It totally depends on what you buy. Also if you buy in larger quantity it would make sense. But yes you can save roughly about 20 percent. I go to carrefour often.

According to your own standard list of average groceries you'll be able to compare from a given swiss (food) supermarket with equivalent one above the border.

Of course prices vary if you decide to go shopping to discount mini supermarkets which are on both side of border, i.e. LIDL or ALDI type.

People claim you can save on meat, fish and shells, some on fruits and vegetables, but others warn meat preparation and cut are different on swiss vs. french side, and as of yoghurts and milk preparations the swiss recipes overcome french ones. Better you draft your own list first and you'll have a sharp idea when comparing sales ticket.

We do our grocerys every week in Ferney-Voltaire, in the Carrefour market.

The reason why we have started doing this 1 year ago was because the amount of money we were spending in Coop & Migros were just ridiculously high. We eat a lot of fish, meat, and a LOT of chicken.

One or two little shoppingBAGS for 2-3 days ended up costing us around 200-250 CHF.

Now for that same amount of money we can fill a whole shoppingCART, for a week.

The store in Ferney is open until 21.00 pm EVERY DAY, has a big parking and it is really just 15 minutes from Geneva.

Carrefour isn't the most cheap supermarket, Lidl and Aldi French are of course much cheaper. But I am already very satisfied with the amount of money I save by doing my grocerys at the Carrefour.

I havent been in a Coop or Migros since then...

Oh, and also worth mentioning:

They have ( like every Carrefour market) a big non-food section.

My toaster, vacuum cleaner, steamer... Well almost every little electrical device I have bought there as well. 

Just for example: last week I bought a electrical toothbrush there for 35 Euro, which cost me HALF the price compared to Switzerland ( 79 Chf)

So true. I use Swiss supermarkets for milk and bread only. And vegetables since i think the quality is much better here. For everything else we go to France

Thanks!

In my opinion you can save some money by buying in France and find wider range of products

Most things are cheaper but I don't find that fruit and vegetables that much cheaper so I don't buy them there.

I agree with the above but would like to add that there are not only supermarkets in France, you can also buy great quality 'artisanal' products from small shops on that side of the border, if you have the time / inclination. For example, fantastic cheese from Fromagerie Michelin in Ferney, which will probably be the same price as the ordinary supermarket cheese in CH.

Be careful not to spend more than the equivalent of CHF300, as you will be charged at the Douane if they stop you. It's happened to me at Ferney more than once.

Limit of 500g meat per person, as well.

500 gram?! What?!Really?!

That's not even what we eat DAILY.

Does chicken count? lol

Let's hope they never stop me then. But a smile has always helped so far. :)



 

Not, chicken does not count. See Duty-free maximum amounts on the Swiss Customes web site.

Fish is cheaper at Aligro by the way and sometimes meat as well, depending on what you buy. The same applies to whisky.

Hi, I'd say on meat you save about 30%,

whereas some things like Olive oil and Butter and French cheeses are twice more expensive in Switzerland.

The one thing that really caught my attention - Toblerone and Lindt which are Swiss brands, still cost cheaper in French supermarkets than here!

Carrefour is where the usual french-side grocery shopping fan crowd seems to go to, but from my own experience of living in France for a couple of years before, I can say Le Clerc offers the best value for money.

It's maybe not worth going all the way to France if you are a single-person household, but definitely saves a lot of money for a family of 2+.

I do some shopping in france but not as much as before because I found I was buying too much and the wastage was almost as much as the money saved.  I now go to buy specific food products which I prefer to the Swiss and then mybe top up on some items which are cheaper but am finding less and less

I did some comparing....  :)
Here are the maths:

The chicken filets, that I have in my fridge right now,cost:
-3,35CHF/100gr in Coop
-1,25Euro/100gr in Carrefour

Right now I am also looking at a package of steak which costs:
-3.34 CHF/100gr in Coop
-1,57 Euro/100gr in Carrefour

Eggs:
-10 eggs cost in Coop 2.50 CHF
-10 eggs in Carrefour cost 1,07 Euro.

Tropicana Sanguinello 1L, so good juice :) , costs:
-5,30 CHF in Coop
-2,86 Euro in Carrefour
The same juice.Same package.Same amount. Crazy no??

One more:
Kellogg's Special K with dark chocolate:
300 gr in Coop cost: 4,30 CHF
5.50 gr in Carrefour: 4.67 Euro + PROMO : 2EME GRATUIT!!! (till 14/01)

Dont forget also the electrical toothbrush I mentioned in the beginning:
Oral-B Trizone 500:
-79 CHF in Manor
-34,99 Euro in Carrefour

Yes, I know, I didnt calculate the change from CHF to Euro, but you can already see, even without doing that, the prices vary extremely.

And then it's of course up to you, is it worth it?
But for me, it matters. :)

I do most of my shopping in Ferney, it really is cheaper. I also try to plan a little ahead so I don´t have to go there so often. Usually once-twice per week.

The risk to be stopped at the border is quite small (if you have more than 500 g of meat) :) and if you really want to avoid it, there is always another route that you can take and there is no border control. And it is never so crowded as the main road is, so it usually is faster too (especially during rush hour!)

And like someone mentioned, that cheese shop in Ferney is really good. You can do a lot of tasting there also, so go there first and you wont be so hungry when you go to Carrefour :) There is also a nice little "boucherie" in Ferney, just opposite of that smaller Carrefour. And fine wine shops too.

Hi everybody :)

I guess many will desagree with this. And I would be happy to hear some counterarguments.

I think that for those whose who receive a normal "swiss salary" it doesn't make sense to spend money you earn in french supermarkets on a regular basis.

But why would I buy in Swiss supermakets when it's so expensive for some products compared to France ?

My answer: Well, if you're working in Switzerland and earn a good salary it's also because the level of life is good here. But guess what ? Employees working for swiss supermarkets "also" earn a decent salary compared to the same employees in french supermarket.

It's not the same market, they can't sell at the same price mainly because they don't have the same operating costs.

When you can afford it and yet you rush to the french side, you're going against the very system that allow you get a good salary. You deny the swiss supermarket employee the right to earn a decent salary, because you can save "more" money.

It's like you're sitting on a branch in a big tree and you start cutting the branch others are sitting on because it makes yours more stable. On the long term, well ... someone will cut yours and the tree will be in a bad shape.

We are free but I believe what we do matters, it means something and it has consequences.

Of course there are exceptions ! (students, interns, getting something specific you cannot find, etc.) It's just common sense.

Cheers,

David

So, all the people working in Swiss supermarkets are living in Switzerland, right...?

And all the French people are employed only in Frech stores, no?

And of course nobody is working in Geneva, but is living across the border because that's cheaper, correct?

Because that would be against the system. So nobody should do it. :)

Thank you very much for your commonsense, David. This is courageous from you to remind how the system really works.

Today people want to pay less for everything, including services. This will lead us to work with "discount" salaries and for longer hours than today. 

I live in France because I could not find a decent flat in Geneva but I am always amazed at the number of BMW and Mercedes shopping across the border whereas they get more than honest salaries. Personally, I still buy about 50% of my stuff in Geneva and am not ruined for that.

What about ecology? People nowadays prefer to buy cheap strawberries which have travelled 3000 km rather than shop the local products. 

Nature will have its word one day.

Hello Bella,

Very good point ! Thanks for highlighting those three situations. :-)

I don't remember saying that everybody working in Switzerland should buy everything in Switzerland. I said there are exceptions but I didn't want to write all the exceptions or the tricky cases. I said that it's about "common sense", but instead maybe I should have said "good faith".

Of course, there is a french working force in Switzerland and for good reasons ! They are needed and welcome. And even if they wanted to live in Switzerland we don't have that kind of extra space and real estate prices would be much higher than what they're now. Of course there are some fields where swiss and french resident compete. You just get the best person for the job.

But to put it simple, if you're a french resident working in Switzerland (frontalier), you buy in France. Because you live there, period. Having to buy in Switzerland would be a none sense for them.

If you live in Switzerland, you buy in Switzerland. (Again ! Assuming you have a "good salary" or situation)

So were is the problem now ?

Well you pointed out the BIG problem fuelling conflicts between some swiss resident living a life at the "Swiss price" and the french residents living with a "Swiss salary" at the french price. :-) That includes the Swiss residents that moved to France to have the best of the two worlds.

So, is this really a problem ? Or is it maybe just a smarter choice ?

I think the system lack some ajustments. On a legal point of view swiss resident are not fully allowed to get all their food in France. And so they should live a Swiss life at a Swiss Price. That's the rule. When I say Swiss price, I mean the Swiss rent, the health care system (LAMAL), food, entertainment (cinema, drinks, clubs), etc.

Why are we making rules in the first place ? For the system to be stable & fair ? Then why this gap between swiss residents and frontaliers ? (frontaliers: French residents working in Switzerland)

I think a Swiss salary is high because of the "Swiss Price" it pays for. So if you're not living in Switzerland, you most likely don't "really" pay the Swiss price... should you get the full Swiss salary ?

The system can not be perfect, but it can be adjusted to be better and more fair for everyone.

Don't get me wrong. I'm happy for the frontaliers. It seems to be the position with the best view. But in my experience when the view is very good and it's also cheap it's either a scam or someone else is paying the difference.

The frontaliers contribute to the swiss economy as a workforce it's a fact ! But maybe not that much as consumers.

Ohh ! By the way, I certainly don't pretend all I said is the truth or anything close. I'm sure that it doesn't applies to everyone or every case. But it is my actual understanding of the situation. 

Cheers,

David

P.S : I maintain that if you have a good salary and a good situation, you should try to consume in that same country when possible. Because it just makes sense. It's about good faith. What we do matters, it means something and it's our duty to understand the consequences of our actions and be responsible. For the braves who are still reading ... sorry for the typos ... it was late in the night. 

"It's maybe not worth going all the way to France if you are a single-person household, but definitely saves a lot of money for a family of 2+."

I agree with Sofia.  I definitely do not see a savings for my household (one adult, one child).  After the extra cost in time and fuel to get to/from France, I don't feel a savings.  If there were four of us, it might be different.

Like most local families, I buy some things at Migros, some things at Coop, and some things across the border.  I have two Migros and two Coops a short distance from my home and can reach them by car, foot or bicycle.   I try to buy everything whilst on "action" (sale).

Free range Optigal chicken at Migros is often on action and even when it isn't I rarely pay more than 25CHF/kg (bio more expensive but the Optigal is good quality and I've seen some of the farms in/around Kerzers so know the animals are in good conditions too).   For those doing price comparisons, two whole chickens when on action are about 6.80CHF/kg (7.80CHF/kg if you buy only one).    Regular price ground chicken for mexican dishes, burgers, bolognese, or meatballs is 19.03CHF/kg, thighs less.   Chicken breast can be on action for as little as 15CHF/kg, regular action price is 25CHF/kg and the regular full price is about 33CHF/kg.   But it's on action so often, it's rare you pay that!

-Michelle

If you go to France with the 12 Tram and walk up you will find the Spar Supermarket on the left and the Casino on the right a bit further up, they have nice things for good prices, love their smoked hot dogs and the dry pork sausages, they also have nice juice and a small range of Organic food/drink.

It is worth it, long live France! And P.S You work for your money, No one has the right to tell you how and where to spend it:)

Unfortunately, many governments don’t agree, doing their best to restrict how folk use their cash.

yeppp, when those same politicians spend their billions any which way they want to.

Hello Sivan,

(Please believe that I'm kindly reacting to what you said. I mean no harm or disrespect. I just like to debate.)

We're all free, it's a great right. Some people thinks it's duty free right but I think it comes with great reponsibilities at the individual level.

About what you said earlier: "You work for your money, No one has the right to tell you how and where to spend it:)"

I'm sorry but you really got it all wrong. You just destroyed freedom of speech and the law in one sentence.

If you meant: Anybody has the right to tell how and where to spend you money. But you have the right not to listen, have your own opinion and do what you want with it.

Then I agree with you too.

You fail to present any argument except the right to do what you want with your money. And without setting any boundaries (context). This is often a bad idea. Anybody can already do want he wants with his money, that is not the question. The question is WHY you do this or that ?

Examples:

Would you burn some money ? I would not

Would you buy from a shoe factory hiring kids to work 70hrs/week ? I would not.

Would you use TNT or DHL ? No idea ... Does it matter ?

If you live and work in Switzerland would you do most of your shopping in France because it's cheaper ? In my opinion: Read my previous post.

Cheers,

David

Hello Sivan,

I was so busy, I forgot to press the reply. I answered you if you look above or my previous post.

Have a nice day,

David

Thank you David S, for injecting some sense of social responsibility into this discussion.

There is a huge difference in acting out of need and out of greed. And it is the greed of some that contributes to the needs of others remaining unfulfilled.

The fact that there are greater offenders, Sivan, --and yes it is them who create the big social gaps and economic inequalities--, does not justify joining their club. I hope you are not suggesting that, because by doing that, one only provides that wealthy privileged minority with cover, and you do it on the cheap, as you are not even profiting anywhere as much as they are.

We are to some degree free to do what we want, though some seem to equate with doing what they can get away with (even if it violates customs laws, for example, which at least most times exist for good social reasons) and with no regard for the impact on others.

I assume most people sharing information on this thread are on limited budgets and have to go through this kind of trouble out of need. But do use some common sense and exercise your judgement. For any others, please have some sense of solidarity. We shape the world we live in by our daily actions, large and small.

If we're going to play the social responsibility card, one could argue that the French people need our money a lot more than the Swiss.

RichardM. If you go one step further, you can say:

"stop buying European, buy Chinese products instead for the Chinese people are more needy than the fat, over-fed Europeans". 

No personal offence!

Mimi's coiffeuse has a monthly salary of CHF 3200 and French actor Gerard Depardieu makes millions. What does that explain? If you read David's first post, he is trying to explain the difference in prices, asking people to "act in good faith" and making the point that your purchasing choices may be related to why swiss supermarket employee salaries ("and the army  of salespeople or restaurant workers") may be lower than the average swiss salary.

Anecdotes aside, the facts are:

Average annual income in Switzerland is around 76,145 CHF (78,500 USD), according to 2012/2013 salary survey.

Average annual income in France is around 36,936 EUR (45,600 USD), according to 2012/2013 salary survey.

According to the CIO/UBS study of purchasing power, performed every 3 years since 1970 in 72 cities, normalizing average wages and the cost of a basket of products to those of New York (=100), in 2012:

- The cost of living in Geneva was 106 while in Lyon was 78.

- Wage levels in Geneva were 123 while in Lyon they were 64.

Do the math and you will see that the purchasing power of the average French worker is lower than that of the average swiss employee. Switzerland is an anomaly as its banking system captures immense wealth.

In any event, you do what you can to extend your purchasing power, as Mimi's coiffeuse surely must. One should be cautious not to be judgemental of the choices of those whose circumstances one is unaware of, and I don't know any of the people exchanging tips about prices across the border in this thread. But David is  raising a good point about being mindful of the impact of our choices. I will say it again: there is a difference between acting out of need and acting out of greed.

if  you think "the French people need our money a lot more than the swiss" I can think of many ways you can contribute directly to them. Making your purchases there does not help: Increasing the demand for supermarket products while the supply remains the same will only drive up their prices, hurting those in France with lower incomes. Why do you think the cost of living in the pays de Gex is higher than in most areas of France?

I agreed until this part: "Making your purchases there does not help: Increasing the demand for supermarket products while the supply remains the same will only drive up their prices, hurting those in France with lower incomes."

But the supply doesn't (necessarily) remain the same.  Our purchases could help a French producer achieve economies of scale and thus lower his production costs.  Buying chicken feed for 1000 chickens gives a farmer a lot more negotiation power than buying for 100.

 Though you could have gotten the toothbrush cheaper in Switzerland... 30 CHF on toppreise.ch

yep, what would you say if you had to work up to 9 pm and even on Sundays?

Is society only limited to consumption of goods?

"I consume, therefore I am"?

I sincerely hope not.

It's just crazy how some people are trying to do "the good thing" and follow the system, when in the same moment I am reading in my newspaper that the wealthiest people of this world are hiding their millions on tax havens all around the world.

The "big guys" screw the system all the time, get richer and wealthier, when the ordinary people are the dumb and should "follow the system"

A round of applause for that.

I agree with that but I am proud to live according to my values.

What the others do is of no importance. 

With the same example you can buy a very polluting car and just get as an excuse that rich people do much worse.

What exemple do we want to give to the world and to our children?

If any of you are concerned about the abuse of tax havens, I can put you in touch with International Consortium of Investigative Journalists or the Tax Justice Network, who are working to do something to stop it. Meanwhile, you have the choice of providing those who use them with cover by "normalizing" their behavior (ie, "everybody does it, one way or another, so why shouldn't I") or you can, first, isolate them as the only ones who violate the system that is stacked in their favor to begin with, and second, join in small or big ways, those who are trying to change the world and make it a better place.

No, ordinary people should not be dumb and support the system by giving them cover. We should behave towards one another the way we want to be treated, not be greedy and try to gain advantage without consideration to others. The way the rich and powerful minority has created either a consensus or tolerance towards a state of affairs that benefits them at our expense is to get us to accept greed, individualism and selfishness as an acceptable, intrinsic feature or humans. Bringing about change is not easy, but we will never make any progress if we buy into the way things are.

Dear Bella,

Honestly ... I don't even know where to start.

You were the first person to react to my first post with some pertinent questions. And I believe I answered them the best I could. I'm repeating myself but until now I didn't see any pertinent answer or counter argument.

In this message, I wont focus about Switzerland and France, I already said enough. Here I will focus on basic logic and moral.

About crazy things, don't you think it's crazy to hear people complain about the  "bad" behaviour of a minority and then justify their own bad behaviour with the bad apples. This is crazy and it makes no sense at all !

And the craziness doesn't even stop there ! It goes to a new level by saying that people doing "the good thing" are dumb to do so. 

But wait a minute ... what are you complaining about already ?

I'm sorry but I think in the end you're complaining about yourself. Why ? You're associating yourself with the people you're complaining about.

What do you think your "bad big guys" are doing ? Saving money despite the rules ? And what are you defending ? Saving money despite the rules ?

It's like saying: "Look, a minority of the people are cheating ! This make me so mad ... that I'm going to cheat too."

What kind of twisted logic is that ? 

OR maybe ...

You have no argument and it is easy to just point your finger at something worse ... like "big guys" hiding their millions and using this as a way to minimize a smaller fraud. What I find interesting is that you seem to recognize that there is something wrong but somehow that it is acceptable. Why is that ?

Anyway ...

I really wonder what you're trying to suggest here. Should we wait for everybody to behave correctly before doing what's right ? Do you see where this is going ? Nowhere ! And I'm scared when I see that 5 persons thanked you  ... for what you said.

Wake up ! The world will never be perfect. Bad apples will always a part of it.

Do you want to be a good or a bad apple ? At least I know where I stand.

If you don't like something don't do it yourself period.

I am not complaining.I am not arguing.I am not suggesting anything. 
You are the one here getting all stressed.

The only thing i did in the first place was answering the question of this thread:

How much can be saved by buying in French instead of Swiss supermarkets?

And then....I was slightly amused how serious 'some' people can take this simple question and so I posted an sarcastic answer (you see, I placed a smiley there). My second answer was appreciated by 5 people, so yes, some people do share my opinion. Also that is something you just have to accept.

But clearly, somehow you take all this way to personal.

I am sorry to tell you, but me, as the 'bad-cheating-person' as i am, will continue earning my money in Switzerland, and buy my groceries in France because i can save significant more money this way, and even buy more stuff, yeah, again NOT in Switzerland. Boo.

And if i had millions on my bank account, i would probably hide them on tax havens too.
...And i would still sleep good at night. 
So i guess that makes me a bad apple huh? 

And again, im not complaining, i am perfectly fine.

Really. I think everybody should live their life the way they want to live and according to their own values.

You, with a clear conscience and trying to save the world...and me, well, i think I did worse things in my life.

Cheers.

Hello Bella,

Getting all stressed !? Are you kidding... you indirectly said that we're dumb to do the good thing ... maybe you expected me to say thanks. Sorry but that's not me.

If "I take all this way too personal" I could also say that you take all this way too lightly. It's just a matter of point of view :-)

You say: "Really. I think everybody should live their life the way they want to live and according to their own values."

But everybody is doing that already. But it becomes a bit problematic when people's values are fundamentaly opposed. I sure if you ever get attacked in a street, you would definitely acknowledge and certainely not complain about you're attacker's values. Because after all we should live the way we want. right ? I agree  

Totally make sense to me now. :-)

You have serious moral issues if you really meant what you said. Oh ! And I'm not talking about buying in France, even I buy in France when I have to or need something just not available in swiss supermarkets, I have nothing against it, if it is not done out of greed.

I'm not hunting anybody. If people wants to share tips on swiss VS french supermarket so be it. I just thought it would be the perfect place to see what people think about what I said in my first post.

BTW What are your values ?

Cheers,

David

P.S.  With what you just said I woudn't be so sure those people really share your opinion. That really scare the hell out of me.

I think this “debate” has got out of hand and that it’s time for Admin to use its good offices. R.

Why? It doesn't run out of hand. It's a bit of a strong dicussion, but an interesting one never the less.

I agree with David - We buy most of our groceries from the Swiss supermarkets, or even better, from the local butcher, and the local markets. We all have to come to a point where we are not talking about the maths anymore, but about the sustainability of what we do. I'm in no way a "green guy" but I do believe in local produced products. The saturday market, the Manor (who has loads of local products) are great places. Yeah they are slightly more expensive, but they sell traceble products. I'd rather have a 25 francs chicken from the local farmer around the corner, than a 10 franc chicken filled with anti-biotics and anti bacterial treatments... you are what you eat. 

Did you know that to carry the label bio in France has a total different meaning than here in Switzerland? - In Switzerland the whole chain has to be biological - in France only part.

I'm not going into the tax haven debate... that's to far off-topic ;-)

@Bella Stella

The chicken filets, that I have in my fridge right now,cost:
-3,35CHF/100gr in Coop
-1,25Euro/100gr in Carrefour

Eggs
-10 eggs cost in Coop 2.50 CHF
-10 eggs in Carrefour cost 1,07 Euro.

I agree with most of the price differences but not for the chicken. The Swiss price you mention is free range chicken: all Swiss chicken IS free range (not all chicken sold in Switzerland but all packaging where it says Swiss chicken). You find the same free range chicken in France (label rouge or bio) but it's more than 1,25Euro/100gr

Vs battery chicken like that:

Here's my chicken.
You tell me where they come from because i have no idea.
I just know that if i have to buy that amount of chicken in Coop/Manor/Migros I would spent the money for a whole week of grocerys only on the chicken. 

I buy 5 packages like that every week, and last week they were in promotion for 6.00 Euro each.
Generally i never buy anything with 'bio' written on it.

(Cough)

David, let's just say I am a bad person without morals and the right values, and move on.

Cheers.

The free-range chicken in France is Label rouge (in every French supermarket and cheaper than Swiss chicken):

http://www.poultrylabelrouge.com/

The chicken you buy is battery chicken ("tortured" in cages in horrible living conditions and tasting pretty bad, if you compare to the better one):

You can see that the chicken packaging that you buy tries to imitate the "Label Rouge" to trick the client but the real one (not only for chicken) looks like this:

Not only the labeling like this. but what's in it? Has the animal been treated with anti biotics - anti bacterial medicin? Was the food it took GMO? After the lasagna schandale one would hope people would become more aware about what they eat? 

A round of applause for you.

Cheers,

(But I really really wanted to know about your "values". If you share them, I promess not to comment) :-)

Interresting thread! Let's go one step further when it comes to "ethical" shopping and hope that those who are so against crossing the boarder to fill the fridge do not shop at Migros, Coop or even worse at the German Lidl or the French FNAC, or even worse worse worse at Amazon... These guys kill retailers and retail jobs. As far as I am concerned, I must confess that I do shop in France especially when their prices are 50% ower that ours and I have to buy in large quantities. Despide my swiss salary I keep an eyes on my expenses.

Has anyone ever been stopped at the border with too much meat from France?  If so, what happened?

Because you care about retailers and retail jobs ?

Crossing the border to buy large quantities in case you're inviting many people for dinner doesn't seem like a bad idea but it's still considered as illegal behaviour. I think it's acceptable.

It's also true that openning hours in Switzerland are not the best. It can be get hard to shop in Switzerland for some people. That's also acceptable. As well as getting products you need and cannot find in Swiss shops.

There are many situations when buying abroad is clearly acceptable. But I think it's not acceptable when pushed to extrems like buying almost everything abroad even though your incomes allow you to support the local economy.

As far as I know, buying at FNAC in Switzerland is not illegal. And if you buy Amazon product you still pay taxes on it, still not illegal.

It seems that you will be charged for each kilo of excedent. For meat it seems to be CHF 20.- / Kg.

It also seems that above CHF 300.-, you can be charged everything you bought. (we're talking about food here...)

It's also seem that alcohol is always taxed.

Be careful I'm not 100% sure. you can check there.

Customs

I was once, only slightly over on meat. I had been advised that if stopped and you're asked, it is better to come clean rather than have it found by a search.

As it was, and as I only had just over a kilo rather than the 500g, the officer just gave me a booklet with my limits are told me to be more careful next time. It probably helped that I had a RHD car and so he thought that I may not have known the limits (which was reasonably true as I wasn't aware of the differences depending on whether the meat had been processed or not, if it was poultry or fish, and so on)

As the above poster mentioned, you just have to pay a predefined amount per kilo of that that category of food.