How much does food cost in Cayo, Belize, including San Ignacio and Belmopan?
Jonathan Lohr - Ceiba Realty Ltd.
The Cayo area, including San Ignacio, Belize, has cheaper food items than a lot of the other parts of Belize. It is cheaper compared to San Pedro in Ambergris Caye or in Placencia because a lot of the food is produced here in the Cayo area.Here, meat costs US $2.50 for a just a regular butcher’s cut of beef. Specialty cuts, such as steaks, would be around $5 per pound. Chicken is around $2 or $2.50 per pound. Vegetables are pretty cheap as well. A tray of 30 eggs...
The Cayo area, including San Ignacio, Belize, has cheaper food items than a lot of the other parts of Belize. It is cheaper compared to San Pedro in Ambergris Caye or in Placencia because a lot of the food is produced here in the Cayo area.Here, meat costs US $2.50 for a just a regular butcher’s cut of beef. Specialty cuts, such as steaks, would be around $5 per pound. Chicken is around $2 or $2.50 per pound. Vegetables are pretty cheap as well. A tray of 30 eggs is around $4.50.
The cost of living here in San Ignacio is pretty low. You can live on a budget of $1,500 to $2,000 very comfortably.
(Pictured: San Ignacio and Santa Elena, Cayo, Belize, as viewed from the balcony of one of our apartments.)
Posted July 23, 2015
Penny James - Better in Belize Eco Village
Food costs in Cayo on overall items are cheapest in Benque Viejo del Carmen, which are the cheapest in all of Belize. For example, taking one item out of a mixed basket of goods, we can see that the further east one goes, the prices rise significantly - with the highest being in the islands due to everything having to be shipped in.
The examples below are in US dollars. (Belize has its own currency, which is pegged at two...
Food costs in Cayo on overall items are cheapest in Benque Viejo del Carmen, which are the cheapest in all of Belize. For example, taking one item out of a mixed basket of goods, we can see that the further east one goes, the prices rise significantly - with the highest being in the islands due to everything having to be shipped in.
The examples below are in US dollars. (Belize has its own currency, which is pegged at two Belize dollars to one US dollar. However, this would not affect the price paid in US dollars.)
Milk
(1 liter; about a quarter of a gallon)
Benque: $1.42
San Ignacio: $1.50
Belmopan: $1.62
Belize City: $1.77
San Pedro (Ambergris Caye): $2.12
Limes
(Each)
Benque: 10 cents
San Ignacio: .12 cents
Belmopan: 14 cents
Belize City: 16 cents
San Pedro (Ambergris Caye): 25 cents
Restaurant Meal
(Average price)
Benque: $3 - $4
San Ignacio: $4 - $6
Belmopan: $4.50 - $7
San Pedro (Ambergris Caye): $7.50 - $9
Housekeeper
(Price per day)
Benque: 12.50
San Ignacio: $15
Belmopan: $17.50
San Pedro: $25
General Labour
(Price per day)
Benque: $12.50 - $15.00
San Ignacio: $17.50
Belmopan: $20
San Pedro: $25 - 30
Placencia: $25 - $30
On the majority of items, there is a difference of almost double in price from San Pedro (Ambergris Caye) to Benque, with Benque being the most affordable by far.
Posted August 11, 2015
Tiffany Swift - Rentals In Belize
A gallon of milk in Cayo is about US $2.50. Five pounds of flour and five pounds of sugar are also about $2.50. Beans and rice are about 50 cents per pound. Hotdogs are about $.90 for a pack of 8. A pack of pasta is about 50 cents. A flat of 30 eggs is about $3.50. A loaf of bread is about $1.50.You would get fruits and vegetables at the market. For ten bananas it's 50 cents or a $1 Belize for ten bananas. A hundred oranges is about $4. The price of vegetables varies....
A gallon of milk in Cayo is about US $2.50. Five pounds of flour and five pounds of sugar are also about $2.50. Beans and rice are about 50 cents per pound. Hotdogs are about $.90 for a pack of 8. A pack of pasta is about 50 cents. A flat of 30 eggs is about $3.50. A loaf of bread is about $1.50.You would get fruits and vegetables at the market. For ten bananas it's 50 cents or a $1 Belize for ten bananas. A hundred oranges is about $4. The price of vegetables varies. Sometimes you can get a pound of cilantro for 50 cents but sometimes it's $2.50. The price of vegetables varies depending on the season. A ten pound watermelon is about $2.50. Apples are not grown in Belize so they're a little more expensive. They're about 50 cents each. Grapes are about $3.50 per pound.
Chicken is cheap at around like 60 cents a pound. Beef and pork would be about $2 a pound. We also have locally produced cheese like mozzarella, pepper jack, and cheddar and they're inexpensive. Cheese costs about $3 per block.
Because the minimum wage is very low in Belize, the cost of living is cheaper here. My food budget is about 50% less than my food budget in the US. I went to Chipolte in the US and it's no cheaper than $6 for a plate, compared to here you can get about the same amount for $3, which is 50% less.
If you want imported foods, then it gets expensive. If you buy the domestically produced food, you're going to pay about half but if you need to buy items that are imported it's going to cost you quite a bit more. It may be the same price as in the US or maybe even a little bit more.
(Plate lunch of chicken, rice, bean, fried plantains, pictured)
Posted August 18, 2015
Wilana Oldham - Hot Mama's Belize Limited
The cost of food in the Cayo District depends on several factors. If you are going to be on a simple diet then you are not going to spend a whole lot of money because fresh fruits and vegetables are inexpensive here. If you are going to eat more gourmet foods, then finding ingredients will be a little difficult and it will cost you a little bit more money. I tend to eat fruits and vegetables, so our cost is relatively low. It really all depends on what...
The cost of food in the Cayo District depends on several factors. If you are going to be on a simple diet then you are not going to spend a whole lot of money because fresh fruits and vegetables are inexpensive here. If you are going to eat more gourmet foods, then finding ingredients will be a little difficult and it will cost you a little bit more money. I tend to eat fruits and vegetables, so our cost is relatively low. It really all depends on what you, as an individual, like or don’t like. There is not a lot of already prepared meals here the Cayo District. It is not like in the US where you can go to the frozen foods section and pick out several foods that you can just put in the microwave. There is not a lot of that here in the Cayo District. Most of your meals here have to be prepared and cooked from scratch.
I love pizza. Here in the Cayo District, you can get DiGiorno pizza for around $13. Depending on where you live, let’s say for example, you are in Belmopan or in San Ignacio, you can also call and have a pizza delivered to you. It’s will run you around $15 or so, depending on what kind of toppings you will have on your pizza.
As far of packaged food, there is not a lot of that available here in the Cayo District. Bread is around $1. Milk is also around $1 depending on the quantity that you are buying. The price of meat ranges from $1 to $7, depending on the cut of meat that you are buying. Chicken, which is quite plentiful here in the Cayo District, you can get full, quartered, ground, deboned, de-skinnned, etc., for a price range of between $1 to $4.50.
In the US, I would spend more because there were so many choices available, whereas here in the Cayo District, your diet ends up being a little bit simpler and not too elaborate. We buy some things in a can like asparagus, which is not available fresh, and costs about $4 to $4.50 for a can. You would definitely spend a whole lot more money in the US than here in the Cayo District.
Sometimes the vegetable guy will pull in and I can buy fresh vegetables from his little truck. They deliver the water, sodas, etc., which are nice conveniences here in the Cayo District.
A lot of people like going into San Ignacio (the largest town in the Cayo District) on a Saturday morning because that is the market day for their huge market. Going to market day in San Ignacio is a social event because you meet people, say hello and they have everything there. Everything is fresh. You can also buy plants, flowers, some clothes, and you could also buy cooked food. All the farmers come in on Saturday morning with their produce to make it available to everybody. Buying at that market in San Ignacio is much less expensive than walking into a supermarket in the US. You can buy 10 bananas for 50 cents!
(Hot Mama's habarnero hot sauce, made in Belize, pictured.)
Posted October 12, 2015