How much does food cost in Dubai?

admin — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 16:37:15 +0000

The price of food in Dubai is a topic that can be very moot, as food prices differ around the world and your perception of the food cost will fully depend on what you are used to back home.

A South African colleague of mine told me that he found fruit ridiculously expensive here. For me, fruit, vegetables, fish and seafood are rather cheap, while beef seems to be a little too expensive. In other words, it depends.

All the prices below came from my receipts from supermarkets during last couple of months. The supermarkets are: Union CO-OP Society, Waitrose, Spinney’s and Almaya. You may not find something you are used to, like sugar – that’s only because we don’t eat sugar. We eat more vegetables than anything else, so the fruit & vegetable section is the biggest.

Waitrose supermarket at the Dubai Mall

The Euro, US Dollars and British Pound prices are calculated as a simple conversion based on the 21st of December exchange rate. It will be updated once in one or two months.

Use the living cost calculator for a deeper insight into how much money you need to live in Dubai.

Food & grocery

Name	Producer/Origin	Measure	Price AED	EUR	USD	GBP
Beef	Australia	1 kg	50.00	9.52	13.62	8.44
Beef	Brazil	1 kg	30.00	5.71	8.17	5.06
Bread, farm house	UAE, Waitrose bakery	1 pc	2.25	0.43	0.61	0.38
Bread, with seeds	UAE, Waitrose bakery	1 pc	4.85	0.92	1.32	0.82
Cheese, Cheddar	Begga	1 kg	40.00	7.61	10.90	6.75
Cheese, Philadelphia cream	KRAFT Foods	300g pack	12.05	2.29	3.28	2.03
Chicken	UAE	1 kg	30.00	5.71	8.17	5.06
Eggs, DHA Omega-3	UAE	12-eggs pack	19.95	3.80	5.43	3.37
Fish, Black Seabream		1 kg	44.00	8.37	11.99	7.42
Fish, Salmon, fillet	Norway	1 kg	68.00	12.94	18.52	11.47
Fish, Seabass		1 kg	48.00	9.13	13.08	8.10
Flour, self-raising	UAE, Home Pride	1.5kg pack	8.65	1.65	2.36	1.46
Honey, acacia	Nectaflor, Switzerland	250ml	17.60	3.35	4.79	2.97
Ice cubes	UAE	1 pack	2.50	0.48	0.68	0.42
Olive oil, extra virgin	Borges		16.95	3.23	4.62	2.86
Peas split, yellow	Waitrose		5.50	1.05	1.50	0.93
Rice	Basmati	1 kg	15.50	2.95	4.22	2.61
Sour cream	Elle&Vire	250g	8.75	1.67	2.38	1.48
Spaghetti		1 pack	4.95	0.94	1.35	0.84
Sugar icing	Whitworth		9.00	1.71	2.45	1.52

Fruit and vegetables

If you go to the Fruit & Vegetable Market, you can save quite some money comparing to what you will see below. But you have to bargain a lot. When the mongers see a western-looking person, they will set their prices higher than the prices in shops! Don’t get fooled.

Some friends of mine like to bargain. I can’t stand it and don’t normally do that.

Vegetables

Name	Producer/Origin	Measure	Price AED	EUR	USD	GBP
Broccoli	Australia	1 kg	20.50	3.90	5.58	3.46
Cabbage, white		1 kg	3.00	0.57	0.82	0.51
Capsicum		1 kg	14.50	2.76	3.95	2.45
Carrot	Australia	1 kg	4.45	0.85	1.21	0.75
Cauliflower		1 kg	8.90	1.69	2.42	1.50
Cucumber, organic	UAE	1 kg	10.00	1.90	2.72	1.69
Eggplant, organic	UAE	1 kg	10.40	1.98	2.83	1.75
Garlic	China	1 kg	4.00	0.76	1.09	0.67
Herbs (mint, green leaves, etc.)		1 bunch	1.00	0.19	0.27	0.17
Lemon	South Africa	1 kg	4.50	0.86	1.23	0.76
Lettuce	Jordan	1 kg	4.50	0.86	1.23	0.76
Lettuce	Netherlands	1 kg	12.00	2.28	3.27	2.02
Mushroom		250g pack	5.90	1.12	1.61	1.00
Onion, brown	Spain	1 kg	4.00	0.76	1.09	0.67
Potato	Saudi Arabia	1 kg	3.50	0.67	0.95	0.59
Spinach		1kg	65.00	12.37	17.71	10.97
Tomato	Netherlands	1 kg	19.50	3.71	5.31	3.29
Zucchini, organic	UAE	1 kg	13.00	2.47	3.54	2.19

Fruit

Name	Producer/Origin	Measure	Price AED	EUR	USD	GBP
Apple, Fuji	China	1 kg	6.75	1.28	1.84	1.14
Apple, Golden	France	1 kg	5.45	1.04	1.48	0.92
Apple, Golden	South Africa	1 kg	3.80	0.72	1.04	0.64
Apple, Red	Chili	1 kg	3.60	0.69	0.98	0.61
Apple, Red	USA	1 kg	6.90	1.31	1.88	1.16
Banana	Filippines	1 kg	4.75	0.90	1.29	0.80
Grape, Black	Turkey	1 kg	6.00	1.14	1.63	1.01
Grape, Black	USA	1 kg	9.10	1.73	2.48	1.54
Grape, Red	Spain	1 kg	7.00	1.33	1.91	1.18
Grape, White	USA	1 kg	12.25	2.33	3.34	2.07
Kiwi	New Zealand	1 kg	11.00	2.09	3.00	1.86
Lime, seedless		1 kg	16.50	3.14	4.49	2.78
Mandarine	Australia	1 kg	8.25	1.57	2.25	1.39
Nectarine	Italy	1 kg	8.45	1.61	2.30	1.43
Orange	South Africa	1 kg	3.65	0.69	0.99	0.62
Peaches	Tunisia	1 kg	12.60	2.40	3.43	2.13
Pineapple, cut	Filippines	1 pc	8.75	1.67	2.38	1.48
Plums (USA)		1 kg	13.00	2.47	3.54	2.19
Watermelon, seedless		1 kg	6.95	1.32	1.89	1.17

Non-alcoholic drinks & milk

This is a basic selection of non-alcoholic drinks sold in UAE. Alcoholic drinks will be covered in a separate article.

Name	Producer/Origin	Measure	Price AED	EUR	USD	GBP
Cola, Sprite, Schweppes, etc.	Coca-cola, Pepsi Co.	0.33l can	1.00	0.19	0.27	0.17
Fresh juice, orange	UAE	1.5l	18.50	3.52	5.04	3.12
Fresh juice, pineapple	UAE	1l bottle	11.90	2.26	3.24	2.01
Fresh juice, pomegranade	UAE	500ml bottle	12.95	2.46	3.53	2.18
Laban	UAE	500ml bottle	2.75	0.52	0.75	0.46
Milk, full cream	UAE	1l bottle	5.50	1.05	1.50	0.93
Water, still	UAE	5l bottle	2.80	0.53	0.76	0.47

Snacks and sweets

There isn’t really much here but still you may want to compare it to your domestic prices.

Name	Producer/Origin	Measure	Price AED	EUR	USD	GBP
Corn Flakes with Nuts and Honey	Kellogg’s	375g pack	13.50	2.57	3.68	2.28
Croissant, cheese	Union Coop bakery	4 pcs pack	6.00	1.14	1.63	1.01
Ice-cream	Haagen-Dazs	1 pc	9.00	1.71	2.45	1.52
Ice-cream	London Diary	1 pc	5.75	1.09	1.57	0.97
Pringles potato chips, original		1 pack	8.50	1.62	2.32	1.43
Twix, Snickers, Bounty, etc.	Mars	1 pc	1.70	0.32	0.46	0.29

Some household stuff

The things that you need to keep your house clean, remote control running and teeth healthy.

Name	Producer/Origin	Measure	Price AED	EUR	USD	GBP
Bathroom Tissue	Kleenex	10 pcs pack	17.95	3.42	4.89	3.03
Batteries, AA	Duracell	4 batteries pack	11.95	2.27	3.26	2.02
Cling wrap		1 pack	8.60	1.64	2.34	1.45
Dishwashing liquid, Fairy	Procter & Gamble	1.5l bottle	10.00	1.90	2.72	1.69
Hand towel, paper	Kleenex	1 pack	5.50	1.05	1.50	0.93
Sandwich bag		1 pack	5.50	1.05	1.50	0.93
Shower Gel	Dove		11.75	2.24	3.20	1.98
Sponge cloth	Vileda	5 pcs pack	7.50	1.43	2.04	1.27
Tooth paste	Paradontax	1 pc	21.95	4.18	5.98	3.70

Expatriate Life in Dubai » Eating at home & Buying food