http://www.marketmanila.com A food blog that talks about food, produce, recipes, ingredients, restaurants and markets here in the Philippines and around the globe. Sun, 12 Feb 2012 09:12:24 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/part-iii-credit-card-overlimit-fees-and-why-i-think-they-should-be-banned-by-philippine-regulators http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/part-iii-credit-card-overlimit-fees-and-why-i-think-they-should-be-banned-by-philippine-regulators#comments Mon, 23 May 2011 02:40:26 +0000 Marketman http://www.marketmanila.com/?p=19440 What is an “Overlimit Fee”? In the last few years, many (but not all) banks with credit card businesses in the Philippines have introduced “overlimit” fees. Basically, banks set a "credit limit" which is by definition SUPPOSED to be the maximum amount of credit a customer is allowed to avail of, THEN the bank “allows” (notice the unilateral move) customers to EXCEED that stated credit limit and then they CHARGE often EXORBITANT rates for the “privilege”… How completely and utterly ABSURD is that?]]> http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/part-iii-credit-card-overlimit-fees-and-why-i-think-they-should-be-banned-by-philippine-regulators/feed 24 http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/random-outrageous-price-differentials-in-manila http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/random-outrageous-price-differentials-in-manila#comments Thu, 19 May 2011 06:23:17 +0000 Marketman http://www.marketmanila.com/?p=19320 Cherries PHP800-1,500 a kilo! Definitely not a common fruit choice. But every once in a while, I get a hankering for cherries, say once or twice a year, and feel the urge to splurge. So at Divisoria a few days ago (yes, I was there in the sweltering heat buying packaging materials), I spotted a street side vendor with surprisingly fresh looking cherries and was told they were PHP800 a kilo (roughly $18.5 per kilo or $8.50 per pound). Admittedly out a bit early for North America or europe (I can't imagine they are from Australia or New Zealand at this time of year) where they peak in June or so, I was tempted. I tried to bargain but the vendor wouldn't budge, and even the calculation that PHP200 would yield me 1/4 kilo didn't do the trick, and I walked away. Later the same day, I chanced on cherries at S&R Taguig, and was shocked to see a price tag of PHP1,500 a kilo! Nearly double the Divisoria price! I realize it's a free market and all, but this just goes to show that if you don't know your prices, you could seriously pay a huge differential from other places in town. So okay, okay, Divi to Taguig is a hassle in distance, but just down the road at Metro Gaisano at Market!Market! mall, cherries could be had for PHP977 a kilo... Wild. Thank goodness in a few weeks more time I shall have access to the peak of North American cherry season and I hope they are say $3-5 a pound so I can indulge to my heart's content. I know, I know, don't eat too many or you'll have the runs. :) ]]> http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/random-outrageous-price-differentials-in-manila/feed 41 http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/marketmans-credit-card-series-2011-part-ii-credit-limits http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/marketmans-credit-card-series-2011-part-ii-credit-limits#comments Sun, 15 May 2011 13:46:38 +0000 Marketman http://www.marketmanila.com/?p=19262 The vast majority of the readers of Marketmanila.com have at least one credit card in their wallets. The objectives of the following series of posts on credit cards in the Philippines are simple. To help readers, acquaintances and the public in general understand the local credit card industry a little better. To highlight the unique risks associated with Philippine-issued credit cards. To remind the public of particular safeguards they should consider to reduce the risk of holding their credit cards. To explain some of the salient features of credit cards that people may wish to learn more about. To encourage our legislators to review the laws governing local credit cards to ensure a truly reasonable playing field that protects consumer’s rights, as well as those of banks and credit card companies. To encourage the public to educate themselves and seek fair laws that govern the credit card industry in the country. And to narrate several recent, specific credit card and banking service shortfalls that I have experienced and which are a useful tool to illustrate many of the objectives stated above. What is a Credit Limit? I bet 80+% of you were certain of the answer to this question, and yet, defying all reasonable logic, many foreign and local banks engaged in the credit card business in the Philippines seem have a different definition for a “credit limit” when it comes to their respective credit cards.]]> http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/marketmans-credit-card-series-2011-part-ii-credit-limits/feed 34 http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/marketmans-credit-card-series-2011-part-i http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/marketmans-credit-card-series-2011-part-i#comments Fri, 06 May 2011 04:01:45 +0000 Marketman http://www.marketmanila.com/?p=19071 The vast majority of the readers of Marketmanila.com have at least one credit card in their wallets. The objectives of the following series of posts on credit cards in the Philippines are simple. To help readers, acquaintances and the public in general understand the local credit card industry a little better. To highlight the unique risks associated with Philippine-issued credit cards. To remind the public of particular safeguards they should consider to reduce the risk of holding their credit cards. To explain some of the salient features of credit cards that people may wish to learn more about. To encourage our legislators to review the laws governing local credit cards to ensure a truly reasonable playing field that protects consumer’s rights, as well as those of banks and credit card companies. To encourage the public to educate themselves and seek fair laws that govern the credit card industry in the country. And to narrate several recent, specific credit card and banking service shortfalls that I have experienced and which are a useful tool to illustrate many of the objectives stated above. The Philippine Credit Card Industry, a very quick (by my standards) overview. What is glaringly obvious is the difficulty of obtaining readily available industry statistics for the Philippine credit card market. Industry groups such as credit card associations, local press, studies, central bank reports, etc. seem to have published (particularly on-line) far less than I used to typically see in other global markets when I used to work as a management consultant, several times engaged to study and fix credit card related issues. But here is a basic overview I managed to piece together, and my sources are listed at the bottom of the post. Some of the figures are extrapolated or estimated, but I think the overall general picture is reasonably accurate given the sources used. Corrections from those with better and more reliable information are most welcome.]]> http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/marketmans-credit-card-series-2011-part-i/feed 84 http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/how-much-value-in-a-value-meal http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/how-much-value-in-a-value-meal#comments Tue, 07 Dec 2010 03:04:05 +0000 Marketman http://www.marketmanila.com/?p=15834 I occasionally treat the crew to some fast food... for a change of pace, for convenience, for a treat with MSG :) and all kinds of hard to pronounce ingredients. While we are more likely to opt for fried chicken, spicy at that, we do occasionally go for burgers or even pizza. Recently, a fast food chain has been in the press and totally in your face with their roadside billboards offering their "value meal" which includes one chicken drumstick, grilled, one portion of rice, half a kalamansi and chilies. Not sure if it comes with a drink. They do offer vinegar as a dip. This is NOT the unlimited rice version. It retails for PHP49. So I wondered just how much value was in the value meal. In the West, the rule of thumb is that food cost is roughly 1/3 or less of the price of the dish. If you can manage to get the food cost to say 25%, and customers still flock to you, then you have the beginnings of a great business... But that ratio takes into account higher rent, wages, and other costs involved in food businesses (insurance, compliance, etc.) in other parts of the world. So out of curiosity, I decided to try and replicate the "value" meal and see what it cost to make.]]> http://www.marketmanila.com/archives/how-much-value-in-a-value-meal/feed 35