SURPRISED AT SOME PRICES! How grocery prices compare with UK? Blair and I explore a Bucharest store

I was surprised at some of the produce which I had never seen before. Some items were predictably cheper than in the UK, but some things were surprisingly more expensive here in Bucharest. Come with Blair and I as we explore a store.

Filmed April 2024 | Bucharest, Romania.

*** MY BOOK:
End-To-End, the world's longest train journey from Vila Real de Santo Antonio, Portugal, to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

*** FOLLOW ME AT:

*** DAILY DROP:

*** MUSIC:
It costs you nothing more, but will help me level up to be an Epidemic Sound ambassador.

[steve-marsh]

I like these Scott, very interesting to see, especially as when I travel on my own I use supermarkets more than restaurants!

[hanshartfiel]

Carrefour is actually a French super-and hypermarket chain with almost 14, 000 stores in over 30 countries. There is a huge store in Calais.

[carolinegreenwell]

when I visit a new place I always enjoy exploring the shops and supermarkets - gives a different insight into local life

[chrissmith]

There is a joke in here somewhere about a Scotsman failing to identify fruit and vegetables, but I wouldn’t stoop so low. 😂❤

[frunzaverde]

Carrefour and Mega Image are the most upscale options in Romania, and you've been to one of their small, downtown Bucharest shops (Carrefour Market/Express), in one of the most upscale parts of town. Prices are substantially higher than at their larger outlets or more downmarket (Kaufland, Profi, Auchan), or even more middle class locations in town. The lack of variety comes to the business model - these small supermarkets mostly work as convenience stores - they mostly sell alcohol, cigarettes, sweets, snacks, last-minute presents, and things to whip up a late-night dinner when the fridge is empty. Oh, and weird ethnic foods to cater to expats like those Heinz beans (yes, that's how those are regarded, no sane Romanian would put sugar on top of beans). Any bigger purchases are made at a big-box store (Romanians will call them "hypermarkets"), which are (Bucharest being weird and incredibly high-density) extremely close to downtown, taking maybe 20 minutes on the subway to get to instead of 1+ hours by car in much of Western Europe. Or at a farmers' market, which is still a very popular alternative. Cheese and dairy are incredibly popular, there's a large variety of yogurt and sour milk type drinks and quite a few cheeses. However, most cheese, especially in Southern Romania, is white brined cheese (branza) and not the more familiar dry-aged yellow variety of Central and Western Europe (that's called cascaval, and it's not very special or popular). Since most Romanian cheese needs to be stored in brine, it's either sold over the counter, or in sealed, non-transparent packages (a la Mozzarella or Feta). Oh, and Noroc is not terrible. Not good by any standards, but I've had way worse. It's cheap and easy drinkable - quite watery and quite weak on the hops - but still better than some of the US mass market beers. Neumarkt is quite nice - probably the best of the very cheap plastic bottle beers - it has a quite nice hoppy taste to it.

[DavidArch]

Hi Scott, just wanted to say how much we enjoy your films. It's lovely to vicariously experience places through your films. Love the very dry Sahara like wit! All the best. David

[CricketEngland]

It’s difficult to compare prices between the U.K. and other countries and you cant just convert the prices to GBP to know if they are cheaper as it all depends on other factors like what the living wage is, how much tax is added etc

[munk]

As a connoisseur of fine cheeses, you will have been devastated by the recent tragic explosion in a french cheese factory. There was nothing left but 'de Brie '

[meowcel]

Thank you Scott. I an returning to Romania after 33 years of being adopted abroad. Your recent videos have coincided great with my summer trip

[mikeschumacher]

9:30 Tchibo is German; I've seen plenty of their shops in Germany. Had a coffee at Nürnberg Hbf to pass time and it wasn't too bad.

[CricketEngland]

6:02 Certainly in the USA, after the eggs are laid by the chickens, they go through a cleaning process.

The eggs are washed in warm water and a detergents and after washing, they are rinsed and cleaned with a sanitizer to remove any remaining bacteria. The eggs are then dried to remove moisture from the surface.

The result are eggs that are clean on the outside, and look spotless.

However, washing and sanitizing the outside of the egg removes the egg’s cuticle.

The cuticle is a natural layer that protects the egg from harmful bacteria getting inside. If the egg had been fertilized, this is how the egg naturally protects the embryo while it is developing.

Cleaning the eggs removes the cuticle, so the eggs must be kept at refrigeration temperature, otherwise, the bacteria could easily enter the egg and multiply to dangerous levels. By keeping it out of the danger zone, salmonella can’t multiply rapidly.

[daphne]

05:31 I think the English word for that vegetable is «Chicory» (in Dutch we call it «Witlof» and it is quite good roasted with cheese and ham in the oven) ☺️

[ifrimvlad]

Hi there. I am from Bucharest.

That vegetable is celery (telina). Pretty useful that you can find in most stores an already packed celery+onion+carrot mix, which is a base ingredient for many foods which are soup and/or rice based. Regarding vegetables, everybody just buys them Saturday+Sunday morning from the local piata (farmer's market).

You went to a small to small store, that's why you didn't see many cheeses/dairy products. I always find it funny when foreigners are amazed at our mustard and dairy products hahaha.

Alcohol comes in all varieties. Kozel is a Czech beer, which is decent. Our local brands are Ursus and Timisoreana. But wine is the way to go here. You cand find all the price ranges you want for wine :).

[deeraz]

It’s called courgettes in British English not Zucchini’s. It’s the Americans who call the latter that.

[christinehodge]

Very interesting video, some of those prices, 😊

[nostaligia]

Scott, you are right. Some prices seem high. We enjoyed visiting grocery stores when we visited London and Edinburg just 2 months ago. Lidls in London and Edinburgh have very good prices on many items compared to my local prices in North America. Enjoy your video on grocery "shopping"

[connalmacbride]

Really like these videos Scott. Great insight into actual living costs of other countries and some interesting and weird items.... also like the comparison of booze prices. We are so heavily taxed on alcohol in Scotland

[kenji]

Nice video! You did actually go to the most expensive main Grocery chain, so the prices are usually a bit lower. Especially in Lidl, which is the cheapest one.

[realityimaging]

Those turnip like things are in Netherlands called knolerij a type of celery for soups

[johncrwarner]

Carrefour is a French chain of supermarkets
and they used to have some in the UK too.
Possibly not in Scotland.

I wouldn't pronounce the e in the middle
it is the French word for a crossroads.

You should try some celeriac - the nobbly turnip
it is great in salads as well as cooked.
I had a student who used to bring thin slices of celeriac
to snack on.
It is celery root.