So how much does it cost to shop in Germany, and what is the experience like? Glad you asked.
< My personal shelf in the communal refrigerator. >
How are tacks taxed?
Germany has a reputation as being a relatively expensive place to visit, which is forgivable in such a marvelous land for the traveller. Visiting and living are, of course, two completely different games when it comes to costs, which I see quite clearly when I compare my three-week visit in 2003 with my present sojourn. Perhaps this should be obvious, but when you're excitedly preparing to study and live in another country, the mundane routines of life seldom come to mind.
One word the student of the German language will quickly learn when living in Germany, if it was not already known before, is Mehrwertsteuer, which means value added tax (VAT). While technically not the same as a sales tax, from the perspective of the consumer it functions very much the same way: it is added to almost every commodity you buy. VAT is included in the price you see on the shelf, so there are no surprises at the checkout. However, the receipt will reveal the amount of your purchase that was VAT, which can be eye-popping. VAT on most food items (except juice and soda) is 7%. Everything else is taxed at—hold on to your hats—19%. That means almost every non-food item you can buy, from office paper to a new computer to a new Mercedes-Benz to a box of tacks, is taxed at almost 20%. The simple way items are grouped into 7% or 19% VAT makes it easy to determine which rate will be applied when shopping. However, it doesn't always make perfect sense. For example, sugar and candy bars are charged 7%, while toothpaste, toothbrushes, and dental floss are all charged at 19%. Before the beginning of 2007, the VAT was 6% and 16%. The German government, fearing the continuation of an economic recovery, put its collective foot down to attempt to stem the tide. Trying to turn lemons into lemonade, some stores had new year's sales, with Saturn, an electronics store, offering 19% off many items, in honor of the new 19% VAT.
Despite the high taxes, many common grocery items in Germany are comparable to reasonable prices for the same items in America. Is it expensive to shop here? You decide.
The Experience
In many ways, the grocery shopping experience here is similar to the experience in America. Shopping is done mostly at chain supermarkets. Shoppers browse the aisles, pushing shopping carts ahead of them, and at the end of their visit, they load their items onto a belt to be scanned by the cashier. Almost all stores accept debit cards issued by German banks (although extremely few accept cards with a Visa or MasterCard logo). Despite the similarities, there are quite a few differences in the details.
Tubes - they're not just for toothpaste anymore.
The first surprise an American will encounter on visiting a German grocery store for the first time will come when s/he tries to get a shopping cart, and finds that they are all fastened together with chains. The shopper's attention will then be drawn to the device mounted on the handle of each cart to which the chains connect. Then the truth will hit, and the shopper will fumble around in his/her pocket or purse for a 1 Euro coin, and will find two 50-cent pieces, one 2 Euro piece, four 20-cent pieces, one dime, and seven pennies. The shopper will then go to the bakery next door and buy a Berliner with the 2 Euro piece, receiving a 1 Euro piece as part of the change. After eating the Berliner, the shopper will return to the cart corral and insert the 1 Euro piece into the device on the cart handle, thus freeing the cart, and continue into the store.
If our first-time-in-Germany shopper happens to be going into a store operated by a discount grocery chain, a quarter of the items on his/her shopping list won't be carried by the store, and another quarter will be out of stock. The shopper might notice the difference in the way some things are packaged. In America, tubes are for toothpaste and anti-fungal cream. Germans, however, happily buy mayonnaise, mustard, relish, tomato paste, and more in tubes that look as though they were made for Crest whitening formula.
In America, milk is almost always sold fresh (unless it's meant for cooking); over here preserved milk, sold unrefrigerated in aseptic packaging (such as Tetra Pak), is very popular.
If the shopper is looking for that "large onion" or those "large potatoes" that the recipe from home called for, s/he may be surprised to find that the store's onions are not much larger than golf balls, and neither are most of the potatoes. (For making recipes from home, I've learned to substitute three German onions for each American-sized onion. Some stores carry the larger kind, but they're usually much more expensive per kilo.) Where's the bulk section for dry goods? (Cue blank stares from employees)
The final surprise will come at the checkout. There will be no bagger to pack our intrepid shopper's items away in doubled-up plastic grocery bags. In fact there will be no bags at all—unless the shopper is willing to shell out a little extra for them. At most stores this costs ten to twenty (Euro) cents per bag. However, the bags are much sturdier than the flimsy grocery bags we get in America, and can be reused. If the shopper happens to take the bags s/he bought, which are printed with the store's logo, back to the same store for the next shopping trip, s/he would be wise to let the cashier know the bags are used; otherwise, the cashier might add them to the grocery bill without saying anything. The mistake will be discovered at home when glancing over the receipt, when it's already too late to make a fuss about it. (My standard procedure is to carry bags in my coat pockets, load the items back into the shopping cart as fast as the cashier can scan them, and after I've paid, to take the cart to a convenient place and bag the groceries (many stores have special counters for this purpose).) At the end of the shopping experience, the cart is returned, and as it is fastened to the other carts, the coin pops out like magic.
After going through all of this for the first time, our newly initiated American shopper of German grocery stores might want to go back to the bakery and get another Berliner, or perhaps even go to the nearest Biergarten.
< A 1 Euro coin sits ready to free a shopping cart from its chains. >
Name your pleasure
Supermarket chains can be divided into several rough categories, including huge megastores with wide and diverse selection (similar to FredMeyer and Wal-Mart Supercenters); smaller, limited selection discount groceries that rely almost completely on their own "house brands" (for these I can think of no equivalent in the Portland area); mid-sized groceries that offer a more upscale shopping experience and brand names for a higher price (similar to Safeway and QFC); and natural/organic food stores (similar to Wild Oats and Whole Foods).
Each has its advantages. The mega- and more upscale stores have counters where shoppers can get fresh meats, cold cuts and cheeses packaged to their liking. They are also the most likely bet for finding craved-for American food items. The discount stores have good prices on many types of canned and prepackaged foods, but little in the way of fresh, although most offer a limited selection of inexpensive (but often inferior quality) fresh produce. Stores specializing in natural/organic foods are the place to go for any kind of high quality product, healthy alternative, or excellent fresh produce.
Some of the common supermarket chains with stores in the area that I shop at include Marktkauf and Kaufland (megastores); Plus, Penny Markt, Aldi Süd, and Lidl (discount chains); Rewe, Tengelmann, and Edeka (slightly more upscale); and Alnatura (organic). Yes, in any given month, I will probably shop in all of those stores. The variety among the different stores allows me to track down most any item for any recipe I want to make. Additionally, though several different stores might carry the same item, I know which one will usually give it to me for the best price. For example, I might go to Marktkauf to get Doritos corn chips, sour cream, and fresh ground beef; Lidl to get canned tomatoes and canned kidney beans; Tengelmann to get pitted black olives (most black olives sold here are sold with the pit) and cheddar cheese (from the fresh deli counter); and Alnatura to get fresh vegetables and healthy cooking oil. The resulting meal might look like this...
< Guten Appetit! >
< Kaufland, a gargantuan shopping center. There are two in Ludwigsburg; this one is the larger of the two, to the west of the train station. >
< The produce department in Kaufland. >
< Produce scale, Kaufland. Many stores have scales such as this, on which customers weigh their produce and then press the appropriate button, and the scale prints a sticker with the price and a bar code for the cashier to scan. The surface marked Falschetiketten is the place to stick a sticker if you've made a mistake. >
< Browsing the beverage aisle, Kaufland. Most beverages sold in places like Kaufland and Marktkauf are bottled in refillable bottles, which are used over and over by the bottling companies. While many of these bottles are glass, a fair number of them are made of sturdy plastic which, though appearing scuffed after several times being used, returned, and refilled, is little the worse for wear. Deposit for refillable containers is generally between eight and fifteen (Euro) cents.>
< Many of the largest stores have more than one level. To get between the levels, shoppers go up and down long, gently sloping belts. The shopping cart wheels are specially designed to grip the belt, preventing the cart from rolling. >
< Browsing the cereal aisle in the Marktkauf in Feuerbach, another gigantic store. >
< Inside an Aldi Süd, one of the limited selection discount chains, in Freiberg am Neckar. The shot is looking toward the checkout, about halfway between the checkout and the back of the store. Kaufland's dairy and fresh produce sections alone would probably fill this entire store. >
< Two of my favorite beverages: Cherry-banana nectar, and fresh milk. The packaging of the cherry-banana nectar is what's known as aseptic packaging; before it's been opened, it can sit on a shelf without refrigeration. This is the way haltbare (preserved) milk is sold in Germany, but I prefer the taste of the fresh. Every grocery chain in Germany has its own "house brand" of milk, all sold almost universally at the same price, no matter what the store is: Euro 0.55 per litre for whole milk.>
< Some things never change. >
And in other news...
I got a new backpack the other day (on sale, even!), suitable for weekend trips or day hikes. I also find it quite convenient for carrying groceries on those occasions when I decide to combine a walk with a trip to the store. In addition to the pack, I bought a nice water canteen, as my hikes can be quite long, and there have been times when I got quite thirsty while on a hike and had no water. I want to make sure I remain properly hydrated on my hikes, especially as the weather gets warmer. Part of the problem with this is the need to balance fluid intake with the other possible need that may arise long before I return home. Public restrooms are Germany's four-leaf clovers: not only are they difficult to come across, but they may also be seen as good luck. (As in: Person A - “I'm looking for a public restroom.” Person B - “Good luck!”)
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