Caracas - Post Report Question and Answers
How would you describe the availability and cost of groceries and household supplies relative to your home country?
Nothing is available here. A bit of an exaggeration, but seriously - milk, chicken, oil, flour, detergent, shampoo, cleaning products ... these are all luxury commodities. You will stand in line for hours for any of these hot items. Not sure how we would survive without DPO/Pouch + Amazon Prime. - May 2015
Cost is not the issue. Availability is. But, it's highly variable and impossible to predict. What is available, you'll want to buy here. But, it can be amazing what is sometimes not available (like, say, bottled water or bleach). - Apr 2015
Availability? Even the government here reports that 20 of 23 basic food items are in permanent shortage. If you find something in the market, you tend to buy as much of it as they allow (there is rationing here) because you don't know when you'll see it again. When you go to the grocery store, you tend to not buy much of your grocery list, because it is in shortage that day/week/month/year. Last week, for the first time in 14 months, I saw wheat flour in a store. If you are at the official exchange rate, groceries for a family of four runs about US$1,000 a week (a 10 ounce jar of peanut butter is US$135 for you.) If you are able to buy using black market money, it's about US$75 a week. - Nov 2014
Although imported products are expensive, local stuff (chicken, meat, fruits and veggies) is cheap. The problem is that the supermarkets run out of everything for months at a time including diet cola, butter, milk, and of course -- toilet paper. There is always a large supply of liquor though for Venezuelans to drink away their troubles during the decades-long economic crisis. - Sep 2013
Inflation has been a big problem, and my grocery bill doubled during my two-year tour. There is almost always a shortage of something important: milk, cooking oil, coffee, toilet paper, shampoo, etc. And stores tend to sell a product until their stock is gone, then not restock it again, so you may not want to be too hooked on certain brands or flavors. Food is not of the best quality and tends to be manhandled pretty badly, so you can expect bruised fruit, moldy tomatoes, cracked eggs, and sour yogurt. The grocery stores will repack chicken that has expired with a new expiration date and sell it. - Aug 2012
Inflation is about 30% for food items each year. Many imported things are very expensive. Caracas is a consumables post. We spend about US$150 a week on groceries. Food shortages do happen, so find out before you come what liquids you need to put in your consumables (laundry soap, canola oil, olive oil, American beer). - Mar 2012
There are often shortages. Right now there is no milk or tissues. Sometimes there's no sugar or toilet paper or meat. Things are expensive in the grocery stores. The open markets have reasonably-priced fruit and veggies. They'll charge your maid less than they'll charge a gringo. - Mar 2011
Prices for almost everything are more expensive here. Diapers, pet supplies and cereal stand out, as they are often 2-3X U.S. prices. Quality of produce is generally horrible--most fruit is rotten or severely bruised. Service is non-existent. - Jan 2011
Groceries are close to DC prices (and in some cases highe r- a jar of peanut butter, if you can find it, might cost $8), and availability is hit or miss. Things like milk, eggs, and fruit may be here today, gone tomorrow. Even items that they make here can be in short supply. - Oct 2010
Caracas just became a consumables post due to running shortages. Supplies have been good leading up to the election, but that is likely to go away again here shortly. Things that have been difficult to find/buy in the past: milk (boxed/UHT and fresh), butter, toilet paper, paper towels, eggs, basically all dairy products. Any specialty items are imported (if they're available at all). Many embassy community members end up using Amazon grocer, Netgrocer, or CVS.com for basic non-perishable items. - Sep 2010
Plentiful veggies and fruits, although some are quite expensive (apples, avocadoes). Massive shortages of staples like sugar, milk, flour, rice, paper towels, and toilet paper happen frequently. People tend to horde these items when they are available. - Mar 2010
Everything is expensive. Since the government now runs most of the distribution of food stapples they run out often and when you can get it its expensive. I have heard that families can spend $300 USD a week in groceries. - Mar 2010
When you can find them, groceries and household supplies are relatively cheap, again, thanks to the parallel exchange rate. - Feb 2009
The exchange rate for the Bolivar has been artifically kept low by the government, though merchants and services calculate their prices at the parallel rate which is more than double the fixed rate. Most everything in Caracas - except for gasoline at 12 cents a gallon - is more expensive than in the U.S. - Nov 2008
