Where do I find oyster sauce?

[GB]

I find that very odd, but if you say it is so then I believe you. Do please see the note above though where I posted that often times the store brand is the exact same thing as the name brand though.

 

[BreezyCooking]

Full agree with you GB. With all due respect Gadzooks, what you're claiming doesn't make any sense whatsoever from a retail marketing viewpoint. Oh - & the Safeway supermarkets here in Virginia definitely do NOT practice what you're claiming Safeway does. In fact, our Safeway maintains one of the most diverse selections of brand-name Asian products among all our local markets. Many of the same brands I used to only be able to purchase from specialty markets. What a shame that your Safeways somehow have a different policy.

 

[Andy M.]

I see happening what Gadzooks describes on a regular basis. The supermarket I shop at places their store brand product next to the national brands in similar packaging and, over time, reduces the amount of shelf space and variety for the national brands. Consumers get to that isle and look for the national brand but will often take the store brand because they don't want to go to another store for one item. Of course, the store makes more on the store brand than on the national brand, even at a lower price.

Market chains have to turn established national brands for manufacturing/processing/packaging. In some cases the product in the store brand package is the same but in other cases, it is not. There is nothing keeping the national brand from packaging lower grade food products for the store brand. The store will want to keep manufacturing costs as low as possible and the national brand offers 'grade B' in place of 'grade A' for a lower cost and the lure of higher margins seals the deal.

I have experienced this with several items such as store brand frozen veggies vs. Birdseye and now refuse to buy the store brand in most cases. Right now, I do buy the store brand OJ and it's OK by me. That can change in the future, then so will I.

 

[GB]

I see happening what Gadzooks describes on a regular basis. The supermarket I shop at places their store brand product next to the national brands in similar packaging and, over time, reduces the amount of shelf space and variety for the national brands.

Do you see the brand names completely gone though or just less space taken up by them?

 

[Uncle Bob]

Are you telling me that by you they completely replace the name brands with the store brands?

Often, yes.

They do so at their own peril....

A small regional retailer here once opened a store that was 99% private label.
It never got off the ground....Closed in 6 months.

Watch Von's/Safeway....If they continue the practice you say they are --- It will be Gadzooks/Safeway....It may work for a while...Long term -- Sales will suffer...profits will fall. Then Von has a decision to make.

 

[Seven S]

Further, a product like Oyster Sauce is not mass produced so is not price sensitive.

This is most certainly an inaccurate statement. Oyster Sauce is a staple of many different Asian cuisines, not only Chinese. The Thai and Vietnamese people consume an Oyster sauce as well which is slightly different as the Chinese in taste, a bit sweeter (slight differences not unlike Chinese Soy vs Tamari vs Shoyu). I would almost be willing to bet that the overall mass production per unit of Oyster Sauce bottles worldwide surpasses the production oh Heinz and Hunt's Ketchup combined!!

These are the two I have in my pantry:

Chinese - Lee Kum Kee (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Oyster_sauce.jpg)

Thai - Mae Krua Brand (http://www.asiaexpressfood.nl/upload/products/5203.jpg)

 

[GB]

These are the two I have in my pantry:

Chinese - Lee Kum Kee (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ster_sauce.jpg)

Thai - Mae Krua Brand (http://www.asiaexpressfood.nl/upload/products/5203.jpg)

I just looked at the pictures and Lee Kum Kee is the one I have at home as well.

 

[padams2359]

Up until this point, I can honestly say that I have enjoyed the discussions. This has gotten ridicules and rude. I looked on the link that was included above, and if you pull up the pictures on every one of those in the links it says “OYSTER FLAVORED SAUCE”. It was a real pleasure. I hope you all enjoy the forum.

 

[GB]

I am not sure what you are looking at padams2359, but the link I provided you shows both oyster flavored sauce and oyster sauce, with the majority being oyster sauce.

Here is a photo right in this post to show you exactly what I am seeing. Nowhere on here that I see does the word "flavored" appear.

 

[Seven S]

Not all the links above are "Oyster Flavored".

Here is a bit of additional info:

Traditional
A "true" oyster sauce of good quality should be made by condensing oyster extracts, the white broth produced by boiling oysters in water. This opaque broth is then reduced until a desired viscosity has been reached and the liquid has caramelized to a brown color. No other additives, not even salt, should be added to the sauce, since the oysters should provide all the savory flavor.

Modern artificial
Many oyster sauces are actually diluted solutions thickened with starch, colored with caramel coloring (E150), with oyster extracts and synthetic preservatives. In some countries, including the UK, the oyster content in some sauces is lower than its Asian counterparts of the same brand due to laws regulating the import of seafood. The use of synthetics and hydrolyzed soy protein produces carcinogens similar to artificial soy sauces, see Health section below.

 

[RobsanX]

I am not sure what you are looking at padams2359, but the link I provided you shows both oyster flavored sauce and oyster sauce, with the majority being oyster sauce.

Actually if you look at the back label, it says oyster flavored sauce.

Lee Kum Kee Premium Oyster Sauce 9 oz

I'm beginning to wonder if there is really even a difference...

 

[GB]

Actually if you look at the back label, it says oyster flavored sauce.

Lee Kum Kee Premium Oyster Sauce 9 oz

I'm beginning to wonder if there is really even a difference...

That is very odd. My picture and your picture are identical except yours does say flavored while mine does not.

 

[Seven S]

The international import regulations may help explain the differences. I have indeed seen different labeled bottles of Soy Sauce/Oyster Sauce/Hoisin for Lee Kum Kee and Pearl River and both priced differently. I assume that in these Asian grocers, they choose to import both kinds if they can (at least in the US) because that way people can choose to purchase what they are used to and purchased while growing up. I am familiar with similar regulations for canned italian tomatoes - Pomodori di San Marzano - I know there is an import regulation where if the Italian tomato producers choose to pack the canned tomatoes in water like they do in some of their Italian local markets, here in the states, the tax rate would be so high they could not compete, so a way around them is that they pack the whole tomatoes in a tomato puree instead, which changes the applicable import tax rate. That is what you find on the shelves here, which are reasonably priced.

 

[RobsanX]

I think that as it pertains to what can be purchased in a bottle, they are the same thing. I suppose if you make your own, then it's can be true oyster sauce. When the additives and preservatives are put into the bottled product it becomes oyster flavored sauce. That's JMHO of course...

 

[Andy M.]

Do you see the brand names completely gone though or just less space taken up by them?

In most cases, brand names just have dramatically reduced shelf space and variety. I have seen a few instances where the only option was the store brand.

The stores are trying to make a buck by making it easier for the consumer to buy their product. If there are issues, the pendulum swings back in the other direction.

Uncle Bob's post about a totally private label store is a different situation. In that case, the store didn't reel in the consumer with brand names and gradually switch them over, they tried to switch them over cold turkey.

 

[jennyema]

In most cases, brand names just have dramatically reduced shelf space and variety. I have seen a few instances where the only option was the store brand. .

I bet you are referring to Stop and Shop. They are flooding the stores with their brand name products which are in most cases not that great. It ticks me off.

 

[Andy M.]

I bet you are referring to Stop and Shop. They are flooding the stores with their brand name products which are in most cases not that great. It ticks me off.

Actually, we do most of our shopping at the Market Basket chain. I find they have the best prices on most things (for brand names).

 

[Uncle Bob]

Uncle Bob's post about a totally private label store is a different situation. In that case, the store didn't reel in the consumer with brand names and gradually switch them over, they tried to switch them over cold turkey.

Actually, in this case there was no pretense (advertising etc.) of offering branded products...It was an attempt to offer a whole store of lower priced products to a segment of the market (low-income). The problem was "they" didn't want the Private label hot dogs...they wanted Oscar-Mayer --- They didn't want Private label Coffee..they wanted Folgers! So down the tubes it went!

I do understand the point you were making however.

 

[Uncle Bob]

I bet you are referring to Stop and Shop. They are flooding the stores with their brand name products which are in most cases not that great. It ticks me off.

There does seem to be a trend in the industry right now to do this on some scale...To sell the consumer what THEY want YOU to buy...rather than Selling YOU what YOU want to buy...Long term "That dog want hunt"

All any of them have to sell is "Service"...."I can buy Heinz Ketchup (example) at the store two blocks down" --- Further more I drove by three stores to get to your's" That's my line/attitude towards them.

 

[Andy M.]

I bet you are referring to Stop and Shop. They are flooding the stores with their brand name products which are in most cases not that great. It ticks me off.

Jen, we do shop at S&S from time to time and we see the same thing there.

I'd be surprised if any major chain doesn't do this. I just don't know if I'm ready for Stop & Shop Oyster Flavored Sauce.