Hallo! My name's Michelle, and I recently moved from NYC to Berlin, Germany. One thing that fascinates me about my new country is how different its supermarkets are compared to what I was used to. Here are a few examples:
1.In German supermarkets, the bread aisle is way more varied than an American one.
2.A standard German beer bottle has almost a full cup more liquid than an American one.
3.Haribo gummies are a HUGE thing here. You'll find them in every animal shape, flavor, and texture imaginable.
4.Almost all grocery stores are stocked with super efficient recycling systems that'll reward you with €.08 for every beer bottle, and €.25 for every plastic one.
5.Speaking of recycling, you're not a true German until you've repurposed 20 food jars of various sizes.
6.Even sausages sometimes come in jars. 👀
7.Speaking of sausages, they come in every size, flavor, and color.
8.Berlin is known as the vegan food capital of Europe — so you'll find tons of substitute meat options in supermarkets.
9.There's no real "American aisle" — but there are lots of (kinda sad) replicas of things I might find in the U.S.
10.Like in many other European grocery stores, eggs are not refrigerated.
11.German grocery stores are where I learned that Germany produces more cheese than France. 😱
12.The cold cuts here are just as varied as the cheeses.
13.German and American grocery stores are both obsessed with pickles.
14.It's a great thing that I love muesli, because it makes up probably 70% of the breakfast food aisle.
15.My all-time favorite part of grocery shopping here is — hands down — the chocolate.
16.And when I say chocolate, I really mean Ritter and Kinder.
17.Groceries are exceptionally affordable here — at least compared to the U.S.
18.Bagging your groceries will almost always be the most anxiety-inducing task of the day.