What You Need to Know Before Grocery Shopping in Germany

There’s a system for grocery shopping in Germany, didn’t you know?! 😝

My mom has been here a little over a month and she’s still learning how the entire system works. Between bottle returns, different products, checking out customs, and bagging up your groceries at the end… grocery shopping in Germany can be a little daunting for those who have never visited Germany before and for those who don’t speak German.

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MY TIPS FOR LIVING IN GERMANY ✅

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[klotz__]

Aldi is not a measurement for "In Germany". It's a discount store that offers only the basics with a range of approximately 3000 items. "Real" supermarkets like REWE, Edeka or Kaufland offer up to 12000 different items. We also have whole aisles of cereals.

[Scissrman]

In Germany, we don't clean the eggs like factories in NA do.
Eggs do have their natural coating from the hen, which makes them resistant against bacteria from the outside.
Brushing off that coating makes them more vulnerable.

[Torfmoos]

Tell your mom not to be frustrated when try to beat an Aldi Cashier. It s a challenge no one would win.

[beijingballerina]

The boxed milk on the shelf you had is Ultra Heat Pasturized - it is a different process to the refrigerated section which is also pasteurized just like back home in Canada, unless it’s ‘raw’ rohmilch, which I’ve noticed here in Stuttgart at least tends to be in glass packaging.

[petebeatminister]

Its not essential to remove the lids if you throw jars into the Altglas. They have machines that seperate metal and plastic from glass in the recycling plant. Whats very important is, not to put green or brown (or otherwise tinted) glass into the Weissglas bin. One or two brown bottles can ruin the entire container content, and make it unuseable to produce white glass from it again. This is a big issue for the recycling industry.
A remark: as you may know, Aldi is kind of a "cheapo" place among supermarkets. They dont care if the products are nicely lined up, and the staff has no time to take care of such things. Also, the product variety is somewhat limited.
Perhaps you should take your mon to a real big supermarket, like Kaufland or Marktkauf, or whatever you have in your region. They have a much better assortment of brands and goods. Then you find a entire isle of cereals as well. :)

[agn]

Leave a few of your bags in the trunk of your car (if you're driving to a grocery store by default).

Facing products - shelves are filled ("gespiegelt") while the shop is closed, quite common by cheap labor workers (often from foreign countries) not seldom without proper advice on how to position a product "properly".

...plus you've to realize to stuff all your goods in the "correct" order: things in hard boxes etc are first on the belt bc they'll end up at the bottom of your bag with all other stuff cramped on top of it. So, yes - putting eggs, sensible fruit/legume, Aufschnitt etc. on top of cereals, bottles, and cosmetics, ... is highly recommended.

[maxxum]

hey jen its so nice to see your mom enjoyen german groceries!!! keep up with the perfect content and wish you and your family all luck of the world!!!!

[ralfhtg]

About returning bottles: every shop has to take back the one-way bottles, no matter where you bought them (as long as you bought them in Germany). But shops only have to accept reusable bottels which they sell themselves. That is what the law says.

[hikmahsederhana]

wow, the streets are so beautiful, clean, there is not a single trash.. the city arrangement is very good

[nomirrors]

I was desperate to see a proper Aldi speed scanner and you didn't disappoint. Danke!

[taupegrillon]

your mom is learning that quickly. she is amazing!!!

[VJDanny]

Caution is advised when cream is standing next to shower gel. Often happens in small supermarkets. If you buy the wrong thing (the packaging is very similar), it will be unpleasant in the shower. Or you can cream yourself with shower gel.

[MaskedBishop]

You don't necessarily have to take off the lids, as they can be removed in the recycling "factory" (dunno the word). BUT the machines there might require more energy then.

So it's good to remove them, but you really don't have to get sticky hands off your syrup bottle.

[macorey]

I just discovered your vlog ☺️ My daughter has lived in Germany since 2013 and I enjoy grocery shopping with her. She has taught me much about the differences between German shopping and US shopping.

[Osmone_Everony]

2:55 You can keep the lids on. Glass is being melted at 1600+ °C. Plastic just goes up in smoke and metal lids get pulled off the shredded material by a magnet before it moves into the oven.

[inrivaalfosso]

Our salespersons here in Germany also get trained to restock the shelves properly, with the "face" of the merch visible to the customers. But nowadays there are more and more unskilled people working at the supermarkets and it's often just about getting things done somehow, because of staff shortage. Years ago, when I worked at a "Drogeriemarkt" (drug store chain?) in Hamburg, we had 2 or 3 people, just standing there, greeting the customers and waiting (!) for their questions. We were not allowed to restock much etc. because the customers should know that they have our attention and can come and ask us at any time. Restocking was done only in the early morning. I don't think that this is still the case anywere nowadays.

[robfriedrich]

1:13 kiosks import sometimes the sodas to avoid the deposits.

[xaverlustig]

5:00 Fresh milk _is_ refrigerated in Germany, otherwhise it would go off. But UHT milk (Ultra High Temperature treated, "H-Milch" in German) is not refrigerated, because it's not necessary. UHT milk remains good for months after sealing without refrigeration, and cooling does nothing to extend its shelf life, so it's not done. However after the package has been opened in the home, it'll go off like any other milk, so has to be refrigerated.

[alondro]

When you go to an Edeka or Rewe then you can return the glassbottles as well an you get your items faced towards you :) This was once a job of mine when I was in school and this is one reason I don't shop at Aldi because they don't employ such people.

[eduardbernhuber]

Hi Jenna, I have a Idea for you😉Use for shopping one Half of the big Banana Cartons at the Store!!They give it to you when you ask!Its much easier as 3/4 Bags!I use it now for about 6Years and it’s only my second Carton💪