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Food
Thoughts
 Shopping
for food in the Netherlands can seem quite daunting at first. Get to
know a few of the following words, and you'll be on your way. While
grocery stores here don't have all the products we are used to,
you can find most things or something similar by shopping around. A
great source for fresh products is the wonderful daily markets in and
around Eindhoven. You'll find chili peppers, pumpkin, shrimp with
skins, sausage, just to name a few
 Follow these links for more
information on our site:
Dairy Herbs
Meats metric
conversions Fruits
& Veggies Baking
Remember to bring a guilder coin along when you do big shopping at the grocery
store. You need
to place a guilder in the deposit box on the shopping cart. When the coin is in,
the chain will release your cart from the line. When you return the cart,
you'll get your guilder back.
Many
grocery stores have weight/price machines in the produce section. You are
expected to price your own produce before going to the checkout. The process is simple
enough. Grab a bag, fill it up with the required produce, take it to
scale, push the corresponding button for said produce (there are pictures for
those of us who haven't figured out the Dutch words) and finally, hit the
"Bon" button. You'll get a sticker with the price, put it on
your bag and you're ready to proceed to the checkout.
There
is no such thing as a bag boy. You are expected to bag your own
groceries. And to make it a little more difficult, store rarely provide
grocery bags for free. You can ask for a "tas" and it will cost
you about 35 cents per bag or look for recycled boxes at the entrance.
Sometimes plastic bags are sold from a machine called a "draagtasautomaat".
The best way to do it is to grab a recycled cardboard box at the entrance of the
store. This is what the natives use.
Remember
to bring your used glass and plastic bottles of beer, soda and milk to the
store. If the word "Statiegeld" is printed on the bottle, you've
paid a deposit on them, make sure to get it back. All other glass bottles,
jars, etc, must be taken to a recycling box near you. These are often
located in the parking lot of the grocery store.
The biggest grocery chain in the Netherlands is Albert
Heijn. This store has a good selection of "foreign" foods. Check out Al's website at: http://www.albertheijn.nl.
It's in Dutch, so you can practice your words.
If you
like the intimacy of little shops, there are a plethora of them in the Eindhoven
region. You can go to the cheese shop, the wine shop, the greengrocer, the
butcher and the fish shop for your daily supplies. The quality is
excellent and prices are usually similar to large grocery stores.
If you
absolutely, positively, must have a product from North America, you can check out this
site. Prices are a bit high, but when desperate go to www.quosmos.com.
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