AAFES is well known in the military; their slogan "we go where you go" echoes on every Base/Post/Camp/Site/Station in the world. What you don't hear from AAFES is why they 'go where you go'. AAFES could be described as a super Wal-Mart or a super Kmart. Basically, they sell just about everything from gum to washing machines.
Currently, I'm in Baghdad, Iraq supporting the Army as a civilian contractor. I will admit that it is nice to have the ability to purchase items from AAFES right here on Camp Victory. What isn't nice is realizing the items purchased are substantially marked up and, in some food items, past their expiration date.
Let me give you an example. AAFES was thoughtful enough to have some frozen foods shipped over to Iraq; keep in mind the shipping is provided by USAF. These frozen foods, predominately, come from Ramstein AFB in Germany.in fact, the tags on some steaks I purchased today still had the Ramstein stickers on them; with the exception of the pricing. Well, all except one. One that I dug for to see what the actual price should be. You see, it really got my curiosity up when I saw all the prices removed and new prices were placed on the steaks. So, I dug through the cases of steaks till I found one that had not had the original price tag completely removed.
What I saw really got me angry. Back at Ramstein, you could purchase this steak, porterhouse, for roughly $5.00 or about $6.00 a pound. But, for the convenience of the local patrons, the price had been raised to, wait for it, more than $10.00 a pound. That's right; this $5.00 steak now cost $11.00. Frozen. I forgot to mention, the steak back at Ramstein was not frozen or re-frozen for that matter.
Another thing that really irks me is a lot of the snack foods that SAFES provides the consumers here in Iraq, are past their expiration dates. It gives little comfort that the military veterinarians have examined the items and deemed them fit for consumption. That's nice. Still, AAFES sells them at a substantially marked up price. It's my feeling that AAFES ships all the items, that did not sell, from the European stores, here to Iraq and probably Afghanistan too. They know that the Military consumers, in these places, have no choice and will be forced to buy.
It goes without saying that AAFES has an increased overhead to keep these PX's and shopettes open over here. I also know that they have a captive audience. There is NO competition and to the best of my knowledge, no accountability.
So, what can be done? I would like to see a consumer group examine the practices of AAFES, which is supposed to be a non-profit organization. I would like to see some competition for AAFES. I'm sure that Wal-mart, K-mart, 7-11, Stop n go, or many other chains would love to have a presence on every US military base.
"We go where you go" Now you know why.
Gary
Baghdad, Texas
Iraq
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