Thimphu’s meat market appears to be moving towards greater price competition following regulatory intervention against a long-standing practice of uniform pricing, with a new assessment finding significant differences in prices among retailers for several fresh meat products.
The findings of the Competition and Consumer Affairs Authority (CCAA) suggest that most meat shops are now setting prices independently rather than following a common price list, although some products continue to show considerable price clustering.
The assessment comes more than nine months after the CCAA ordered the Bhutan Meat Vendors Association (BMVA) to discontinue its practice of setting the same selling prices for member shops. The authority also provided training to meat vendors on determining their own prices.
To determine whether retailers were genuinely competing, the CCAA surveyed prices of 15 meat products across 65 meat shops in Thimphu. The number of shops surveyed varied by product, from nine to 60.
The assessment looked at the degree to which prices differed between shops and the proportion of retailers charging the same most-common price. The results show a clear distinction between standardised products and fresh meat that is individually cut and priced.
Fresh products such as beef, pork, Sekam and Shakam recorded considerably wider price differences. Imported bone-in beef had a price spread of 10.6 percent, while local pork recorded a spread of 9.5 percent.
Local pork showed the widest absolute difference, with prices ranging from Nu 300 to Nu 650 per kilogram—an 80 percent difference between the cheapest and most expensive outlets. Imported bone-in beef ranged from Nu 600 to Nu 800 per kilogram, while local beef with bone ranged from Nu 500 to Nu 700.
Such variations, according to the CCAA assessment, are consistent with a competitive market in which retailers take into account differences in sourcing costs, product quality, operating expenses and customer base.
However, the study also found relatively uniform prices for frozen chicken and local chicken. For instance, 93 percent of shops surveyed for 1.2kg frozen chicken charged the same most-common price, while 86 percent did so for one-kilogram frozen chicken.
At first glance, such uniformity could raise concerns about coordinated pricing. The CCAA, however, cautions against drawing that conclusion solely from the price data.
Frozen chicken is a factory-packed and standardised product, often sold at or close to a price determined by suppliers or importers. With identical weights and specifications, there is less scope for retailers to differentiate their prices.
Local chicken, meanwhile, is also relatively standardised and frequently purchased, meaning small differences in retail prices may provide little incentive for shops to compete aggressively. Fish products fell somewhere between the two categories. Rahu/Rui and Panga recorded price spreads of 3.9 percent, while Katla recorded 5.5 percent.
The assessment suggests that the presence of wholesalers or importers establishing reference prices could explain why fish prices remain relatively close while still allowing retailers some flexibility.
One of the more significant findings comes from examining whether individual shops consistently charge higher or lower prices across their product range. Of the 65 shops surveyed, 21 were classified as being around the average price level. However, 19 shops were cheaper than average and 15 were pricier than average. Another 10 stood out more strongly, with two shops significantly cheaper and eight significantly more expensive.
This means more than two-thirds of the shops fell into either cheaper or pricier categories rather than clustering around a single average. Despite the encouraging findings, the CCAA does not conclude that all forms of possible coordination have disappeared.
Some products continue to show a high concentration around a single price. Local pork, for example, had 75 percent of surveyed shops charging exactly Nu 450 per kilogram, despite prices ranging from Nu 300 to Nu 650.
The authority says this could result from normal market behaviour, such as retailers responding to similar wholesale or livestock costs. The CCAA also notes that not all shops sell every product and that differences in freshness, quality, cuts and portion characteristics were not captured in the survey.
For that reason meanwhile, the authority recommends conducting similar surveys regularly, potentially every quarter, to monitor changes in competition. It also recommends continuing to publish comparative retail prices through its Market Price Information and Monthly Price Watch initiatives.
For consumers, greater price transparency can itself become a force for competition. When shoppers know that the same product is available at different prices, retailers face stronger incentives to remain competitive.
The findings therefore offer an important indication that Bhutan’s competition policy is beginning to influence everyday retail markets. The dismantling of a common pricing arrangement has created greater room for independent pricing, particularly in fresh meat.
