My story started with a Häagen-Dazs Ice-cream now in Egypt ad in several life Style magazines, at first I thought it was like Galaxy and Mars ice-cream which I can find in supermarkets easily but I did not. I want to try it of course , I like trying new things and as someone addicted to ice-cream I would be more than welcome to try a brand like Häagen-Dazs , already I do not understand why we do not have the same of ice-cream cup size like abroad , the small mini cup in Egypt is really mini cup !!!!
Anyhow I found 19…something telephone number in the ad , I was lazy to dial but to my luck there was a website URL in the ad. It is obvious that the famous brand’s agent in Egypt is a company called “Voila Luxury Foods”
As a geekette “ the female version of geek” I visited the website URL posted in the ads. The website is still under construction but you can download the catalogue and demand through the phone.
I know in advance that the products in this catalogue won’t be cheap and will be expensive , there were similar ads for caviar and smoked salmon still this did not make me ready for the shocks I was going to find in this catalogue.
Starting from P4 you can find Sturgeon Caviar “250 g” for 11,000 L.E !!! Again "250 g" for 11,000 L.E !!
Yes I know it is Caviar and I know it is a luxury commodity and the company is called Luxury foods !! I know all that very well but this is too much in a country where people kill each other on a loaf of bread. There are many people in Egypt who live in houses made of tin , already I do not know if calling these tin places houses is right !!!!!!!!!!!!!
The rest of items are expensive in the same way of course not like the caviar,but you will be amazed by the amount you will have to pay to get samples of 100 g or 250 g !!!!!!!!!!!!!
By the way I saw Kopi Luwak in the catalogue , I wonder how many people in Egypt know that the most expensive coffee in the world is actually shit of a weasel !!
Ironically I found in the Pastas,pastries & grain section Couscous and its definition !! Who needs a definition for Couscous in Egypt !!!!!! I forget to tell you that 10 kg of Couscous are for 858 L.E !!!! With my all respect my grand ma’s sister knows how to make in Couscous without buying it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The social and economic gap between the very high class in Egypt and the rest of the society is getting wider and wider as I see and this is not good , it is an indicator of the rapid fall of this segment or even this era.
Already I believe that the high class is in this era is much more worse than the high class in the Royalty era.
I do not know why I remember Al-Mutanabi’s historical verses about Egypt :
And how many things can make you laugh in Egypt
A Laugh that is near to cry !!
Technorati Tags: Citizen Journalism,Egypt,Economy,Life,National,Society,Food,Kopi Luwak,Caviar,Haagn Daz
It's like the Russian prostitutes charging 2600 LE per hour. Everything has a price.
ReplyDeletepeople can't find food in Egypt and you wanna try Häagen-Dazs Ice-cream?!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeletejustice is coming for you soon high class people!
7asbya allah w ne3ma el wakeel begad for whoever buys these 11,000 L.E things...
ReplyDeleteReally, is that in Egypt? You are joking, aren't you? Things are more expensive than in Switzerland?!
ReplyDelete@zeinobia
ReplyDeletewhat a geekette means in arabic ?
:D
If I'm a filthy rich man who gives the poor and do charity work, and buy such a caviar cuz i enjoy it and can afford buying it! Where is the problem? Why I'd be responsible and blamed 4 the poverty of others?!
ReplyDeleteEh el 7eqd el tabaqi da? =P
@anonymous and do you think this price is fair in a country with increasing rate of those under the poverty line !!
ReplyDelete@Bastawisi, shut up
@Eman M. it seems there are some people are willing to pay for this price otherwise why they put this price tag for 250 g !! 7asbya allah w ne3ma el wakeel awi !!
@Noblese, I swear I am not joking, you can check the menu and also from the telephone number
@mido, female version of geek
@Ice Queer, yes so much 7eqd tabaqi
By the way, there is a 10% tax for most brand name food items, including McDonalds ,etc.. So where does our tax money go? Towards a corrupt MP who pays 2600 LE per hour to a Russian prostitute.
ReplyDeleteDunno if you consider having fans or not, but if you do, then i am... :)
ReplyDeleteA few in Egypt may buy a single serving of caviar for $2000, yet -luckily- Egypt doesn't have enough nut-cases to keep a business as Voila running. Yet i'm sure that if you check their Tax records you'd be surprised that-at least on paper- they are making huge profits!
Voila are NOT in the business of selling luxury foods, its a standard text-book money laundry operation :D
@anonymous,do not even ask !!
ReplyDelete@ !!??
I am so happy that you are my fan :)
about Volia well to tell you the truth I won't be surprised that if it is money laundry operation just like several stories in the city stars mall but on the other hand you got Baymen where the Baby Dior is sold for thousand of pounds just for the baby born age !! and some people actually buy from it !!!
after Haifa's $9,000,000 wedding paid by Abu Hashima,everything is possible !!
I am not surprised.. Egypt has always been characterized by projecting a sharp contrast between social groups..
ReplyDeleteIncidentally its a lot more widespread than you may imagine.. Felopateer Palace's timepieces of Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet often going up as high as EGP 2,000,000 for a wristwatch or Bvlgari jewelry at First Mall sell their products like hotcakes..!! Signee furniture, antiques and art galleries..
Have you been to Katameya Heights recently!? The residential compound is breathtaking never thought such things existed in Cairo..
And yeah.. the rest of the country's population.. its surreal.. very sad.
Its the regime if I may say so.. Egypt has self-sustained for thousands of years and could well do so for millenniums to come. Only problem is the tacit feudal system that has been implemented 'ghostly' without people noticing..
When the antagonist is not clear there's no vivid orientation to whom to hate or to blame.. Allah bey3een
egypt has good food and some things are expensive and some things very cheap. there are 2 kinds of prices.. local and foeigner.. local prices are very cheap indeed. if u can find an egyptian friend to get you stuff your fine unless its something imported. the best way to get the stuff from home outside egypt is make it yourself lol. british made cookies SUCK! lol by the way try carrefour in egypt.. they have everything.
ReplyDeleteI am from Egypt, and NOT TRUE that people kill each others over a loaf of bread - STUPID who wrote that. And, I buy Egyptian Caviar every time I visit Egypt, and IT IS NOT EXPENSIVE. Yes, there is a gap between the rich and the poor, so as in the USA. Yes there is poverty in Egypt, so as homeless people living in tent city here in Reno, Nevada, so you just do no have your facts straight about this article. You just don't. Nadia
ReplyDeleteOk, now check neighbor who lives well, why you blame the people that they live well? Who works, he living in abundance.A lazy and just look at revolutionaries other people's successes.Soon and others will come to you poor neighbor! Y he has no computer, and you have!
ReplyDeleteWhere people are killing each other over a piece of bread? Do not tell, do not lie and do not provoke people! So buy bread and take it to where you saw it.
ReplyDeleteАнонимные сказал ...
ReplyDeleteдепутат, который платит 2600 LE в час Русская проститутка.
What is the problem in Tahrir full of "revolutionaries" ladies who are willing to become martyrs for the benefit of the people, for free!