Top Five Supermarkets in Bangkok


 

Image sourced from creativecommons.org

The supermarket is a relatively recent phenomenon in Thailand, with some of the biggest retail names having been established for less than 30 years in the SE Asian nation.

And while there are a couple of Bangkok retail institutions that go back almost 50 years (although they would have been catering to a minority customer base for a couple of decades), Thailand has always been largely a ‘market’ nation – possibly due to the fact that 70% of the population lives in or originates from rural areas or farming communities.

That said, city-dwelling Thais soon adapted to the larger-scale super and hypermarket chains that began to spring up in the early to mid-90s, and they have continued to grow in popularity as modern shoppers look for convenience, and local farmers find it increasingly difficult to compete.

There are still plenty of markets in Bangkok, with some being better than others, that are still worth checking out and remain a viable way to shop for many people.
But in 2020, it is not uncommon, particularly in urban areas and especially in Bangkok, to find a large proportion of the locals doing their weekly shop in a Tesco Lotus store.

But Tesco isn’t the only option, nor is it necessarily the best, so let’s take a look at some the available supermarket options in the form of the top five supermarkets in Bangkok.

1. Tesco Lotus

Image by jarcje sourced from wikimedia commons

Tesco Lotus is part of the Tesco Group, which originated in the UK and is the third largest retailer in the world. The brand operates a broad network of stores across Thailand.

The supermarket chain currently has more than 2000 stores in operation in Thailand under a variety of guises, such as supermarkets and the smaller, ‘Express’ outlets, as well running as online shopping platforms. It is recognised as one of the most well-known and visited supermarket stores in not only Bangkok, but right across Thailand, and apparently accommodates more than 15 million customers every week.

The Tesco brand itself operates in 10 countries around the world, and has been established in Thailand since 1994. The Lotus ethos states that the supermarket chain is ‘committed to serving Thailand’s shoppers a little better every day by providing great quality products at affordable prices, and fantastic shopping experiences through all of our channels’.

The chain also claims that it does its bit to support local communities via a range of initiatives that include a direct sourcing programme. The aim of this incentive is to provide fair and sustainable income for farmers as much as possible, and Tesco also has a food donation programme for nationwide schools, the purpose of which is largely to try and reduce the amount of food that is wasted.

Image by conanlikecartoon sourced from wikimedia commons

The Lotus stores have a reasonably wide range of goods that are mainly locally produced in line with the price ranges, although in terms of comparability, it doesn’t actually work out that cheaply compared to Tesco stores in other countries like the UK.

In fact, much of the produce that is available in Tesco Lotus stores like meats and cheese (although cheese is a less common item for a lot of Thai shoppers), might even work out more expensive than it would if bought in the UK, although this is largely due to current exchange rates.

This is obviously something of an issue for expats and other long-termers in Thailand, yet although Tesco Lotus doesn’t offer anything like the range of international products that some of the others in this list do, it is still probably the cheapest all-round option for most shoppers, and usually the easiest to find.

In fact, you don’t have to travel too far in Bangkok to see the familiar, huge Tesco Lotus logo, or even, to a lesser extent, the smaller Lotus Express outlets that are quite commonly found and have expanded outwards across the nation.

2. Tops Supermarket

‘Tops’ is a grocery chain in Thailand that was originally established in 1996 as a venture between Robinson Department Stores, Central Group, and a Dutch supermarket operator called Royal Ahold.

It teamed up with, and eventually bought out all of the locations previously operated by the US-based Tops Markets LLC, which operated under the name ‘Food Lion’, when the US brand eventually pulled out of Thailand in 2004. This left the chain with its current name of ‘Tops Supermarkets’ under the sole operation of Central Food Retail, a subsidiary of Central Retail Group.

Tops was established a couple of years after Tesco Lotus, and brought something of a new style and approach to Thai supermarkets, most notably in Bangkok. This came in the form of more diversity in a bid to cater to a wider range of customers’ needs.

Branches of Tops have a wider range of products than Lotus, at least in terms of diversity related to international foods and brands. All of this is presented alongside local produce, ensuring a good mix in terms of international and local products, and providing a broader shopping experience.

Image sourced from creativecommons.org

The supermarket also incorporates a little more quality and choice into its bakery, meat, seafood and wine, and the stores also offer carry out services, home delivery, and online shopping, in a bid to cover all requirements.

There are many good reasons to shop at Tops market, and it can be a refreshing alternative to Lotus for those looking for something other than a ‘standard’ Thai supermarket experience where particular foods are completely lacking. Hence this Thai supermarket does tend to be something more of a favourite with many foreigners, with its wider range which incorporates organic produce and vegan favourites like lentils, which won’t be found in Lotus due to the fact that they are not grown locally.

Image sourced from creativecommons.org

Of course the higher degree of range and quality is reflected in the prices, so Tops can work out quite a bit more expensive than Tesco, depending on the size of the grocery shop, particularly a weekly one, and the stores are not quite as numerous as the Tesco ones, usually being located in the basement of department stores in Bangkok.

In addition to Tops Supermarket, the chain does operate a variety of other branches, with various names like Tops Superstore, Tops Market, Tops Food & Wine, and Tops Daily. The Thai supermarket brand operates around 200 stores across the country, and has grand plans to become the biggest and most successful.

3. Villa Market

Next up is Villa, another Thai supermarket that has been established since 1973, and is renowned for offering possibly the widest range of imported international products in the country.

Villa Market was something of an innovator in that prior to its appearance, grocery shopping in Bangkok was done largely at open-air markets. And not only were there hardly any air-conditioned stores in the nation’s capital — none of these local markets catered to anyone looking for imported items. So Villa Market opened its first store on the Sukhumvit Road, near Soi 33 in the heart of Bangkok, almost 50 years ago.

Image sourced from creativecommons.org

When villa first opened its doors in Thailand’s capital it was during a time when the international community had begun to grow. There were a variety of reasons for this, with one of them being that some of the personnel involved in the Vietnam conflict took holidays in Bangkok or were even stationed in the Thai capital.

The growing number of overseas companies who had started investing in Thailand at that time were also sending employees, often along with their families, to work in Bangkok. Many of these settled in the Sukhumvit area that has since burgeoned into one of the main tourist and expat regions of the city.

Villa truly discovered and plugged several gaps in the market, and once these newcomers came to realise that Villa Market had the widest selection of imported items including such delicacies as peanut butter from America and lamb from New Zealand – none of which could be found in local, Thai markets or shops, word quickly began to spread.

Along with stocking various obscure, hard-to-find foods and other items not commonly found in Thailand, Villa Market went one step further to satisfy customer requirements. It introduced a quality control policy to ensure that locally produced meat and other goods were fresh and wholesome, a measure previously unheard of in Thailand at that time.

Right from the offset, Villa Market always aimed to be more than just another supermarket in Thailand, and to this day the store has a notice board near the door where anyone is able to post notices such as advertisements for employees, apartments for rent, wanted ads, cars for sale, or community events, to name but a few of it functions.

Villa is a family-owned market that is still growing, currently with over 30 stores across the nation and big plans to continue its expansion. It manages to retain a good reputation through a combination of quality foods, both local and imported, with customer service that is slightly above that of the average chain store.

Image sourced from creativecommons.org

Villa’s store design is aimed at a total shopping experience, with access to organic fruits and vegetables, and premium quality meat and seafood sourced locally. Each store occupies about 1,000 square metres of retail space and has 25-30 operation staff.

Villa Market also continues to build its reputation for having available products not found elsewhere, continuing to be innovators when it comes to sourcing and stocking new products.

A good example of this is the trend towards healthier or more natural foods such as dairy, gluten and preservative-free items which makes them suitable for vegans and people who have particular food preferences or even allergy problems.

Of course all of these added benefits to the Villa supermarket experience come at a price, which is why this Thai supermarket is also widely-regarded as the most expensive.

4. Big C

Image by Poonpum2016 sourced from wikimedia commons

Big C is a top Thai supermarket that could better be described as a retail hypermarket coupled with shopping mall area. It comprises a grocery area along with a general merchandise section, and the network of Big C stores comes in various formats.

The Big C brand is another one owned by the giant Central Retail Group, which initially devised the concept in 1993, and after taking over all of the stores previously owned by French retailer Carrefour, the first Big C store opened on Chaengwattana Road in Bangkok in 1994.

The concept proved to be a hit, and currently Big C operates 153 hypermarkets, 63 Big C markets, and 1,018 Mini Big C stores. Big C is presently operated and managed under Berli Jucker Public Company Limited or the BJC Group.

Big C offers a slightly broader shopping experience than Lotus, and brings in customers often due to its location in shopping malls, retail parks, and high streets alike. Big C has actually been Thailand’s second-largest hypermarket operator after Tesco Lotus for around four years now, and it also has branched out into neighbouring countries such as Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.

Image by Poonpun2016 sourced from wikimedia commons

5. Foodland

Foodland is a Thai supermarket with yet another slightly different slant on the world of food retail, in that it is open 24 hours.

Although it is the least commonly-found of all the names in this listing, Foodland has been established even longer than Villa Market, in fact since 1972, and caters to a wide range of customers in many areas.

Admittedly not as easy to find as Villa, which in turn is less prominent in numbers than the others on this list, and anyone going for a stroll and hoping to come across a Foodland on their doorstep might be disappointed, as there are only just over twenty branches across the country.

Image by Masahiro sourced from wikimedia commons

Foodland Supermarket is a retail business which also incorporates restaurants into its premises, and attracts some customers solely for that reason. It is also another brand that puts itself forward as being slightly more upmarket than the standard, high-street Tesco Lotus. Foodland’s premise is pride in the extensive range and quality of products, along with their freshness, and the selection of produce that is retailed.

Not unlike Villa and Tops, Foodland displays a range of imported and local produce, making it another preference for those whose tastes stretch further than the standard Thai fare, and the products are presented in orderly groups of categories (unlike in some Thai supermarkets where any kind of logic in that area seems to be lacking) for the convenience of selection to customers.

Foodland is another Supermarket that markets itself as having above average and friendly customer relations (again, an area decidedly lacking in some of the bigger stores mentioned in this list), and although the chain has the smallest number of outlets at present in comparison to the others, it does have plans to expand in the near future.

Planning a trip to Paris ? Get ready !


These are Amazon’s best-selling travel products that you may need for coming to Paris.

Bookstore

  1. The best travel book : Rick Steves – Paris 2023 – Learn more here
  2. Fodor’s Paris 2024 – Learn more here

Travel Gear

  1. Venture Pal Lightweight Backpack – Learn more here
  2. Samsonite Winfield 2 28″ Luggage – Learn more here
  3. Swig Savvy’s Stainless Steel Insulated Water Bottle – Learn more here

Check Amazon’s best-seller list for the most popular travel accessories. We sometimes read this list just to find out what new travel products people are buying.