How these pages are built
Every figure is computed from the same catalogue: 1,353 items across 120 destinations, split into dishes, bakery, coffee and other drinks. Each item carries a price band, a place and a set of dietary and style tags. Nothing on these pages is hand-estimated, and the source data is rebuilt on every deploy.
The pages are written for two audiences. Travellers get a shortlist: where vegetarian food is easiest, which destinations lean on noodles, where a tea order is the local move. Journalists and bloggers get a citable table, a stable URL and a CSV download, plus a method note on each page explaining what the numbers do and do not cover.
Three limits to keep in mind
- This is our index, not a census. The counts describe the 1,353 items in the TasteBridge catalogue. A zero does not mean a dish or drink is unavailable in a country; it means it is not indexed there.
- Price bands are estimates. Budget, mid-range and premium are planning bands in US dollars, not live menu prices. They are built for comparison, not for a budget spreadsheet.
- Tags are menu notes. Vegetarian, halal, pork and seafood tags describe the indexed recipe. They are not certifications, allergen labels or guarantees about a specific kitchen.
Cite or download
Every page includes a citation line and links to the full CSV dataset (1,353 rows: country, region, type, item, price band, tags and URL). If you use a figure, link to the page it came from so readers can check the method.
Start with the pillar
The Global Food Cost Index is the anchor page: it explains the price bands, ranks all 120 destinations and links to every other data page. If you only read one, start there.