numbers in Belarus
True, this is a rough comparison. A person who more accurately calculated the cost of similar products in Belarus reported a sum of 460 rubles, meaning more expensive — but only by one and a half times.
Another user calculated that she ended up with 478 rubles, which is close to the previous figures. Yet another man suggested that such a set of products in Belarus would cost around 500 rubles.
“Considering that good red fish here costs 25-30 rubles per kg... And generally, I think there's no point in comparing. Last week, my wife and I bought a standard set of food: 4 pieces each of tomatoes, apples, vegetables in total — we paid 100 rubles. And here... what are we even talking about... I just showed your set to my wife. And if you got such a haul for 330 rubles — she was amazed,” he adds. However, the man was quickly corrected that such fish costs from 45 to 60 rubles per kilogram.
A Belarusian woman who assembled a similar basket at “Edastavka” paid 606 rubles.
Photo: gigantskij_zhuk / Threads
Is it all about discounts?
Many noted that many of the products in Poland were purchased on promotion.
“I look at the photo and immediately understand: the shopping was done at 'Biedronka'. 'Merci' was on a 1+1 promotion, salmon was also cheaper, and there was a discount on the second carton of eggs,” a user points out.
Photo: gigantskij_zhuk / Threads
Others note that depending on the chosen set of products, the price difference can favor either Belarus or Poland, so overall prices are more or less the same.
“Of course, each country has its advantageous positions. If you buy a lot of trout, it will pull in one direction; eggs and dairy — in another.
In Poland, you can buy jamon and mango cheaply; in Belarus, good inexpensive steaks, torpedo melons, and watermelons. But a balanced basket (I consider mine more or less balanced) turns out to be roughly equal in price. However, in 2022, it was indeed noticeably cheaper in Poland.”
Threads Reached Kazakhstan
Notably, there are many users from Kazakhstan among the commentators.
“I initially thought the entire set of products was in the first image, and immediately thought that prices in Kazakhstan were the same. Then I swiped left a few times,” writes a person from Kazakhstan.
“155 dollars in Kazakhstan — that's purely your two packs of 'Merci' and this salmon,” jokes another commentator.
But there were also those who thoroughly approached the question of comparing food prices in Poland and Kazakhstan.
Photo: gigantskij_zhuk / Threads
“I'm from Kazakhstan, I wasn't lazy and entered your entire grocery basket on a supermarket website. In euros, it's 155€, in dollars — 185$. So it can be accurately said that it's twice as expensive here,” writes a user from Kazakhstan, adding that she entered everything precisely according to the quantities and grammages indicated by the post's author.
Another commentator ended up with a total of 167 dollars.
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