Grocery Store Tour
Being home for a week was so much fun and a nice little breather in our 6 month stay in Israel. The doctor and I took every opportunity we could to indulge in our favourite foods that are not readily available in Israel. While grocery shopping for some things to bring back to the Middle East, I was once again reminded of how different things are in Canada versus Israel. Read on for some pictures highlighting the differences between a Canadian versus Israeli grocery store.
The grocery store closest to the doctor's Canadian residence is a Metro located in a fairly large shopping complex complete with a Shoppers Drug Mart, Dollar Store, Beer Store, McDonald's, and much more.
In Israel, our grocery store is called Shufersal and is located in the Trumpeldor/Ziv Center which features many similar stores such as a pharmacy, bakery, and a few restaurants. It should be noted that the doctor and I don't call the grocery store by the name Shufersal, rather we call it the Miglog since this is what it looks like in English if the Hebrew letters are arranged upside down. It's quite a catchy name as we have heard a few friends in the area also calling it Miglog.
The first thing of notice between the two stores is the size. The Metro is quite a bit larger than the Miglog, featuring 11 aisles versus 5 in the Israeli store. The aisles are also much larger and longer in Canada, but there is generally more foot traffic in Canadian stores (unless you happen to be shopping right before Shabbat when the produce is the freshest and everyone is scrambling to get food before the store closes for the weekend!).
One of the main impacts that size can have on a store is selection, and that certainly seems the case in Israel. There just isn't the same selection of products that exists in Canada. Somewhat conversely, I have been to larger Miglogs where the selection was similarly small, so maybe it's just an Israel thing! Some notable differences in selection include meats, fruits/vegetables, yogurt, drinks, and hummus.
The selection of meats in Israel is lower than that in Canada. This makes sense since pork is not readily available due to various religious and cultural reasons. Chicken and beef are the most readily available meats in Israel. The forms of meats available, such as ground meat, bone out, or skin on, is also lower in Israel.
Fruit and vegetable selection in Israel is much lower than that in Canada. In Israel, the produce eaten is that which is in season. This means that there is lowered selection, but also that the available produce is constantly changing. When we arrived, Gala apples -my favourite kind- were readily available, but now they are nowhere to be seen! I also have yet to see strawberries and other fruits from the berry family since arriving at the end of March.
In Canada, the yogurt market seems to be somewhat dominated by the Activia brand, as seen on the left in green. Israel also has Activia yogurt, but it does not have as large a market share as in Canada. In Israel, there are many more brands of yogurt available, however, the vast majority of them carry limited flavours, with strawberry being the most prevalent.
As evidenced from the picture, the drinks aisle in Canada is many time bigger than that in Israel, seeming to extend much farther than the eye can see. From what I've seen, more niche items such as vitamin water or sports drinks have yet to find a stable foothold in Israeli markets.
Unlike the other products mentioned above, hummus has a larger selection in Israel than in Toronto. Hummus is extremely popular in Israel.There are many hummus bars around the city where you eat only hummus as a meal, and I'm not talking a little amount! The first time the doctor and I went, we had no idea what to expect and wound up with hummus leftovers for days. Given its importance in this country, it makes sense that there would be a wider selection here than in Canada. Note that in the picture below, I was not able to capture the full assortment of hummus available here due to the small width of the aisles. The red-topped hummus seen in the bottom left corner of the Israel side has as many varieties as the green-topped one, meaning that the selection of hummus is nearly double what is currently featured in the picture!
In addition to differences in selection noted above, here are some other weird/notable differences between grocery stores in Canada versus Israel.
One of the funniest differences has been those related to fruit and vegetable sizes, as evidenced in the pictures below. Additionally, uniformity in produce shape/size does not seem to be as heavily selected for as it is in Canada. However, there have been some attempts to move away from this culture of perfection in Canada with Loblaw's Naturally Imperfect line.
One final difference to note before I close off this incredibly long post is two items that are rarely or never seen in Canadian grocery stores. These are challah and alcohol, respectively. Both of these are highly present in Israeli grocery stores. The presence of alcohol in grocery stores is nothing new outside of Canada, so I won't spend any time talking about that. Challah is a braided egg bread that is traditionally eaten on Shabbat and come in a variety of shapes and sizes: circular buns, oval buns, whole loaves, etc. It is most often ripped apart at the braids rather than sliced with a knife. When the doctor and I eventually make our way back to Canada, the delicious challah will be one of the things that we'll miss the most!
I hope you enjoyed this extensive look into the differences between Canadian and Israeli grocery stores! Let me know what you'd like to read about next!
The grocery store closest to the doctor's Canadian residence is a Metro located in a fairly large shopping complex complete with a Shoppers Drug Mart, Dollar Store, Beer Store, McDonald's, and much more.
In Israel, our grocery store is called Shufersal and is located in the Trumpeldor/Ziv Center which features many similar stores such as a pharmacy, bakery, and a few restaurants. It should be noted that the doctor and I don't call the grocery store by the name Shufersal, rather we call it the Miglog since this is what it looks like in English if the Hebrew letters are arranged upside down. It's quite a catchy name as we have heard a few friends in the area also calling it Miglog.The first thing of notice between the two stores is the size. The Metro is quite a bit larger than the Miglog, featuring 11 aisles versus 5 in the Israeli store. The aisles are also much larger and longer in Canada, but there is generally more foot traffic in Canadian stores (unless you happen to be shopping right before Shabbat when the produce is the freshest and everyone is scrambling to get food before the store closes for the weekend!).
One of the main impacts that size can have on a store is selection, and that certainly seems the case in Israel. There just isn't the same selection of products that exists in Canada. Somewhat conversely, I have been to larger Miglogs where the selection was similarly small, so maybe it's just an Israel thing! Some notable differences in selection include meats, fruits/vegetables, yogurt, drinks, and hummus.
The selection of meats in Israel is lower than that in Canada. This makes sense since pork is not readily available due to various religious and cultural reasons. Chicken and beef are the most readily available meats in Israel. The forms of meats available, such as ground meat, bone out, or skin on, is also lower in Israel.
Fruit and vegetable selection in Israel is much lower than that in Canada. In Israel, the produce eaten is that which is in season. This means that there is lowered selection, but also that the available produce is constantly changing. When we arrived, Gala apples -my favourite kind- were readily available, but now they are nowhere to be seen! I also have yet to see strawberries and other fruits from the berry family since arriving at the end of March.
In Canada, the yogurt market seems to be somewhat dominated by the Activia brand, as seen on the left in green. Israel also has Activia yogurt, but it does not have as large a market share as in Canada. In Israel, there are many more brands of yogurt available, however, the vast majority of them carry limited flavours, with strawberry being the most prevalent.
As evidenced from the picture, the drinks aisle in Canada is many time bigger than that in Israel, seeming to extend much farther than the eye can see. From what I've seen, more niche items such as vitamin water or sports drinks have yet to find a stable foothold in Israeli markets.
Unlike the other products mentioned above, hummus has a larger selection in Israel than in Toronto. Hummus is extremely popular in Israel.There are many hummus bars around the city where you eat only hummus as a meal, and I'm not talking a little amount! The first time the doctor and I went, we had no idea what to expect and wound up with hummus leftovers for days. Given its importance in this country, it makes sense that there would be a wider selection here than in Canada. Note that in the picture below, I was not able to capture the full assortment of hummus available here due to the small width of the aisles. The red-topped hummus seen in the bottom left corner of the Israel side has as many varieties as the green-topped one, meaning that the selection of hummus is nearly double what is currently featured in the picture!
In addition to differences in selection noted above, here are some other weird/notable differences between grocery stores in Canada versus Israel.
One of the funniest differences has been those related to fruit and vegetable sizes, as evidenced in the pictures below. Additionally, uniformity in produce shape/size does not seem to be as heavily selected for as it is in Canada. However, there have been some attempts to move away from this culture of perfection in Canada with Loblaw's Naturally Imperfect line.
One final difference to note before I close off this incredibly long post is two items that are rarely or never seen in Canadian grocery stores. These are challah and alcohol, respectively. Both of these are highly present in Israeli grocery stores. The presence of alcohol in grocery stores is nothing new outside of Canada, so I won't spend any time talking about that. Challah is a braided egg bread that is traditionally eaten on Shabbat and come in a variety of shapes and sizes: circular buns, oval buns, whole loaves, etc. It is most often ripped apart at the braids rather than sliced with a knife. When the doctor and I eventually make our way back to Canada, the delicious challah will be one of the things that we'll miss the most!
I hope you enjoyed this extensive look into the differences between Canadian and Israeli grocery stores! Let me know what you'd like to read about next!
Very informative and very well written.
ReplyDeleteI feel very happy traveling in my armchair with you. Take me on another walk somewhere... anywhere. Professor F was saying she loved the hiking but whatever your eyes fall upon is fine with me.
ReplyDeleteThe hikes that we've done have been great, but a car was needed to get to them. There's not too much that's close by to our apartment or the University, unfortunately!
Delete