Examples of Grocery Prices in Cuenca, Ecuador

Guineo Orito

There is a chain in Ecuador called Tia.  Tia reminds me of Dollar General with its assortment of food, clothing, household goods and school supplies.  They also stock beer and hard liquor as well as fresh produce.  So far we've visited three Tia outlets as the store is more like an American store than most of the alternatives.

Where Tia is different are the prices of local products.  Today I bought a pack of 9 baby bananas for $.70, a green pepper for $.08, two apples for $.66 and a medium-sized bag of sugar for $.50.  What's crazy is that I could pay even less if I went to the mercado and bought from a produce seller.

Not everything is priced so low.  I bought sugar instead of Splenda because a pack of 100 was $6.99.  Soda is about the same if you buy the large bottles (1.95 L here instead of 2 L), but cheaper if you purchase a single serve bottle ($.57 for 500 mL, which is 16.9 oz.).