Why you get
speared by broccoli
Anatomy Of A High Price
By Rob Perez
Star-BulletinLiving in paradise comes at a premium.
But a 203 percent premium? For broccoli crowns?
When the Star-Bulletin did a Hawaii and West Coast price survey in late June, the local price for broccoli crowns at Safeway was $2.39 a pound.
Safeway customers in the pricey Northern California cities of Mill Valley and Davis paid only 79 cents for the same produce.
We were paying more than three times that.
Of the hundreds of products and services the Star-Bulletin priced at nearly 30 retailers, the broccoli crowns had the highest Hawaii markups.
Why?
As it turned out, Safeway determined the Oahu price was not as competitive as it should have been -- and thanked the Star-Bulletin for bringing that to the company's attention.After the newspaper's inquiry, the supermarket chain lowered the Oahu price to $1.29 a pound -- a 46 percent reduction.
"We felt the (original) price was really not in line with what it should be," said Debra Lambert, a Safeway spokeswoman.
But even after the price adjustment, the broccoli crowns still were 63 percent more expensive in Hawaii -- a markup not uncommon for imported produce.
What accounts for such differences?
Shipping is a big factor, particularly for perishable products that are air freighted -- the most costly transportation -- to Hawaii, retailers say.
In addition, broccoli crowns are considered a speciality item in Hawaii because of the low demand, driving up the cost, Lambert said.
She also said Safeway operates a warehouse to handle produce for the company's 18 Hawaii stores, whereas in California the cost of running a similar warehouse operation might be spread over 200 stores.
"It costs us a little bit more to do that in Hawaii, but the (produce) quality is better," Lambert said.
Because of the longer shipping distances and the lower demand for the crowns, it may stay on the shelves longer and have higher spoilage rates, which also drive up costs, retailers say.
Lambert said focusing on one high-priced product from a store that sells more than 30,000 can create a misleading picture.
"That's the danger of looking at one item and have that reflect the entire store, which it doesn't," she said. "Just one item can give a misimpression about value."
Whatever the impression, shopper Carol Santiago always steers clear of pricey produce.
"I'm not going to pay those ridiculous prices," she said.
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