Grocery Shopping in England

I have been requested by several people to write about my experiences with grocery shopping here in England because, let's face it, it is quite a bit different. Sure the major things are the same, you can get your breads, frozen items, fruit, veg, and canned goods like you can in the States, but what is different are the types of things found at the grocery store. In Egham the only grocery store is Tesco which is a national brand and tends to be one of the cheaper grocery stores; this shows in the selection. After a few failed attempts to find ingredients for recipes or just good quality fresh food I abandoned Egham's Tesco in favor of (the more posh) Waitrose in Staines (the next town over). It is the "official grocery providers to the Queen" after all so it better be posh. The thing I like about Waitrose is that I can get much higher quality freshly made breads, ready made meals for when I'm in a hurry, and they just have more of everything which to the American in me makes me indescribably happy. I've come to terms with the fact that I quite like having 20 different options for jam or mustard because then I know I get the exact one that I want. At Tesco it tends to be one or two options for things which I find appalling (but I am a full acknowledged grocery store snob).

Waitrose in Windsor

Waitrose I shop at in Staines

One major difference in English grocery stores is that you have to bag your groceries yourself. Also, if you don't provide your own bag you have to let the cashier know that you need plastic bags otherwise she won't ready them for you. Sometimes you even have to pay a small fee for plastic bags, at Mark's and Spencer's for instance you have to pay 5 pence for a bag. I like that stores are trying to encourage people to use less plastic but the thing that is rather annoying is that the cashiers wait for you to bag all of your groceries before helping the next person in line; this is annoying because usually they don't help you but instead glare rather impatiently at you to hurry up and get out of the way. Another difference is that if you want to use a cart you have to put in a 1 pound coin to "rent" the trolley though you do get it back at the end once you return the trolley to the store. 

Another difference (from Fargo at least) is that if you want fresh produce you have to go early in the day to get it because once they run out for the day they are very slow to restock it. This is frustrating especially on the weekends when everyone is out shopping; it is not uncommon to go looking for veg and not find it in stock at 3pm on a Saturday. What I find interesting is that grocery stores in Britain are beginning to emphasize more and more buying British made and grown products. Nearly every item will tell you where it comes from in the world and if it is from Great Britain it has a lovely sticker on it saying something like "celebrating Britishness" or something adorably British like that. What I do love about British grocery stores is walking up and down the aisles and seeing what kinds of food are heavily marketed and featured. I think that this shows someone new to the country exactly what kinds of food are dear to the British heart. For instance, Tesco has a whole half of an aisle dedicated to british baked beans (the kind eaten with the full english breakfast) and tea. In the meat department, British made sausage links are the predominate item and one can find endless varieties of sausage. The frozen food section has its own freezer specifically for Yorkshire puddings and frozen peas. Another thing you always find is sections of ready made microwavable indian dinners. It's common to see meal deals for two that include curry, rice, and naan bread for 10GBP. Indian food is like America's mexican or chinese and people love a good curry. Of course you also have the sections of ready made take away sandwiches, crisps, and cadbury chocolate (which is my favorite chocolate) which you see people all over the streets eating. 

so many kind of tea!

London Waitrose- Jaclyn, I hope you appreciate this because right after I took this I got yelled at for taking photos.

While I still cannot find the proper ingredients to make decent Mexican food and microwave popcorn is a rarity, I am enjoying trying new things that I find at Waitrose. Grocery shopping is a biweekly event for me and I always look forward to it. It is the little things in day to day life in England that challenge me and make me smile and I love being actively engaged in normal life with the English. For the most part you are always greeted with a helpful and smiling face (apart from the cashiers) and people are always willing to help you find anything you are looking for. Grocery shopping in England is just another example of making the familiar strange and enjoying every moment of it.