At the Supermarket - Food and Shopping

What You Will Find in a German Supermarket#

Going to the supermarket is one of the first real-world German experiences you will have. German supermarkets like Aldi, Lidl, Rewe, Edeka, and Penny are well-organized and offer high-quality products at reasonable prices. To shop confidently, you need to know the basic food vocabulary. Let us start with the most common categories and items you will encounter on the shelves and in the aisles of any German grocery store.

Brot und Backwaren (Bread and baked goods): Germany is world-famous for its bread. You will find a stunning variety: Vollkornbrot (whole grain bread), Weissbrot (white bread), Roggenbrot (rye bread), Brötchen (bread rolls — a daily staple), and Brezeln (pretzels). Most supermarkets have a bakery section (Bäckerei) or self-service bread station where you bag your own rolls. Other bakery items include Kuchen (cake), Croissant, and Toast (sliced sandwich bread). Germans typically eat bread for breakfast (Frühstück) and dinner (Abendessen), so the bread section is always one of the largest in any store.

Obst und Gemüse (Fruit and vegetables): Common fruits include Äpfel (apples), Bananen (bananas), Orangen (oranges), Erdbeeren (strawberries), Trauben (grapes), and Zitronen (lemons). For vegetables: Kartoffeln (potatös — hugely important in German cuisine), Tomaten (tomatös), Gurken (cucumbers), Zwiebeln (onions), Karotten or Möhren (carrots), Paprika (bell peppers), Salat (lettuce/salad), and Pilze (mushrooms). You will often need to weigh your produce yourself at a scale station and print a price sticker before going to the checkout. Look for the scale near the produce section — place your item on it, press the corresponding picture button, and take the printed sticker.

Milchprodukte (Dairy products): Milch (milk), Butter (butter), Käse (cheese), Joghurt (yogurt), Sahne (cream), Quark (a creamy dairy product between yogurt and cream cheese — uniquely German and very popular), and Eier (eggs — though these are often in a separate aisle). German milk comes in different fat percentages: Vollmilch (whole milk, 3.5%), fettarme Milch (low-fat, 1.5%), and Magermilch (skim milk, 0.3%). You will also find H-Milch (long-life UHT milk) which dös not need refrigeration until opened — this is very popular in Germany and can be confusing for newcomers who expect milk to be in the refrigerated section.

Fleisch und Wurst (Meat and sausages): Hähnchen (chicken), Schweinefleisch (pork), Rindfleisch (beef), Hackfleisch (ground meat/mince), and the famous German Wurst (sausage) in countless varieties: Bratwurst, Bockwurst, Leberwurst (liver sausage), Salami, and many more. The deli counter is called the Fleischtheke or Wursttheke. Getränke (Drinks): Wasser (water), Saft (juice), Bier (beer), Wein (wine), Kaffee (coffee), Tee (tea), and Sprudel or Mineralwasser (sparkling water — Germans drink far more sparkling water than still water). A practical note: most drink bottles carry a Pfand (deposit) of 0.08 to 0.25 EUR that you get back when returning the empty bottle to the store's bottle return machine.