Grocery Shopping

Gone are your days of one-stop-24-hour-shopping—but this is one of the joys of European life. At its most poetic, this means shopping at the market or at produce stands nearly every day, becoming familiar if not friendly with the merchants, and really shopping seasonally. On the other hand, it can mean lot of running around, so be patient while you get to know your neighborhood shopping options. Produce is really best bought at a vegetable stand rather than at a grocery store, and if you’re living in Mitte or Prenzlauer Berg, think about doing your shopping as you pass through Kreuzberg on your home from the library or the Berlin Program. It sounds a bit complicated but there is a huge difference between produce prices around the city.

Try out all the “discounters” in your neighborhood: Aldi, Plus, Netto, and Lidl can all save you money—on certain things. It takes some time to figure out that you can’t buy fresh milk at Aldi and that Plus doesn’t carry certain kinds of detergent. Regular grocery stores (Edeka, Reichelt, Extra) will cost 20-50 cents more on most things (watch out—a lot more on produce) but will save you time.

Don’t forget to shop for groceries on Friday or first thing Saturday morning, since stores will be closed Saturday afternoons and all day Sundays (except for large grocery stores in the main train stations, which will also be crowded during off-hours.)

Posted by Heather at November 3, 2002 04:57 AM | TrackBack