Whats the price of Ginger where you are?

[tarasis]

I'm curious about the price of Ginger root where you are. Here the cheapest I've found so far is €3.99 ($5.35 AUD) per KG in an Asian shop with supermarkets being either €4.99 or €7.99! ($6.69 & $10.71).

Looking at Sainsbury (supermarket) in the UK they sell at the more reasonable £2.11 (€2.40 / $3.22) per KG and I guess it would be a bit less in an Asian shop.

Seeing the disparity and reading a recipe on here that mentioned Ginger being cheap I was curious/nosey to hear what price it costs in other parts of the world.

[andiesenji]

one KG is equivalent to 2.205 pounds in the U.S.  (Avoirdupois).

Ginger prices vary widely here - in most regular supermarkets it is currently 1.29 per pound but in the Mexican supermarket just down the road (huge supermarket, larger than any of the nearby regular supermarkets) it is .89¢ per pound and at a local Asian market it is .49¢ per pound.  However, these prices vary with the time of year.

I grow a lot of ginger, and can overwinter it in the ground, with lots of straw piled on top to keep the ground from freezing when it gets really cold but I also keep some in pots during the winter (not yet potted)  so I always have fresh ginger on hand as I use it a lot in cooking.
If I have to make a batch of candied ginger when the stuff I am growing is not mature, I order a box from a local produce market or the Mexican market at a significant discount for buying the entire box.  I usually cook up most of a box, saving the small "toes" and cutting off any cracked parts and generally end up with a bit more than 15 pounds of finished product. 
Each of those small pieces can become new plants and with good growing conditions will grow into the larger rhizomes that can eventually be harvested.  This is more rapid in warm climates, takes longer in cooler areas and in pots, but it gets there eventually. 

One of the eGullet members who lives in eastern Canada grows ginger in containers, description here.

Obviously growing it in pots is not going to produce enough for the way I use it but if you use it occasionally, this is also the best way to store it, to keep it from becoming dry and shriveled. 
It's easy to pull up the entire plant, break of a piece - lay it on top of the soil for a few hours for the surface of the broken area to "heal" and then stick it back into the soil. 
During the winter I have 6 pots, 2 plants each, and "harvest" pieces from each plant in turn.  The pots are wide and fairly shallow as the rhizomes grow sideways, not deep.

[Lellyj]

Where I live in regional Victoria (Australia) it is often $9 or $10 dollars a kilo.  After the floods this year in Queensland it was almost impossible to get, and when it was available it was $12.99kg, but the prices have come down somewhat now.  Haven't bought it at a market or Asian grocer recently, but often it is a bit cheaper there. So much more expensive than where you are Tasaris!

[Twitterpated]

Read this before going to the supermarket today so was sure to check the prices. Was pleasantly surprised as it is quite often more expensive. Just $18 AU per kilo today.

[achookwoman]

Vic.  Australia, $13 a k

[Deeau]

Regional NSW Australia, $15.60 per kilo and $22 per kilo for organic

[Lellyj]

Hmmm, seems like I underestimated the price of ginger!  Although I'm certain I've never paid $18 dollars yet.

[Ceejay]

Organic ginger here in SE Qld and when I bought it last week it was $15kg.  It's produced locally here though. 

[cecilia]

It's $17.98 a kilo at Woolies in Hobart this week.

[tarasis]

Thanks for the answers everyone, quite surprised at the variation in prices; I didn't expect it too be quite so variable. I kind of wish I was living back "home" in the UK using the Thermomix for the slightly saner prices some ingredients (like Vanilla Extract in Germany costing €9.99 for a 50ml bottle )

andiesenji: Thanks for the tips on growing ginger, I will look into that though I'm an even worse gardener than I am a "cook" and I ain't a good cook I was just looking at your blog, you have a lot of kitchen equipment and an impressively stacked pantry.

[Bedlam]

Andie, thanks again for sharing your knowledge, will have a go at growing some ginger. Sorry not sure of price here tarasis will look next shopping day,not as cheap as UK though,that I do know.
Have you thought of buying some vanilla beans online and making your own vanilla essence?

[andiesenji]

Andie, thanks again for sharing your knowledge, will have a go at growing some ginger. Sorry not sure of price here tarasis will look next shopping day,not as cheap as UK though,that I do know.
Have you thought of buying some vanilla beans online and making your own vanilla essence?

Homemade vanilla extract has been part of my regular operation for decades - I buy the beans in bulk. 

This is what my usual batch of candied ginger looks like when finished.

[jeninwa]

Andi that looks yummy, love ginger. Love to give you recipe a try.

Ginger is about $18.99 in the supermarket in Perth and the Growers market on Saturday  ginger was $3.99 to 4.99 each.

[andiesenji]

Andi that looks yummy, love ginger. Love to give you recipe a try.

Ginger is about $18.99 in the supermarket in Perth and the Growers market on Saturday  ginger was $3.99 to 4.99 each.

Wow!  That is expensive.  No wonder the candied or crystallized ginger from OZ is so expensive.

Much of the ginger I have purchased lately is grown in southern Mexico. 
Tourism opened up the area and the resulting roads allowed for commercial agriculture in areas that had previously been too difficult to access. 
Ginger imported from SE Asia costs more than twice as much as the Mexican, sometimes even more. 

[achookwoman]

andie,  love the look of that ginger.  Too cold here to grow it.