Food quality has become an important determinant of success in global food trade and growers for international markets have to continuously adjust to buyers’ requirements. It is however not clear to what extent there is a demand for food quality - and how much buyers are willing to pay for it - in the domestic food markets of developing economies. Based on unique price and trader data from domestic food markets in a poor country in Africa (Madagascar) and an emerging economy in Asia (India), we compare quality and quality’s pricing. We find significantly better quality and higher quality premia (using revealed as well as stated preference methods) in the richer country, probably leading to an impetus for the development of modern market channels in this economy.