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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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 '

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

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

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

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.

Thank you for these videos ☺️

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"

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 :).

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

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.

I was in that very store recently. I found it somehow depressing... And for the record, Kozel is not a local beer in Bucharest

Brilliant Scott. I regularly travel to Belgrade, so it’s interesting for me to compare Romanian/UK/Serbian prices. Thank you.

I don't know if you are aware, but Carrefour is a french chain of supermarket. Cheers

Nice range of spirits, and not one had a security tag on. Another reason why everything is so expensive in the UK 😢😢

In the US we call Royal Crown Cola RC. As a matter of fact I'm drinking a Cherry RC while watching this video.

Great Video Scott

These are great videos ❤

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.

Reason for the old bottles of Cola might be due to the fact there is a factory producing it all not that far away from Bucharest, apx. 60 km to the north in Ploiesti. Got to tell you, the prices gone crazy in the last few years in RO & the inflation rate is also high. I don't really fancy going grocery shop to Carrefour, cause I find most of their food to be of a lower quality compared to LIDL which has a fresher alternative & Mega Image.

I don't think you pronounce the E in Carrefour ? ... French supermarket chain in Bucharest is going to be expensive ....

Now compare salaries

Fascinating content, Scott

I love your channel...really inspiring. Think I will jump on a Ryanair flight to somewhere random one day. Thanks again Scott.

What did interest me is that this is the exact supermarket i visited a couple of months ago to get some supplies. Many items are cheaper than UK but the average Romanian wage is about half, maybe one third, of UK.

Fantastic video Scott, nice to get a wee price comparison, how much we are getting ripped off here in Scotland when VAT and tax. I found that scotch whisky is cheaper in Poland than in Scotland. Jeezo!

Had Kozel in Budapest, it was my go to during my visit.

Dude, I spent $11 for a brick of coffee this morning USA California. It was the store brand.

I wouldn’t be surprised if at my grocery store in the states the price is double for the wings…but that’s only 2 and we usually do 4-5

Scott love the concept on these grocery videos but I think it needs a local to help explain what they eat and what is grown regionally. It needs a home grown touch. I'm sure somebody would do it for free.

1.50 is vegetable not fruit . Refreshing soup or stews easy on stomach.Very delicious . Kaufland and Auchan are cheapest supermarkets. Location also counts because tax circle zones . Local quality substitute for lot of imports are 2,3 times cheaper.

Very video am bit shocked about the prices though it would be a lot cheaper just came back from traina in Albania where the prices where half the price from Bucharest xx

Those weren't bell peepers they were yellow wax peppers, sweeter, my dad once strapped a sack full to the roof rack of our Orange VW Beetle in the 1970's and somehow got it through all the customs points from Hungary to London.

interesting to see how well stocked the store was....

Celeriac - you will find them in Morrisons as well!

I would say where I live in the uk, Sainsbury’s falls into the middle category and Morrisons falls into the top

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) ☺️

Kozel isn't local, it's Czech ;)

I’d wouldn’t put Sainsburys at the high end it’s has to go along with Tescos, high end supermarkets in the U.K. would be M&S, Waitrose or Ocardo

I am stunned at the obvious difference in price between Glasgow and South Eastern England for food! I wish I could have your prices in my local supermarkets! Go on tell me how much is a scotch pie (without baked beans), squeer sausage, battered mars bars, Tennents Heavy, Irn Bru and Tunnocks Tea Cakes. That's enough to bring all of England up north from Doon Sooth.

I worked with a woman from Romania, and she said their cheese was better than the Irish cheese. I beg to differ.

Hi Scott another fine film ma man. I saw the Coca Cola cans on the shelf @ 9:11 they looked a bit bigger than normal any idea how much ml they are?

Hi, I really enjoy travels. I believe you commented that the eggs were refrigerated, apparently a surprise for you? Eggs in the US are always sold refrigerated, as far as I know.

The only way you can compare is lidi UK and lidi Romania. Lidi is the only supermarket that is in nearly every European country.

Wasn't that Celeriac at the start?

Great video mate. Beer is so cheap there.

Virgin brand cola uses the same recipe as Royal Crown (RC) coa found in the US

I was surprised at some prices too! Aside from foul booze, the days of great bargains on groceries in central Europe seem to be largely a thing of the past.

Very interesting, from US some price there are higher some are lower

It seems you actually checked out two supermarkets? A Carrefour and a Mega (Delhaize)

What would one do with a 500 pound monthly salaray here

I really like these compare vids scott but Per kg price is no use. We need to compare say a £2 watermelon in uk with a 50p watermelon in romania. I just want % diff. You could easily do this on the fly by having 10-20 common uk prices on your phone. Loaf of bread £1.50 v 90p etc

Yes, unfortunately food prices here in Romania are either about on par with "richer" western europe or sometimes higher. That supermarket might not be the cheapest but the differences are small. We actually adore cheese and have a lot of it but smaller stores don't have much variety and most people will go for the 2-3 types that are most popular(of the romanian ones), mainly "telemea"(which is similar to feta but a bit drier), that's why there will be rows of it in most markets. Interesting u didn't recognize the big celery root, I didn't realise it's not a common food ingredient outside of this region, it gives a lot of flavor.

you say CARRY FOR (Carrifore), I have always said CAR FORE... have I been doing it wrong all my life?

How interesting. It would have even more intriguing if you had included comparisons on all of the brands we have in the UK A request, try to avoid handling all the fresh food if you're not going to buy it?

Bloody hell, I paid 85p for a pineapple at the Co-Op this week.

you're comparing uk mozzas to quite a swanky supermarket for Romania. Is there a profi supermarket nearby?

In 4:28 it is not local, its czech beer :)

So you found Coca Cola and after a while you found Pepsi, but the big question is did they have IrnBru. 😅

Now you should do a Scottish supermarket Safari and actually cook something with those vegetables you saw in Romenia. A fried Mars bar does not count!!

You need to take into account that the average wage in Romania is half the U.K. average wage , so therefore, for the locals, you can double the price shown to make it comparable to us, so it’s not that cheap really…

Scraping the barrel with this upload

Enjoyed the video though it's " Carfor" not Carryfor" surely?

The grocery stores here in the states are really expensive these days as well, i enjoy your travels and the places that you visit take care and thank you.🇬🇧🎇🎆🇬🇧

Looks like celeriac

I guess your Morrison has a very limited choice on vegetables or don't cook that often. Those pastas were a more premium choice.

Tax on alcohol in the UK is eye watering!

Many of these prices are dirt cheap.

5:00 *Tax on Scottish alcohol

I always find these market videos interesting. It’s neat seeing what people eat and how much it all costs

Greater Paris cheaper. I mean Carrefour Market.

courgette not ,"zucinniii"

Morrisons is relatively expensive compared to Tesco and Asda.

Didn't they sell real food - meat and fish?

Check Travelling with Russell.The Australian Russia expert.

Bucharest has 50k $ gdp per capita, it s not rly that cheap

Not working for me.

That coke... Romanians, you guys have sugar tax?

Kozel beer is not local

Not another supermarket! Why travel just to show supermarkets again?

Do you have to pick up and touch or smell everything only to put it back for someone else to buy, disgusting!

Sorry. but I watch you channel for the great content you supply to us arm chairs viewers.sadly to many of you tubers take us shopping.please please.no more shopping.

Very boring ... sorry. But these comparison videos (not just yours, I hasten to add) don't take into account local wages and other living costs. There's bound to be differences between the UK and European countries. So I can't see the point of price comparisons. IMO it would be more interesting to see proper meals featured (not coffee and buns or beer and pizza all the time).

n Not your best mate ,stick to travel vlogs

I find these videos boring Scott. I prefer your travel videos.

does BLAIR realize how "cute" he is??????????? you are lucky to have your son travel with you.....