Supermarkets in the Netherlands are generally expensive, in line with the high cost of living in the Netherlands. Still, it is far cheaper to cook your own meals than to eat out. Below are brief descriptions of where we get our groceries in Maastricht.
1) C1000 (Brusselsepoort)
We mostly do our grocery shopping here because it is a comprehensive supermarket at more reasonable prices, and located near the Guesthouse. Typical of all housebrands, the C1000 branded products tend to be cheaper and of decent quality.
2) ALDI (Volksplein 34)
ALDI is a discounter which offers a limited range of products for a price significantly below what normal supermarkets are selling at. It’s a convenient place to get your stuff too as it is very near the Guesthouse. However, do note that they sell very limited products. Pasta and pasta sauce is very cheap here.
3) Oriental (Asian supermarket at Mosae Forum, a shopping centre in the city centre)
We get our Asian products here. Of course the prices are steeper than what you can get in Singapore, but that really isn’t surprising, given that we are in Europe and all Asian products are imported from far away countries. However, we only make the ‘pilgrimage’ to the supermarket once in a while as it is located in the city centre which is quite far off from the Guesthouse, even if you cycle (around 15 minutes).
4) Jumbo (also at Mosae Forum)
Another Dutch supermarket chain (which incidentally owns C1000, having bought over the chain a few years back). We only ever shop here when we have stuff to buy at the Oriental, and require some basic grocery stuff which is cheaper to buy at Jumbo than at the Oriental. Prices are comparable to C1000.
5) Albert Heijn (nearest branch to the Guesthouse is at Brusselsepoort)
Among all the supermarkets, it is the most expensive as it caters to the upmarket segment of consumers. We seldom shop here unless we want to buy specialised stuff that can’t be found in C1000.
6) The Markets every Wednesday and Friday
Every Wednesday and Friday, from 8am to 1pm, there will be a temporary market set up in the market square (city centre). Shopping at the market is much like shopping at the wet markets in Singapore, except in the former, it’s all open air while in the latter, the wet markets are located in enclosed buildings. Prices here tend to be cheaper than the Dutch supermarkets and the food is fresher and therefore of higher quality. They sell everything from fruits to vegetables to meat/fish and clothing. On Wednesdays there are more fabric stalls while on Fridays, there are more seafood stalls.
Click here for more information on the respective supermarkets’ opening hours.