A guide to the GERMAN supermarkets | everything you need to know

Grocery shopping in Germany is not that different from other places,

since you still need to pay for them.

However,

if you are new to this country,

there are many new things to discover and understand.

Firstly,

let's start with the classic supermarkets.

Edeka. Edeka is the largest German

supermarket chain with approximately 4100 stores.

It has a great variety of produce.

Starting from the most appealing fresh fruit and vegetables,

an exciting selection of teas to aisles of hair products,

a bigger than usual selection of baby wines,

and the funniest and derpiest recreations of cereal boxes I have ever seen.

Larger stores often have a cheese or a meat counter,

and perhaps a bakery on the side.

Then Rewe.

The second largest supermarket chain with around 3300 stores

in Germany.

Similar to Edeka,

it has a wide selection of goods.

Even though both Edeka and Rewe are mid-range stores,

each supermarket has their house brands,

which tends to have a lower price than branded items.

Edeka's own brand is called "Gut & Gunstig,"

meaning good and cheap,

while Rewe has "ja!"

Moving on to hypermarkets,

most popular hypermarkets in Germany are Kaufland and Real,

even though unfortunately I haven't had the opportunity

to visit Real in real life yet.

Based on Kaufland,

I can say that in general hypermarkets are usually big,

walkable,

and explorable.

They not only offer groceries but also miscellaneous items from cooking utensils,

from BuzzFeed

to Bier-Adventskalender.

And we also have Metro,

that is membership only.

And unfortunately also not in my area,

but it is a cash and carry kind of store

where you can buy 1 kg of cheese,

a giant can of olives,

and a washing machine.

A type of store for restaurant owners or very big families.

Your true friend during these price spiking times are discount stores,

and Germany has more than plenty to choose from.

Firstly,

the one that started it all,

Aldi.

We have Aldi Nord and Aldi Sud that

actually are two separate grocery store chains legally.

Nevertheless,

they do sell very,

very similar products.

Aldi Nord covers the north side of Germany and Aldi Sud the south.

Then we have the #1 Aldi competitor,

Lidl.

If you want to learn more about these two stores,

consider checking out my Aldi and Lidl video.

Other than that,

we have less popular discounters like Penny,

that is a child company of Rewe,

and Netto.

That not only shares a distinctive signage with Edeka,

but Edeka also owns the discount chain.

And last but not least,

Norma.

Typically shopping at these discounters might

not fully complete your shopping list,

so you will most likely need to give a visit to others.

These stores are very similar in their offerings

from limited selection of fruits and vegetables and mediocre peanut butter

to unique food products.

1 kg.

What

the hell?

No.

And, of course, the adventurous treasure aisle where you

can find something new every week or two.

Like look at these Lidl Christmas sweaters.

Who would even think of buying these?

Perhaps, the stores do not look the most aesthetically pleasing,

but that's how they keep their prices low and cheap.

Plus,

you can take these empty boxes to collect groceries,

but make sure it's not too small.

Additionally,

not sure about other stores,

but Lidl and Aldi always have special promotion-themed food

like gourmet or Slavic or Greek.

The items are usually hit or miss,

to be honest.

Where's my favorite?

No,

they don't have it.

Since each discount supermarket offers its house brand,

they are usually cheaper than other branded items,

and in some,

you can find both versions of an item.

But since they are fierce competitors,

generally,

price-wise they don't have much of a difference.

Germans are known for being environmentally conscious,

so they are big on bio products.

Therefore,

they also have specifically dedicated bio stores.

The two most popular organic supermarkets in Germany

are Denns BioMarkt and Alnatura.

But if your city does not have them,

there are other smaller and more local

bio supermarkets spread across the country.

They offer a grand selection of organic products from fresh bread and cheese

to coffee,

wine,

frozen pizza.

Look at this tiny pizza.

And even skincare,

but these products come with a price,

like more than usual,

especially the fruits and vegetables.

Nevertheless,

the stores do look very aesthetically pleasing,

and they offer you the priceless sensation of

knowing you bought something better for the environment.

Interestingly enough,

here you can find very well thought through designed products

alongside very straightforward

in Microsoft Paint created looking like products.

To compare the local prices this time we're

using up the most millennial metric, there is

the avocado metric.

Comparing the prices of avocados in different stores with the cheapest ones

being at the discounters and the most expensive in the bio stores.

If you are underwhelmed by the amount of international food offered

in the generic supermarkets,

there are many local supermarkets that might sell

the foreign flavors you are looking for.

There you will always find many unique,

maybe even never seen before items.

For an average German,

these items might seem intriguing

and perhaps confusing,

but for others they might feel like home.

If you need to get some vitamins and a new tube of mascara,

some of Germany's biggest drugstores include Rossmann and dm.

Besides makeup and simple medicine,

they also sell alternative milks,

cleaning supplies,

protein supplements,

hair, and

skincare products

and you might be even able to print photos from your phone for an affordable price.

Even though these stores are not for grocery shopping,

they do have some food products such as spreads,

dried fruit,

gluten-free food,

canned goods,

and even tofu.

And most of the food products are veal.

Plus Germany also has Muller,

a chain of retail stores.

For me,

it feels like a leveled up drugstore.

Not only is it ginormous,

but it also sells high-end perfumes

and skin care,

stationary goods,

a whole wall of socks,

toys,

video games,

and last but certainly not least,

a SpongeBob mug.

However,

if you would like to purchase something like paracetamol,

you'll most likely need to go to Apotheke or pharmacy

and ask it at the counter.

Now,

moving on to more general things you might

see in any grocery store, breads and bakeries.

Germans love their bread from small buns to big loaves,

and oftentimes stores have bakeries in them or a bakery chain next to them

plus

oftentimes you'll find the bread cutting machine right next to the breads.

Yeah.

Epic.

Compared to the Netherlands,

Germany is not that keen on premade food.

Most of the options are more to desire for.

Unless the store has a salad bar,

the salads are quite disappointing.

It looks like something I should not say.

All I'm saying it could be better.

Except the poke bowl was surprisingly tasty.

Around the same area,

you will also find premade coffee,

which is sold in these yogurt looking like containers.

They are strikingly popular,

especially in Frankfurt.

They are way too sweet for my taste,

but maybe you're into that.

However,

in some supermarkets you can find the

most amazing sushi for the best reasonable prices

with a big variety and even vegetarian ones.

In case you want to make baked goods by yourself,

you might have trouble finding baking soda in the stores.

Baking powder is easily translated to Backpulver,

but oftentimes baking soda is referred to as Natron,

which is pretty confusing.

When you don't have enough money or time to shop at specific bio stores,

most supermarkets and drugstores offer some kind of products in bio form.

At many stores like Rewe or dm,

you might be asked if you have a payback card.

The card you can get easily somewhere at the store for free,

and with it you can collect points and then reclaim money or other rewards.

Germany has the most limited shopping hours in Europe.

Generally,

the stores have their business hours from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on weekdays.

On Saturday, they are more limited hours.

And on Sundays,

most of the stores are completely closed unless it is an open Sunday,

where most supermarkets,

clothing stores,

and shoe stores are open.

They occur once a month,

but not every month.

But

if you happen to not have any food to survive on a closed Sunday,

some kiosks and gas station will provide enough substance.

Or you can just do takeout.

It's worth keeping in mind that German checkouts tend to be quite hurried,

and it is especially true in discount supermarkets.

You are required to attain grocery packing skills quickly,

otherwise you will slow down the line,

making everyone annoyed.

Typically, in German grocery stores you will find a lot of German food.

It's comfort eating with high quality,

often locally-sourced ingredients.

So, we have the usual sausages,

Deli meats,

potatoes,

potato balls,

frozen pretzels,

frozen cakes,

premade currywurst,

and much more.

However,

in this section,

I wanted to present to you a couple of things I would recommend you try

from a German supermarket

for a visitor or someone new to this country.

First and foremost,

when it comes to chocolate,

you can't go wrong with

Schogetten

or Ritter sport

with many interesting tastes

to choose from.

Nutella,

even though these products are made by an Italian company,

Nutella branded sweets are very popular here.

Nutella cookies,

Nutella sticks,

Nutella wafers.

If you love Nutella,

you came to the right place.

Maultaschen.

There are basically giant square dumplings that originated in Bavaria.

They have a wide selection of fillings,

and you can eat them boiled or pan fried with vegetables.

I love pretzels,

but what I love even more is pretzel bread.

It is so crunchy and salty,

and it is great in a sandwich.

True fruits smoothies/juices.

They not only taste great,

but they also have different texts and stories on different flavors,

and in the end you get a cute bottle.

You can't skip on Haribo since they have a wide variety of flavors you can try,

so you might find the one that you like

because the classic golden bears are pretty basic,

or feel free to try other gummy bear treats not created by Haribo.

The best

frozen pizza you will ever have is the Gustavo Gusto pizza.

When you prepare it correctly,

you will feel like you're eating a pizza from a restaurant or a pizza place.

It might be pricier than other frozen pizzas,

but it is really worth it.

Last but not least,

if you like a little bit of pop in your life,

fritz-kola and Spezi

might quench your thirst for soda. (MUSIC)

And personally,

my favorite and best peanut butter

is this big bucket from Muller.