Fresh fruit and veggies are really fresh and not older than a day or 2, that is why they last longer, they are just many days fresher than what you have in the US. Most of the veggies and fruit are locally produced, or imported really fresh, straight from the airplane to the auction to the grocery store.. like green beans from the land in Senegal on your plate within 48 hours or so. We also eat a lot of veggies and fruit, so the fruit and veggies do not get a chance to get old in the store. So everyday there is really fresh produce.
The salad and cut veggies in plastic are same day or next morning delivery to the distribution centre. So it is possible that produce from early morning can be in the supermarkets late afternoon.The supermarkets can order until 11.30 AM for same day production. Logistics are key.
Fruit en veggies are often much healthier in the NL as well. The fruit and veggies in the USA are super expensive and for example strawberries tasted like "nothing". Maybe I was unlucky - but so far I always have the feeling food in the NL is overall much healthier.
Payment system in NL/EU: Credit card companies make their money by charging the stores for purchases. When I had a small business, they charged up to 5% on every purchase. The higher the amount, the lower the charge became (5% -> 2.5% -> 1.5%). But still. I had to sell for 500€ or more (in one purchase) to "only" pay 1.5% (7.50€) SInce I was selling high-profit goods, that was acceptable (above 50€, I think our limit was), but in a grocery store the marges are often wáy too low. Good, that's 20 years ago, but still. Maestro/debet only charged 50ct, regardless of the amount. Now Maestro/debit cards are virtually free of charge (since internet got introduced it went down from 50ct to 10ct to, I expect, less than a cent per transaction these days)
@@mrsrr Do you have debit cards? I never hear about them. Ever since internet reached our shores, the only payment method was visa/mastercard. Later-on adding our own debit cards, once they figured out v/m are not widespread over here.
@timotheusvanesch3959 - correct. However creedit cards make the most money from debts. Shops are also charged to transport their cash to the bank these days, more than 20 years ago because people use it less. Debit cards are best for customer and shop.
If you look closely enough in the USA at the cereals you can see that they have all the same ingredients, the packaging and coloring is different. Most cereals from the USA are not allowed in Europe because of the high fructose corn syrup and other ingredients.
The Netherlands is the second largest food exporter in the world. So you're basically living in the middle of all that fresh food, so it lasts longer. Also, high tech.
@@oscarberezowski270the Netherlands might be a large food exporter, but not when it comes to fruit. Lots of fruits are imported, from Spain for example.
@@Jacqueline_Thijsen It kinda is. Distances there are many times bigger in the US with a less efficient distribution system. US food legislation allows the addition of a lot more chemicals that preserve food but make it less fresh. And Dutch high-tech agrarian methods can guarantee a more consistent high-quality output.
The Netherlands are not a bread country. I've been in multiple places trying to get proper bread and all I found was floppy tasteless stuff or white toast. Yes, I am used to German bread and mostly bake my own but I really don't understand what people like about what people outside of Germany consider to be bread.
About the eggs. In the US, farmers clean the everliving crap out of their eggs to eliminate disease. That works... but it also eliminates the natural layer that protects eggs from decay. In the Netherlands (and much of the EU), we've opted to not clean the eggs, but instead to closely guard the supply chain from farmer to supermarket, and let the eggs use their natural protections. That will keep them for weeks. Both systems work, I don't think one is better than the other. A long as you remember: refrigerate your eggs in the US, do not refrigerate them in Europe.
@@Rob-dv2fz Nou volgens mij maakt dat niets uit. Ze staan bij mij soms 2 weken op het aanrecht. Dan zijn ze nog prima. Er kan altijd een verkeerde tussen zitten natuurlijk. Nu koop ik ze hier kakelvers bij een eierboer dus misschien scheelt dat ook?
Most fruits and vegetables are in the stores within 24 ours after they are picked and the natural sealbridge that they have are not washed off by chemicals. Thats why they last longer.
We are consistently in the top 3 of biggest agriculture producers & traders in the world, this means our transportation industry etc is top of the line when it comes to fresh produce and we get everything "from the land" to the auction to the supermarket in cooled ships/trucks/etc at super quick pace, something fresh is _actually_ fresh instead of 'secretly' a week old already. On top of that its the usual difference between foods in EU and US, but weirdly enough with opposite effect, while your average processed food lasts longer with more chemicals (and we don't like that here) plain fruits and veggies tend to be the opposite, they last longer with less chemicals/pesticides/etc.
Google or Apple Pay is most of the time accepted as dutch Banks are connected with the debit cards. Maestro will be phased out as we will transfer to Mastercard or visa for our debitcards. Debitcards are the standard here, creditcards are mostly used online and abroad on travels.
In the shop where I worked, every payment with a creditcard costs the owner 2 euro’s ..almost 3 if I remember correctly. I worked at the dry cleaners back then and the trousers they had to be cleaned costed 7 euro’s. That means you give away al your profit. So this is probably the reason why most shops don’t want credit card payments.
If you are in a store where you need a receipt to leave, but you didn't buy anything, just ask an employee of the cashier team to open the door. Make sure it is someone at the self-checkout or servicedesk though, the other employees tippicly don't have a 'terminal' to open it with.
@@boomdoze You just go to the regular checkout where someone is still working, if need be say 'excuse me' to the people in line, and pass behind them, giving a nod or a smile at the checkout person if they even look at you. It's completely normal.
Americans think they have a terrific choice of cereals...but it's all the same raw materials dyed different colours with different artificial flavours. a bit like most of their awful food. (With love from the UK!)
It’s all debit cards in the Netherlands, you have to get one asap. Across the roundabout at the Eemplein, checkout the large toko above the Jumbo, they have all the spices, veggies and asian foods they don’t sell at the supermarket. Great place to take a look.
I only use debit but it’s visa but yeah I definitely need to get a dutch bank card! I was waiting on my bsn to come in. Ooh, thanks for advice on the toko 💗 I haven’t been to one yet but I’ll have to make a trip this week!
@@boomdoze There are several toko’s (Indonesian for shop) in Amersfoort, but amazing oriental is the biggest I think. By the way if you want to try Surinam food close to the supermarket in the video on the Arnhemseweg you find Cynthia’s with her Surinam takeaway. Very nice lady with great food. If you need more tips for Amersfoort feel free to ask.
Never pay food with a credit card. The food is long gone but the debt is still there. Fresh in supermarket simply means unripe fruit and products with additives, like preservatives, stabilizers, etc.
@@qualitytraders5333 No, fresh in supermarkets can also mean "This produce hasn't spent days lying around in a truck or warehouse before being delivered to the supermarket" This also explain why they last longer after you've bought them.
many are yes. We are the 2nd or 3rd biggest agricultural exporters in the world. We produce way too much for the little space we have. We sell them all around the world.
@@laladieladada sugar snaps s a vegetable but we have also sperziebonen from Marokko, roses from Kenia…..also we are the second biggest producer of Mangoes…in the world…. What I meant was that we have allot of products we are importing its not limited to fruit or vegetables….
Ah, my dear, if you think this is a culture shock, go to a Belgian or French supermarché or a German one: then you really will be shocked about the sheer abundance of all what Europe produces. Dutch grocery stores are quite limited in what they offer. The profit margins dictates the selection. And if you want to taste really nice food, stay away from the big ones; go to the specialists for cheese, bread and all that. Not as cheap, but so much more tastier. You'll have to pay cash though, no visa.
Vegetables last longer when they are fresh in the shop. I grew my own vegetables, and they last even longer. Another point is that vegetables that are grow with exactly the right amount of fertilizer last longer. But if they got more nitrogen to grow faster, the cells are weaker. Lot of vegetables can last for months, like all kind of cabbage, all kind of onions, carrots, celery, and more. Only ready to cook vegetables must be consumed before the UHT date. UHT dates mean that it’s dangerous to eat after that date. (THT means the quality of the product is guaranteed till that. But you can still consume it. The rule here is: look and smell)
Welcome to Amersfoort, the housing areas around the city centre most are build just after WOII. We adopted the distribution model of Walther Kristaller, with a mayor shopping strip or center in the middle of the neighborhood, and other shopping strips at 1000 meters from the main one. In those days people did not have a refrigerator and needed fresh milk, meat etc every day. Now these strips changed to Barbours, restaurant's etc. Make a walk in Liendert and see how the structure is made for that time. Have a nice time with us.
3:08 I’ve honestly never eaten or even considered cereals for breakfast (or any other meal, for that matter) and I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one here. Many dutchies here do drink a glass of milk though, in the morning.
ooh interesting! I don’t eat cereal every day but definitely reach for it when I need something quick. I suppose breads take the place of that here though?
@@boomdoze bread, fruit, oatmeal (in yoghurt or as a hot porridge) with raisins, fruit, honey and nuts/seeds and oils added. So basically muesli :) But for me personally it’s whole wheat bread with cheese and some thin slices of a cold cut or a fried egg. My wife is an oatmeal girl, though.
@@JulesStoop i’m with your wife on this one! I typically do an oatmeal with fruits and nuts too but cereals when I’m running late. That all sounds very tasty though ☺️
For the soft fruits, like strawberries, I can tell you they used to get moldy insanely quickly when I was young. Then I read about an experiment where they'd irradiate strawberries and other soft fruits with gamma radiation in order to destroy the nasties without changing the flavor or texture of the fruit. It was very contentious even though gamma radiation is non-ionizing radiation. That means that it doesn't make the stuff it hits radioactive as well, so the fruit would be perfectly safe to eat. Anyway, I never heard about it again, but a few years later those fruits suddenly stopped getting moldy quite so quickly. Now correlation is not causation, but I have my suspicions and am simply glad about the improved food safety.
We can buy our groceries easy with a normal bank card in the Netherlands. The fact that our fruit and vegetables have a long shelf life is due to various factors. The Netherlands has the largest port in Europe, huge loads of fruit and vegetables are traded and transhipped in Rotterdam. Being close to the supply lines has its advantages. In addition to the fact that a great deal of fruit and vegetables are grown in the Netherlands (glass and horticulture). That also reduces costs and increases the shelf life. Do you have any idea how much commission they charge for credit cards? It is very normal for these companies to pocket 10-15% of the payment instead of asking for a very, very small percentage per payment. Certainly for supermarkets that trade with small margins, 10-15% less income due to payments to credit card companies is far too much. Many large companies, such as supermarkets, have contracts with banks when it comes to transaction costs. In addition to the fact that you have the idea that a supermarket is owned by the name on the facade, they are often entrepreneurs who run their business under the flag of a large group. They have the advantages of the big company (read: brand awareness and distribution) but can also put their own stamp on the sales of certain products or vision of business management. That is why it seems that every supermarket with the same logo has the same owner, but that is not always the case. Amsterdam does indeed have many more expats or tourists, so companies there will often have contracts with the credit card companies when it comes to transaction costs. Amersfoort therefore much less. - - - No, I have not experienced it myself that I can only leave a supermarket if I have a receipt. But there is often a checkout/counter where you can leave the store without a 'receipt gate'. They also do this to prevent theft. This store probably suffers too much from theft. Also most likely because many cashiers are now being replaced by scan-checkouts (which I am absolutely not in favor of).
Dutch payment system is called Maestro. But thankfully since this year the banks are moving away from Maestro and are adapting Visa / Mastercard too. Bankcards are being replaced too so they are on Visa/Mastercard. It is mostly stores lacking behind in their payment terminals that is slowing down the roll-out towards Visa/Mastercard. but within a few years the whole country should be on the 'new' payment systems.
I know it’s a different experience but eventually you will notice it is superior and smarter as supermarket are trying to prevent all negative experiences like in USA In Dutch supermarkets, items are checked before they're officially yours. At self-checkouts, a staff member opens the gates. When you press "pay," they can randomly check your groceries since the transaction isn't complete yet. This is different from the USA, where they often check carts and receipts at the exit, which can sometimes lead to profiling. Dutch supermarkets avoid scenes at the exit by handling checks before you pay. In your video, you went through an unattended checkout. Make sure to use one with a staff member to open the gate for you when you’re not purchasing anything.
Dutch have been growing fruits and veggies for dozens of years. Every year the greenhouses replace their plants. So they try to get a stronger plant every year. One of the things I noticed through the years is that the proces of rotting got less and less. So it stays good for longer periods of time
You cant leave without acryl receipt if you are in a supermarket with self service check outs. If you go via the check outs with employees you can go without one.
Enjoyed your vid, I use to visit Amersfoort quite a bit in 1998, I lived in Hoevelaken for 3 months on a job assignment. There used to be a French restaurant there that was to die for!!! Nope, I don't remember it's name. I really miss the Netherlands, I want to come back for a visit but it looks like I might ever make it... Thanks so much for sharing with us!!!
About cereals... That's not realy a big thing for breakfast over here. It just never caught on like in the USA. Most people eat bread with cheese or jam for breakfast.
Problem is also that credit card companies take a huge amount as payment. They take like 2-4% of the total amount. Meaning the companies profit goes from 20% to 16%. Maestro and Mastercard use similar logos because it's owned by the same company. The debit cards use the payment track named Maestro and credit cards use the track named Mastercard. Visa has a similar system these days named Vpay and Visa. However, those companies are changing. They are going to merge the way they pay to let debit cards use the Mastercard and visa payment way. So long term I think we'll have credit card everywhere as an option Option (well, maybe not American express).
The fact that the fresh products last longer in the refrigerator is because they do not first go to a storage facility but straight to the DC where they are transported to the store. The prices at AH are often a bit higher, but the taste is often better. Jumbo is just below that. The rest of the supermarket chains are more focused on cheapness and you can taste that
thank you!! I have noticed that AH stuff tastes a bit better and lasts longer. I’m still trying to figure out my go to stores - but it’s good to know AH is good ☺️
@@boomdoze I can also recommend you try to visit some foreign supermarkets if you have any near; they tend to have some fruits and veggies (such as turnips, a personal favourite) that are hard to find in our regular stores and they tend to be cheaper there too. Finding an asian food store (generally called a "toko") may also yield some interesting results, both for snacks, dinner and fruits & veggies.
@@AutoGamerZ_ yes! I’ve heard tokos are very good. The one near my place is actually a bit more expensive than the supermarket (and smaller) though. so I think I have to go a bit further for the better ones
Almost all of the cashier "kassas" have scales in them. However the self weighing is available because it is need for the self service/ unmanned check outs
In Belgium the system where an employee would compare your ticket and your purchases only existed in a Dutch owned supermarket, Makro. They are gone meanwhile.
The produce in the Netherlands is about two days old and just a few hours from where they are grown. In the U.S., they go through packaging and shipping for up to a week in refrigerated trucks. Also, the GMOs of the U.S. are more about size and color and not taste and longevity (except bananas). Here there are less GMOs and more pest and environmental resistance.
Loved your movie again! Here is some explanation for the things you are learning that are quite different from what you are used to in the States. For one. Our banking system, throughout Europe, works with the PIN and Ideal (IBAN) system, while VISA/Mastercard credit/debit cards work with a dual-message debit system. In other words, the systems in our shops simply can not communicate with your American bank card, whether it's credit or debit. However, new systems have dual-message debit in their functionality included. This means that in the coming years, shops and whatnot who buy a new "pin machine" upon replacing their old ones will be able to accept your visa debit card. Better safe than sorry to carry cash with you up until you have your own Dutch bank card. For two. We have a bread culture. We barely eat cereal in the first place. Next to that, most standard ingredients put in famous US cereals (and in sandwich bread, sweets, ice cream, meat preservatives, insecticides on vegetables, etc.) are considered a health risk in Europe and are therefore forbidden. 🤔😵🤯 So go ahead and sprinkle your bread with (dark) chocolate hagelslag🎉 and try the combination with Dutch peanut butter. Even the ones of bigger brands are made with pure ingredients. Sometimes, they add some vegetable oil to create a spreadable paste. If you like, start your Dutch bread sandwich with a layer of butter or margarine. You will have a very nutritious and healthy kickstarter of breakfast. And it's still sweet, just not as artificial sweet tasting, as most of your cereals😅. And lastly, for thirds, in most supermarkets, your veggies are weighed at the checkout, or you can do this yourself in case you go to the self checkout. After the checkout, you can either have a short checkout receipt or you can download the supermarket app where your receipts are collected (it's also used as a personal customised customer card). Good luck and have fun with all your adventures in the Netherlands. ❤💃🦄🌈🌟
Plus actually does accept Visa in most of their stores! I never experienced any issues with my Visa. Mastercard and American express aren’t widely accepted, but even some Jumbo’s won’t accept those.
You weigh your own produce so you can use the hand scanners and not worry about having to go through the cashier if you get produce. I love the hand scanners since I can then throw the items in my bag and pay and go without unpacking and repacking my grocery sacks to pay.
No credits cards in super markets (also not in Amsterdam where more expats live) but a debit card will always work, cash is never needed. The reason is that credit card companies charge the vendor. Almost all other shops (clothing etc.) accept credit cards. You do not need a receipt to get out of a supermarket, only if you use the self cashier.
Klopt bijna. Van de week in Tilburg betaald aan een "normale "kassa. Toch de kassabon nodig gehad om een poortje te openen. Maar is idd niet de normale gang van zaken.
The story behind the marzipan pigs is a sign of succes and wealth. Just like we put money in a piggy bank. The marzipan pig is an altenative of the tradition to slaughter a pig around this time of the year as people don't have livestock like they did 100 years ago. Back then it was common for people to have a pig or two or a cow or chickens to slaughter and eat in the winter.
Cereals are not popular here, most people eat bread for breakfast and lunch, some muesli. European bread is apparently healthier/nicer than American bread. I saw videos on youtube about this.
I think there’s some nuance to this. If you shop at normal American supermarkets and get low quality bread then the bread here is better quality but most of the people I know in the U.S. now get their bread from ‘nicer’ supermarkets with bakeries or a bakery itself. These breads do cost more but recently I think a lot of Americans care more about their heath and are willing to pay more for quality. Granted I lived in a big city where people make decent money and don’t have big families.
In the United States purchasing processed foods is the norm as convenient. In Europe it seems like they prefer cooking more than a quick food fix. I could be wrong about this but based on my own experience from visiting family members outside the US, cooking seems to be the preferred method when preparing meals.
Fun fact: direct debit cards are getting popular in usa and other places too. Some of the direct debit xards are accepted in all of europe, might sound like a big saver?
I havent used my bank card since Apple arrived in NL (although it requires to be a debit card authorized by a dutch bank). In grocery stores, i use a scanner and pay with apple pay.
i'm danish and can't remember the last time I used cash in Denmark, the last time I had to use cash was in some shops in Nederland 2 month ago. Jumbo was OK, used both my credit and debit card (Visa and Mastercard) without any problems.
It's strange that your local supermarkets don't accept mastercard or visa yet. Dutch banks are now only issuing visa and mastercard and phasing out the old maestro and vpay. So all stores are supposed to have switched over at least by the end of this year. I've been using a visa card for most of the year at most stores here. The only one I had to use my old maestro card was at the turkish grocery store.
It is for us Dutch very unusual to do groceries using a credit card. Credit cards are more an American 'thing'. We just use our ATM card and the amount you have to pay is directly debited from your bankaccount. The only reason I have a credit card myself (as a Dutch) is because if I want to buy something abroad, but I practically never use it in my own country. Furthermore, I notice in a lot of "American tries Netherlands" video's those Americans ALWAYS wind up either with Jumbo or Albert Heijn. These two are also the most expensive grocery stores, while the Lidl and ALDI are more cheaper and offer also more variety in cheaper brands. It's also a pity you did not cover the self scanners at Jumbo and Albert Heijn. With Jumbo you take a hand held with you, scan each product and once you have all your groceries you give the scanner to the cashier and you can pay. With Albert Heijn you can take your groceries to an unmanned payment terminal, scan each item manually until you are done, and then the payment terminal tells you how to pay and gives you a receipt, which contains a barcode to open to port that leads outside.
According to the consumentenbond Jumbo and Albert Heijn are exactly average in supermarket prices. Aldi and Lidl are only 1% and 3% cheaper. Spar Poiesz and Coop are the expensive supermarkets.
Produce lasting long is a good thing. It has to do with the short chain of delivery, from the grower to the shop. But most of all with the specialized storage facilities and trucks.
I have an UK visa debitcard and I also had trouble paying with it. Which I thought was strange.. cause debitcard right? So I looked into my bank app and it turned out I had to transfer money to a wallet within the app. So I transferred £100 and after that I had no problem paying with my card. So it might be something you can do too. My English visa debitcard has all the 'creditcard' number's on the card and you can pay directly online with it. Which you can't with a Dutch debitcard. When we pay online we are transferred to an online logging into the bank. Ideal is the name of that system So maybe the Dutch register reads the debitcard as a creditcard and with the wallet it does work.
You pronounce Jumbo however you like, nobody will be laughing I am sure. But that was a very good j you used there :) For most fruits and vegetables "fresh" is exactly what it means. They often are day fresh. The Jumbo near me will put fruit and veg that are older than two days in the "must go, 35% off" fridge and if it is not sold from there that day it will go to food projects. If you store dayfresh properly it will last a while. 2:36 Marzipan piglets. We are nearing St Nicolaas. This holiday is celebrated on Dec 5th and celebrates the original St Nick. the American Santa Claus is based on him and the English Father Christmas. Marzipan is one of the sweets traditionally associated with the holiday. The pigheads are a throwback to pagan holidays when pigs where sacrifiicedto the godess Freya for good luck. We don't do cereals here with the exception of Cornflakes. Of course there are always exceptions and there are the American expats like you so they are offered regardless. If you are planning to stay in the Netherlands, get a proper bank account instead of that fake American moneyscheme. 1800? Is that coming from someone that comes from a country where they is no direct banking? where people are scared to share their bank account number? WWhere payments go by "check", where paying your friends for something needs to be done with a weird commercial app? 1800? for a country where you can pay directly from your bank account with your free bank app? 1800? whaahahahahahahaha. If there is a country financialy in 1800 when it comes to money traffic... it is the USA (I am sorry, maybe a bit harsh but really?) That is the first time I see a store where you need to have a receipt after paying at the manned cash register. I guess they have a big problem with theft there.
They can weight fruit and vegetables at manned registers here as well. They just don't if you've already done so yourself. So no clue why they would give you things for free. Maybe it's policy? Because supermarkets are clearly trying to push customers away from the manned registers and towards self-checkout -- for obvious reasons (read: self-checkout is cheaper).
never in my life have i heard that you can take the fruit and veggies with you for free. but that is mosty because there is always atleast one of the weighing machines working i guess
@@boomdoze if you have kids, you can get yourself familiar with pepernoten, kriidnoten and of course the Chocolate letter. Also see if they celebrate Sint Maarten in your neighborhood. Sometimes this can come as a surprise.
AH actually didn't accept credit cards in general until a few years ago and even now, many stores still don't. Same goes for Plus. Supermarkets are usually not owned by the brand themselves but are franchised. The actual owner of the store has a say in it. Margins are very low in supermarkets and payment fees by credit card companies are high. It's interesting because the more "basic" supermarkets like Dirk and Lidl and Aldi have been more forthgoing with accepting credit cards. So it's not just that they don't lack an incentive, it's even the opposite. Now, with price gauging and people having a hard time to make ends meet, it seems credit cards can be used more widely within supermarkets.
credit cards cost more on both ends and its simply not worth it while cash or debit cards work perfectly well And fresh produce lasts longer simply because it is really fresh and not as most in the US already old when they hit the stores. In the US a lot get stored in cooling cells of even frozen en defrosted before it even hits the stores Also a little thing about the choices and options i found that there are more options in the Netherlands then in the US even when it comes to cereal because have 10 of the same cereal is not really a diversity of products just of packaging
Maybe the fruit and veggies in the US have travelled already so long because of the big distances in the US that they are already rather óld'when they arrive in the shops?
Don't forget to visit the markets that happen! Fresh fruit etc plus local vendors. Great place to try bew things, less expensive in many cases than AH etc plus you can practice your Dutch😊
About the fruits and vegetables; the Netherlands has the highest food accessibility in the world and is the second largest food exporter in the world 😅 So a lot products are from nearby and fresh 🥦🥕🌽🤓👍
Visa and Mastercard are charging an extra 10% on the price, which the supermarkets cannot reimburse with you. So, use a debit card, like all dutch people. We culturally are not very prone to having debts, except a morgage for buying a house.
I never go to the supermarket. There are bakers, butchers, greengocers, fishmongers, etc. Around the small town where I live we have local producers that sell directly to the public, even specialty products that you'll not find in supermarkets. I understand why foreigners prefer to go to supermarkets because they don't speak the language so they cannot ask for specific products they are looking for. They just buy whatever is offered.
To be honest it’s a time issue for me. I work full time in addition to posting videos here so I just don’t have time to visit all of those stores to get my groceries for the week. It does sound nice though and I’m sure the quality and kinds of food are much better!
In the PLUS, you can leave without a receipt when you go to " de kassa" Because they don't want anyone to leave without paying. But I like your way with cats, because😊 I'am the same.
My tip for fruits and veggies would be the street markets, I assume you have those in Amersfoort. They are basically on the same level as AH/Jumbo when it comes to quality but often a bit cheaper. One thing you will notice over time being in NL is that we are a lot more seasonal orientated then the US when it comes to fruit and veggies. This is also a reason why they will stay fresh longer since they are recently harvsted instead of stored over time. The stuffed piggies are marzepin and connected to a Dutch holiday: Sinterklaas (still a bit of a controversial subject these days, you'll have to do some research on that) Also pepernoten are part of this, you will probably see those in the supermarkets a lot this time of the year aswel.
thank you!! 💗 I’ve been to the amersfoort street market but didn’t actually find it cheaper than the supermarket. Maybe I need to find a different one because I’ve heard they’re supposed to be cheaper. Ah, I’ll look up Sinterklaas and Pepernoten. I’ve been seeing these little pigs everywhere! ☺️
@@boomdoze You should check out at which time the market ends, at the end of the day the prices are reduced significantly as the market vendors don’t like to take anything back to storage or throw it away. You can sometimes get products for 20% of the price they cost earlier in the day. The downside is that some products you might wanted are sold out by then..
I'm 44 but never saw that gate at a store.... thats just weird... here in the jumbo and ah we do have those gate's but only at the self checkout.. iff you go past the normal cash register you can just leave... that was weird. And ps, no in the US and the NL they dont put chemicals in it... here we get fresh food from yesterday or today even in some cases where it can take days to get the food in big store's in the US.. in the US people buy more in bulk to overcome a longer cap.. iff i buy bananas today and there gone in 2 days ill just get new one's... food spoils the same speed in both countries but here there max 2 days old and in the us there mosly a week "old" where in fact thats not old for fruit but it does change the feeling of speed where things rot because we based that on the days we own the fruit.
Dutch people do eat cereals, but in a very different way. They love eating bread and cereal biscuits. Cornflakes and things like that are available but not as often as in the US.
You start your video with telling of all those supermarkets. But we donnot have much really big ones. So they have to choose what they are selling. I know the Jumbo in a specific city can sell different things then in the village where I am living. I understand that in the USA a lot of things are big and much. Here it is more fine tuning. One of the reasons: we are living with a lot of people on a stamp, space is a thing.
When you were in the jumbo did you see the “kletskassa”? A checkout special for people that want to have a talk while checking out. I saw it on American video channels.
At AH you can but you don’t have to weigh your plant stuff. Choice is dependent on the kind of store. You have small and big AH’s in one city. While I really don’t know what’s wrong with the cereal choice anyway. Face it, you going to tell me Americans choose every time a different box from the 1 million options? Of course not. It’s not a problem.
Don't be caught by surprise trying to pay for your groceries at a store that's part one of the big chains.. they are (often?) franchises and can afaik individually choose whether they take CC. For example the AH in Kattenbroek at Emiclaer shopping center doesn't take Credit Cards (or at least it didn't when i still had a CC).
AH was so proud when they made it possible to not get a receipt a few years ago. Better for the environment. And then when they introduced the self scanning machines, they made it mandatory to get one....
I think the biggest culture shock might be that all Dutchies are berating you for having a credit card, while you are really talking about a debit card... SHE HAS NO CREDIT CARD EVERYONE... 🙄 On a side note: you live near my neighborhood, nice to see it from a foreigner's perspective. Have a great time here!
i think it still uses the credit card payment system, so the card is still like a credit card(the physical card) but with instant money transfer. european debit cards use a completely different payment processing system.
20 years ago everything was better here. If you think that the fruit and vegetables have a long shelf life now then you really have no idea how bad the quality is now. If you buy a cucumber at Jumbo what do you taste? A bit strange that we get green beans from Morocco don't you think? The quality of green beans here in the Netherlands is much better but too expensive for those bloodsucking supermarkets. Grapes from African countries while our European neighbors are known for the best grapes in the world. And I can go on like this for a while. We live in a rotten world.
In the near vicinity of our home there are 5 grocery stores scattered around. Thus, when I need to buy some groceries I can go to the one that is on the route home.
I actually don't mind paying with cash. I find that if I use my card too much, I can't rain in my spending as much. But you are like me with the cats. I'd be calling to them every time I see one.
Dutch farmers are the best in the world. 80% is for export and we are the world's largest exporter after America, so it is fresh and does not have to be shipped first
I also had that shock at this Plus. You cannot leave the supermarket without buying something. And also there was nobody to help me. Terrible. But the three supermarkets at the Leusderweg are great. Aldi is very different from Jumbo and AH, so I usually visit two of the three.
only places where on occasion a credit card might be accepted , border gasstationds , and public tourist places whit alot of tourist . anywhere else , its either cash , debit card or pay app on your phone .
We use debits cards because we are too stingy (or sensible) to pay off credit card with added interest. I use Apple Pay in stores, mine is linked to my debit card but maybe it will work when you use it with your credit card as well.
Fresh fruit and veggies are really fresh and not older than a day or 2, that is why they last longer, they are just many days fresher than what you have in the US. Most of the veggies and fruit are locally produced, or imported really fresh, straight from the airplane to the auction to the grocery store.. like green beans from the land in Senegal on your plate within 48 hours or so.
We also eat a lot of veggies and fruit, so the fruit and veggies do not get a chance to get old in the store. So everyday there is really fresh produce.
Impossible
The salad and cut veggies in plastic are same day or next morning delivery to the distribution centre. So it is possible that produce from early morning can be in the supermarkets late afternoon.The supermarkets can order until 11.30 AM for same day production. Logistics are key.
Fruit en veggies are often much healthier in the NL as well. The fruit and veggies in the USA are super expensive and for example strawberries tasted like "nothing". Maybe I was unlucky - but so far I always have the feeling food in the NL is overall much healthier.
Payment system in NL/EU:
Credit card companies make their money by charging the stores for purchases.
When I had a small business, they charged up to 5% on every purchase.
The higher the amount, the lower the charge became (5% -> 2.5% -> 1.5%).
But still. I had to sell for 500€ or more (in one purchase) to "only" pay 1.5% (7.50€)
SInce I was selling high-profit goods, that was acceptable (above 50€, I think our limit was), but in a grocery store the marges are often wáy too low.
Good, that's 20 years ago, but still. Maestro/debet only charged 50ct, regardless of the amount.
Now Maestro/debit cards are virtually free of charge (since internet got introduced it went down from 50ct to 10ct to, I expect, less than a cent per transaction these days)
oh! this is very informative, thank you!! ☺️
That's the same in the US.
@@mrsrr Do you have debit cards?
I never hear about them.
Ever since internet reached our shores, the only payment method was visa/mastercard. Later-on adding our own debit cards, once they figured out v/m are not widespread over here.
@timotheusvanesch3959 - correct. However creedit cards make the most money from debts.
Shops are also charged to transport their cash to the bank these days, more than 20 years ago because people use it less. Debit cards are best for customer and shop.
If you look closely enough in the USA at the cereals you can see that they have all the same ingredients, the packaging and coloring is different. Most cereals from the USA are not allowed in Europe because of the high fructose corn syrup and other ingredients.
Oh, yeah most cereals in the US shouldn’t be allowed anywhere (even the US) lol I appreciate the smaller but better selection here ☺️
As a Dutch person I'm curious now how yalls cereals taste 😅
and also: do you really need 100 different cereals to choose from?
@@bim.k Hebben wij dan echt zoveel keuze in hagelslag nodig dan? Of in drop? Gewoon een cultuurverschil.
@@TheJoaveck haha dat zeg ik toch!
The Netherlands is the second largest food exporter in the world. So you're basically living in the middle of all that fresh food, so it lasts longer. Also, high tech.
I do have to say... fruits tasted better in Barcelona when i was on vacation 2 weeks ago.. maybe its the climate or a lucky store we bought it from.
@@oscarberezowski270the Netherlands might be a large food exporter, but not when it comes to fruit. Lots of fruits are imported, from Spain for example.
The US is the biggest producer. So that's really not a good excuse.
@@Jacqueline_Thijsen It kinda is. Distances there are many times bigger in the US with a less efficient distribution system. US food legislation allows the addition of a lot more chemicals that preserve food but make it less fresh. And Dutch high-tech agrarian methods can guarantee a more consistent high-quality output.
@@Drrolfski The US is always claiming to have the most advanced tech. What is stopping them from adopting Dutch agricultural technology and practices?
The Netherlands is more of a bread country, cereal is just not a thing here.
The Netherlands are not a bread country. I've been in multiple places trying to get proper bread and all I found was floppy tasteless stuff or white toast. Yes, I am used to German bread and mostly bake my own but I really don't understand what people like about what people outside of Germany consider to be bread.
@@loonatic1011We are most definitely a bread country.
Just because it's not to your personal liking doesn't mean it's bad.
No, we are not. Germany is a bread country. A huge choice of various types, flavors and textures.
Not true
@@loonatic1011I agree as a Dutch person 😂go to French or bake it yourself
About the eggs. In the US, farmers clean the everliving crap out of their eggs to eliminate disease. That works... but it also eliminates the natural layer that protects eggs from decay. In the Netherlands (and much of the EU), we've opted to not clean the eggs, but instead to closely guard the supply chain from farmer to supermarket, and let the eggs use their natural protections. That will keep them for weeks. Both systems work, I don't think one is better than the other. A long as you remember: refrigerate your eggs in the US, do not refrigerate them in Europe.
i live in the netherlands an always put my eggs in the fridge
@@8alakai8dat hoeft dus niet.
@@nynkeboverhof4897 Maar zo blijven ze wel langer goed, of niet?
@@Rob-dv2fz Nou volgens mij maakt dat niets uit. Ze staan bij mij soms 2 weken op het aanrecht. Dan zijn ze nog prima. Er kan altijd een verkeerde tussen zitten natuurlijk. Nu koop ik ze hier kakelvers bij een eierboer dus misschien scheelt dat ook?
Verse eieren blijven zonder problemen 3 weken goed buiten de koeling.
The produce lasts a long time because it's very fresh. In rare cases it's possibly that it was harvested _the same morning._
Most fruits and vegetables are in the stores within 24 ours after they are picked and the natural sealbridge that they have are not washed off by chemicals. Thats why they last longer.
We are consistently in the top 3 of biggest agriculture producers & traders in the world, this means our transportation industry etc is top of the line when it comes to fresh produce and we get everything "from the land" to the auction to the supermarket in cooled ships/trucks/etc at super quick pace, something fresh is _actually_ fresh instead of 'secretly' a week old already.
On top of that its the usual difference between foods in EU and US, but weirdly enough with opposite effect, while your average processed food lasts longer with more chemicals (and we don't like that here) plain fruits and veggies tend to be the opposite, they last longer with less chemicals/pesticides/etc.
Google or Apple Pay is most of the time accepted as dutch Banks are connected with the debit cards. Maestro will be phased out as we will transfer to Mastercard or visa for our debitcards. Debitcards are the standard here, creditcards are mostly used online and abroad on travels.
I pay with Apple pay all the time with my Apple Watch. I almost never use my cards.
In the shop where I worked, every payment with a creditcard costs the owner 2 euro’s ..almost 3 if I remember correctly. I worked at the dry cleaners back then and the trousers they had to be cleaned costed 7 euro’s. That means you give away al your profit. So this is probably the reason why most shops don’t want credit card payments.
If you are in a store where you need a receipt to leave, but you didn't buy anything, just ask an employee of the cashier team to open the door. Make sure it is someone at the self-checkout or servicedesk though, the other employees tippicly don't have a 'terminal' to open it with.
yeah that’s what we do but there weren’t any employees around so we had to wait 🙃
@@boomdozebad service lol there should always be one employee at self check out dirty
@@boomdoze I once lived in a supermarket for 4 weeks because of this.
I won’t shop at plus.
@@boomdoze You just go to the regular checkout where someone is still working, if need be say 'excuse me' to the people in line, and pass behind them, giving a nod or a smile at the checkout person if they even look at you. It's completely normal.
Americans think they have a terrific choice of cereals...but it's all the same raw materials dyed different colours with different artificial flavours. a bit like most of their awful food. (With love from the UK!)
It’s all debit cards in the Netherlands, you have to get one asap. Across the roundabout at the Eemplein, checkout the large toko above the Jumbo, they have all the spices, veggies and asian foods they don’t sell at the supermarket. Great place to take a look.
I only use debit but it’s visa but yeah I definitely need to get a dutch bank card! I was waiting on my bsn to come in. Ooh, thanks for advice on the toko 💗 I haven’t been to one yet but I’ll have to make a trip this week!
@@boomdoze There are several toko’s (Indonesian for shop) in Amersfoort, but amazing oriental is the biggest I think. By the way if you want to try Surinam food close to the supermarket in the video on the Arnhemseweg you find Cynthia’s with her Surinam takeaway. Very nice lady with great food. If you need more tips for Amersfoort feel free to ask.
Never pay food with a credit card. The food is long gone but the debt is still there. Fresh in supermarket simply means unripe fruit and products with additives, like preservatives, stabilizers, etc.
@@qualitytraders5333 No, fresh in supermarkets can also mean "This produce hasn't spent days lying around in a truck or warehouse before being delivered to the supermarket" This also explain why they last longer after you've bought them.
Not necessary, visa and master are introduced in the Dutch system. Shops need to change their device, not all shops have done that yet.
Vegetables are probably dutch, and haven't traveled over half the globe, therefore fresh longer
good to know! It’s so nice ☺️
many are yes. We are the 2nd or 3rd biggest agricultural exporters in the world. We produce way too much for the little space we have. We sell them all around the world.
We have blueberries from Marokko, strawberries from Spain, grapes from Greece, sugarsnaps from Senegal…so they travel allot….
@@Mark-vf8op those are fruits tho, not vegies. :) I wanted to say the same thing but then noticed the error in that thought. :)
@@laladieladada sugar snaps s a vegetable but we have also sperziebonen from Marokko, roses from Kenia…..also we are the second biggest producer of Mangoes…in the world…. What I meant was that we have allot of products we are importing its not limited to fruit or vegetables….
Ah, my dear, if you think this is a culture shock, go to a Belgian or French supermarché or a German one: then you really will be shocked about the sheer abundance of all what Europe produces. Dutch grocery stores are quite limited in what they offer. The profit margins dictates the selection.
And if you want to taste really nice food, stay away from the big ones; go to the specialists for cheese, bread and all that. Not as cheap, but so much more tastier.
You'll have to pay cash though, no visa.
😂 as a German I like to drive to the Netherlands now and then because they have different foods than the German stores around here.
snob
Vegetables last longer when they are fresh in the shop. I grew my own vegetables, and they last even longer. Another point is that vegetables that are grow with exactly the right amount of fertilizer last longer. But if they got more nitrogen to grow faster, the cells are weaker.
Lot of vegetables can last for months, like all kind of cabbage, all kind of onions, carrots, celery, and more.
Only ready to cook vegetables must be consumed before the UHT date. UHT dates mean that it’s dangerous to eat after that date.
(THT means the quality of the product is guaranteed till that. But you can still consume it. The rule here is: look and smell)
Welcome to Amersfoort, the housing areas around the city centre most are build just after WOII. We adopted the distribution model of Walther Kristaller, with a mayor shopping strip or center in the middle of the neighborhood, and other shopping strips at 1000 meters from the main one. In those days people did not have a refrigerator and needed fresh milk, meat etc every day. Now these strips changed to Barbours, restaurant's etc.
Make a walk in Liendert and see how the structure is made for that time. Have a nice time with us.
My boyfriend throughout the video "heey I know that cat". With every shown cat 😂
3:08 I’ve honestly never eaten or even considered cereals for breakfast (or any other meal, for that matter) and I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one here. Many dutchies here do drink a glass of milk though, in the morning.
ooh interesting! I don’t eat cereal every day but definitely reach for it when I need something quick. I suppose breads take the place of that here though?
@@boomdoze bread, fruit, oatmeal (in yoghurt or as a hot porridge) with raisins, fruit, honey and nuts/seeds and oils added. So basically muesli :) But for me personally it’s whole wheat bread with cheese and some thin slices of a cold cut or a fried egg. My wife is an oatmeal girl, though.
Or buttermilk
@@JulesStoop i’m with your wife on this one! I typically do an oatmeal with fruits and nuts too but cereals when I’m running late. That all sounds very tasty though ☺️
@@JulesStoop Every day muesli for me with a apple and a banana and a kiwi!Shredded!In fresh yoghurt.
Don’t forget to get a Jumbo extra’s pas and a AH bonuskaart to get discounts.
For the soft fruits, like strawberries, I can tell you they used to get moldy insanely quickly when I was young. Then I read about an experiment where they'd irradiate strawberries and other soft fruits with gamma radiation in order to destroy the nasties without changing the flavor or texture of the fruit. It was very contentious even though gamma radiation is non-ionizing radiation. That means that it doesn't make the stuff it hits radioactive as well, so the fruit would be perfectly safe to eat. Anyway, I never heard about it again, but a few years later those fruits suddenly stopped getting moldy quite so quickly. Now correlation is not causation, but I have my suspicions and am simply glad about the improved food safety.
We can buy our groceries easy with a normal bank card in the Netherlands. The fact that our fruit and vegetables have a long shelf life is due to various factors. The Netherlands has the largest port in Europe, huge loads of fruit and vegetables are traded and transhipped in Rotterdam. Being close to the supply lines has its advantages. In addition to the fact that a great deal of fruit and vegetables are grown in the Netherlands (glass and horticulture). That also reduces costs and increases the shelf life.
Do you have any idea how much commission they charge for credit cards? It is very normal for these companies to pocket 10-15% of the payment instead of asking for a very, very small percentage per payment. Certainly for supermarkets that trade with small margins, 10-15% less income due to payments to credit card companies is far too much. Many large companies, such as supermarkets, have contracts with banks when it comes to transaction costs. In addition to the fact that you have the idea that a supermarket is owned by the name on the facade, they are often entrepreneurs who run their business under the flag of a large group. They have the advantages of the big company (read: brand awareness and distribution) but can also put their own stamp on the sales of certain products or vision of business management. That is why it seems that every supermarket with the same logo has the same owner, but that is not always the case.
Amsterdam does indeed have many more expats or tourists, so companies there will often have contracts with the credit card companies when it comes to transaction costs. Amersfoort therefore much less.
- - -
No, I have not experienced it myself that I can only leave a supermarket if I have a receipt. But there is often a checkout/counter where you can leave the store without a 'receipt gate'. They also do this to prevent theft. This store probably suffers too much from theft. Also most likely because many cashiers are now being replaced by scan-checkouts (which I am absolutely not in favor of).
Dutch payment system is called Maestro. But thankfully since this year the banks are moving away from Maestro and are adapting Visa / Mastercard too. Bankcards are being replaced too so they are on Visa/Mastercard. It is mostly stores lacking behind in their payment terminals that is slowing down the roll-out towards Visa/Mastercard. but within a few years the whole country should be on the 'new' payment systems.
Thankfully? I think it’s a really, really bad move.
You seem to be a very nice person. Thanks for sharing these movies about my own country, it's nice to witness your view.
I know it’s a different experience but eventually you will notice it is superior and smarter as supermarket are trying to prevent all negative experiences like in USA
In Dutch supermarkets, items are checked before they're officially yours. At self-checkouts, a staff member opens the gates. When you press "pay," they can randomly check your groceries since the transaction isn't complete yet.
This is different from the USA, where they often check carts and receipts at the exit, which can sometimes lead to profiling. Dutch supermarkets avoid scenes at the exit by handling checks before you pay.
In your video, you went through an unattended checkout. Make sure to use one with a staff member to open the gate for you when you’re not purchasing anything.
Stuff stays fresh longers because they are delivered very fresh to shops, due to short and efficient logistics.
Dutch have been growing fruits and veggies for dozens of years. Every year the greenhouses replace their plants. So they try to get a stronger plant every year. One of the things I noticed through the years is that the proces of rotting got less and less. So it stays good for longer periods of time
You cant leave without acryl receipt if you are in a supermarket with self service check outs. If you go via the check outs with employees you can go without one.
When i buy potatos from the supermarket they grow roots within a week, when i buy them directly from the farm they stay good for 5, 6 months
Enjoyed your vid, I use to visit Amersfoort quite a bit in 1998, I lived in Hoevelaken for 3 months on a job assignment. There used to be a French restaurant there that was to die for!!! Nope, I don't remember it's name. I really miss the Netherlands, I want to come back for a visit but it looks like I might ever make it... Thanks so much for sharing with us!!!
Shops pay a % of sales to the credit card company, so it is best for the shop not to accept them or they would have to increase prices.
If the scales in the store are out of order, your produce will just be weighed at the check-out. I don't think you're getting free produce 😅
About cereals... That's not realy a big thing for breakfast over here. It just never caught on like in the USA. Most people eat bread with cheese or jam for breakfast.
Problem is also that credit card companies take a huge amount as payment. They take like 2-4% of the total amount. Meaning the companies profit goes from 20% to 16%. Maestro and Mastercard use similar logos because it's owned by the same company. The debit cards use the payment track named Maestro and credit cards use the track named Mastercard. Visa has a similar system these days named Vpay and Visa. However, those companies are changing. They are going to merge the way they pay to let debit cards use the Mastercard and visa payment way. So long term I think we'll have credit card everywhere as an option Option (well, maybe not American express).
Produce are fresh thats so it takes longer before they go bad
ah, I love it!! ☺️
The fact that the fresh products last longer in the refrigerator is because they do not first go to a storage facility but straight to the DC where they are transported to the store. The prices at AH are often a bit higher, but the taste is often better. Jumbo is just below that. The rest of the supermarket chains are more focused on cheapness and you can taste that
I like to add that alot of the fruit and veggies are grown in the netherlands. So harvested one day the next day in the supermarket
Especially the German chainstores.
thank you!! I have noticed that AH stuff tastes a bit better and lasts longer. I’m still trying to figure out my go to stores - but it’s good to know AH is good ☺️
@@boomdoze I can also recommend you try to visit some foreign supermarkets if you have any near; they tend to have some fruits and veggies (such as turnips, a personal favourite) that are hard to find in our regular stores and they tend to be cheaper there too. Finding an asian food store (generally called a "toko") may also yield some interesting results, both for snacks, dinner and fruits & veggies.
@@AutoGamerZ_ yes! I’ve heard tokos are very good. The one near my place is actually a bit more expensive than the supermarket (and smaller) though. so I think I have to go a bit further for the better ones
Almost all of the cashier "kassas" have scales in them. However the self weighing is available because it is need for the self service/ unmanned check outs
In Belgium the system where an employee would compare your ticket and your purchases only existed in a Dutch owned supermarket, Makro. They are gone meanwhile.
The produce in the Netherlands is about two days old and just a few hours from where they are grown. In the U.S., they go through packaging and shipping for up to a week in refrigerated trucks. Also, the GMOs of the U.S. are more about size and color and not taste and longevity (except bananas). Here there are less GMOs and more pest and environmental resistance.
Loved your movie again! Here is some explanation for the things you are learning that are quite different from what you are used to in the States.
For one. Our banking system, throughout Europe, works with the PIN and Ideal (IBAN) system, while VISA/Mastercard credit/debit cards work with a dual-message debit system. In other words, the systems in our shops simply can not communicate with your American bank card, whether it's credit or debit.
However, new systems have dual-message debit in their functionality included. This means that in the coming years, shops and whatnot who buy a new "pin machine" upon replacing their old ones will be able to accept your visa debit card. Better safe than sorry to carry cash with you up until you have your own Dutch bank card.
For two. We have a bread culture. We barely eat cereal in the first place. Next to that, most standard ingredients put in famous US cereals (and in sandwich bread, sweets, ice cream, meat preservatives, insecticides on vegetables, etc.) are considered a health risk in Europe and are therefore forbidden. 🤔😵🤯
So go ahead and sprinkle your bread with (dark) chocolate hagelslag🎉 and try the combination with Dutch peanut butter. Even the ones of bigger brands are made with pure ingredients. Sometimes, they add some vegetable oil to create a spreadable paste. If you like, start your Dutch bread sandwich with a layer of butter or margarine. You will have a very nutritious and healthy kickstarter of breakfast. And it's still sweet, just not as artificial sweet tasting, as most of your cereals😅.
And lastly, for thirds, in most supermarkets, your veggies are weighed at the checkout, or you can do this yourself in case you go to the self checkout. After the checkout, you can either have a short checkout receipt or you can download the supermarket app where your receipts are collected (it's also used as a personal customised customer card).
Good luck and have fun with all your adventures in the Netherlands. ❤💃🦄🌈🌟
Plus actually does accept Visa in most of their stores! I never experienced any issues with my Visa.
Mastercard and American express aren’t widely accepted, but even some Jumbo’s won’t accept those.
Shops that don't accept cash money must be banned by costumers. Cash is the only legal tender and has to be accepted at all times.
Please come and visit Brussels, Antwerp, Leuven... many beautiful cities in Belgium.
You weigh your own produce so you can use the hand scanners and not worry about having to go through the cashier if you get produce. I love the hand scanners since I can then throw the items in my bag and pay and go without unpacking and repacking my grocery sacks to pay.
No credits cards in super markets (also not in Amsterdam where more expats live) but a debit card will always work, cash is never needed. The reason is that credit card companies charge the vendor. Almost all other shops (clothing etc.) accept credit cards. You do not need a receipt to get out of a supermarket, only if you use the self cashier.
Klopt bijna. Van de week in Tilburg betaald aan een "normale "kassa. Toch de kassabon nodig gehad om een poortje te openen. Maar is idd niet de normale gang van zaken.
The story behind the marzipan pigs is a sign of succes and wealth. Just like we put money in a piggy bank. The marzipan pig is an altenative of the tradition to slaughter a pig around this time of the year as people don't have livestock like they did 100 years ago. Back then it was common for people to have a pig or two or a cow or chickens to slaughter and eat in the winter.
I didn't knew that!
@Alkvaarder You didn't "know". "Didn't" already is past tense so then you add the present tense "know".
Cereals are not popular here, most people eat bread for breakfast and lunch, some muesli. European bread is apparently healthier/nicer than American bread. I saw videos on youtube about this.
I think there’s some nuance to this. If you shop at normal American supermarkets and get low quality bread then the bread here is better quality but most of the people I know in the U.S. now get their bread from ‘nicer’ supermarkets with bakeries or a bakery itself. These breads do cost more but recently I think a lot of Americans care more about their heath and are willing to pay more for quality. Granted I lived in a big city where people make decent money and don’t have big families.
It is nice that all the bread here is good quality though and you don’t have to pay more for it!
This guy explains the differences in bread USA vs EU th-cam.com/video/Tc0ozMc0wZM/w-d-xo.htmlsi=lCkqPJzghTG_YPH7
In the United States purchasing processed foods is the norm as convenient. In Europe it seems like they prefer cooking more than a quick food fix. I could be wrong about this but based on my own experience from visiting family members outside the US, cooking seems to be the preferred method when preparing meals.
Fun fact: direct debit cards are getting popular in usa and other places too. Some of the direct debit xards are accepted in all of europe, might sound like a big saver?
I havent used my bank card since Apple arrived in NL (although it requires to be a debit card authorized by a dutch bank). In grocery stores, i use a scanner and pay with apple pay.
i'm danish and can't remember the last time I used cash in Denmark, the last time I had to use cash was in some shops in Nederland 2 month ago. Jumbo was OK, used both my credit and debit card (Visa and Mastercard) without any problems.
It's strange that your local supermarkets don't accept mastercard or visa yet. Dutch banks are now only issuing visa and mastercard and phasing out the old maestro and vpay. So all stores are supposed to have switched over at least by the end of this year. I've been using a visa card for most of the year at most stores here. The only one I had to use my old maestro card was at the turkish grocery store.
It is for us Dutch very unusual to do groceries using a credit card. Credit cards are more an American 'thing'. We just use our ATM card and the amount you have to pay is directly debited from your bankaccount. The only reason I have a credit card myself (as a Dutch) is because if I want to buy something abroad, but I practically never use it in my own country. Furthermore, I notice in a lot of "American tries Netherlands" video's those Americans ALWAYS wind up either with Jumbo or Albert Heijn. These two are also the most expensive grocery stores, while the Lidl and ALDI are more cheaper and offer also more variety in cheaper brands. It's also a pity you did not cover the self scanners at Jumbo and Albert Heijn. With Jumbo you take a hand held with you, scan each product and once you have all your groceries you give the scanner to the cashier and you can pay. With Albert Heijn you can take your groceries to an unmanned payment terminal, scan each item manually until you are done, and then the payment terminal tells you how to pay and gives you a receipt, which contains a barcode to open to port that leads outside.
According to the consumentenbond Jumbo and Albert Heijn are exactly average in supermarket prices. Aldi and Lidl are only 1% and 3% cheaper. Spar Poiesz and Coop are the expensive supermarkets.
Produce lasting long is a good thing. It has to do with the short chain of delivery, from the grower to the shop. But most of all with the specialized storage facilities and trucks.
I have an UK visa debitcard and I also had trouble paying with it. Which I thought was strange.. cause debitcard right? So I looked into my bank app and it turned out I had to transfer money to a wallet within the app. So I transferred £100 and after that I had no problem paying with my card. So it might be something you can do too. My English visa debitcard has all the 'creditcard' number's on the card and you can pay directly online with it. Which you can't with a Dutch debitcard. When we pay online we are transferred to an online logging into the bank. Ideal is the name of that system
So maybe the Dutch register reads the debitcard as a creditcard and with the wallet it does work.
You pronounce Jumbo however you like, nobody will be laughing I am sure. But that was a very good j you used there :)
For most fruits and vegetables "fresh" is exactly what it means. They often are day fresh. The Jumbo near me will put fruit and veg that are older than two days in the "must go, 35% off" fridge and if it is not sold from there that day it will go to food projects. If you store dayfresh properly it will last a while.
2:36 Marzipan piglets. We are nearing St Nicolaas. This holiday is celebrated on Dec 5th and celebrates the original St Nick. the American Santa Claus is based on him and the English Father Christmas. Marzipan is one of the sweets traditionally associated with the holiday. The pigheads are a throwback to pagan holidays when pigs where sacrifiicedto the godess Freya for good luck.
We don't do cereals here with the exception of Cornflakes. Of course there are always exceptions and there are the American expats like you so they are offered regardless.
If you are planning to stay in the Netherlands, get a proper bank account instead of that fake American moneyscheme. 1800? Is that coming from someone that comes from a country where they is no direct banking? where people are scared to share their bank account number? WWhere payments go by "check", where paying your friends for something needs to be done with a weird commercial app? 1800? for a country where you can pay directly from your bank account with your free bank app? 1800? whaahahahahahahaha. If there is a country financialy in 1800 when it comes to money traffic... it is the USA (I am sorry, maybe a bit harsh but really?)
That is the first time I see a store where you need to have a receipt after paying at the manned cash register. I guess they have a big problem with theft there.
They can weight fruit and vegetables at manned registers here as well. They just don't if you've already done so yourself.
So no clue why they would give you things for free. Maybe it's policy? Because supermarkets are clearly trying to push customers away from the manned registers and towards self-checkout -- for obvious reasons (read: self-checkout is cheaper).
never in my life have i heard that you can take the fruit and veggies with you for free. but that is mosty because there is always atleast one of the weighing machines working i guess
yeah I think this worker was just being nice. I don’t think it’s an everyday thing!
2:36 that's marsepein. They do all type of shapes. It for the upcoming Sinterklaas festivities. There are a lot of foods connected to this.
It’s super cute!! ☺️
@@boomdoze if you have kids, you can get yourself familiar with pepernoten, kriidnoten and of course the Chocolate letter.
Also see if they celebrate Sint Maarten in your neighborhood. Sometimes this can come as a surprise.
AH actually didn't accept credit cards in general until a few years ago and even now, many stores still don't. Same goes for Plus. Supermarkets are usually not owned by the brand themselves but are franchised. The actual owner of the store has a say in it. Margins are very low in supermarkets and payment fees by credit card companies are high. It's interesting because the more "basic" supermarkets like Dirk and Lidl and Aldi have been more forthgoing with accepting credit cards.
So it's not just that they don't lack an incentive, it's even the opposite. Now, with price gauging and people having a hard time to make ends meet, it seems credit cards can be used more widely within supermarkets.
credit cards cost more on both ends and its simply not worth it while cash or debit cards work perfectly well
And fresh produce lasts longer simply because it is really fresh and not as most in the US already old when they hit the stores. In the US a lot get stored in cooling cells of even frozen en defrosted before it even hits the stores
Also a little thing about the choices and options i found that there are more options in the Netherlands then in the US even when it comes to cereal because have 10 of the same cereal is not really a diversity of products just of packaging
Maybe the fruit and veggies in the US have travelled already so long because of the big distances in the US that they are already rather óld'when they arrive in the shops?
Don't forget to visit the markets that happen! Fresh fruit etc plus local vendors. Great place to try bew things, less expensive in many cases than AH etc plus you can practice your Dutch😊
About the fruits and vegetables; the Netherlands has the highest food accessibility in the world and is the second largest food exporter in the world 😅 So a lot products are from nearby and fresh 🥦🥕🌽🤓👍
Visa and Mastercard are charging an extra 10% on the price, which the supermarkets cannot reimburse with you. So, use a debit card, like all dutch people. We culturally are not very prone to having debts, except a morgage for buying a house.
I never go to the supermarket. There are bakers, butchers, greengocers, fishmongers, etc. Around the small town where I live we have local producers that sell directly to the public, even specialty products that you'll not find in supermarkets. I understand why foreigners prefer to go to supermarkets because they don't speak the language so they cannot ask for specific products they are looking for. They just buy whatever is offered.
To be honest it’s a time issue for me. I work full time in addition to posting videos here so I just don’t have time to visit all of those stores to get my groceries for the week. It does sound nice though and I’m sure the quality and kinds of food are much better!
where is this Shangri La?
We don't have such a arrangement off stores.
In the PLUS, you can leave without a receipt when you go to " de kassa" Because they don't want anyone to leave without paying.
But I like your way with cats, because😊 I'am the same.
My tip for fruits and veggies would be the street markets, I assume you have those in Amersfoort. They are basically on the same level as AH/Jumbo when it comes to quality but often a bit cheaper. One thing you will notice over time being in NL is that we are a lot more seasonal orientated then the US when it comes to fruit and veggies. This is also a reason why they will stay fresh longer since they are recently harvsted instead of stored over time.
The stuffed piggies are marzepin and connected to a Dutch holiday: Sinterklaas (still a bit of a controversial subject these days, you'll have to do some research on that) Also pepernoten are part of this, you will probably see those in the supermarkets a lot this time of the year aswel.
thank you!! 💗 I’ve been to the amersfoort street market but didn’t actually find it cheaper than the supermarket. Maybe I need to find a different one because I’ve heard they’re supposed to be cheaper. Ah, I’ll look up Sinterklaas and Pepernoten. I’ve been seeing these little pigs everywhere! ☺️
@@boomdoze You should check out at which time the market ends, at the end of the day the prices are reduced significantly as the market vendors don’t like to take anything back to storage or throw it away. You can sometimes get products for 20% of the price they cost earlier in the day. The downside is that some products you might wanted are sold out by then..
I'm 44 but never saw that gate at a store.... thats just weird... here in the jumbo and ah we do have those gate's but only at the self checkout.. iff you go past the normal cash register you can just leave... that was weird.
And ps, no in the US and the NL they dont put chemicals in it... here we get fresh food from yesterday or today even in some cases where it can take days to get the food in big store's in the US.. in the US people buy more in bulk to overcome a longer cap.. iff i buy bananas today and there gone in 2 days ill just get new one's... food spoils the same speed in both countries but here there max 2 days old and in the us there mosly a week "old" where in fact thats not old for fruit but it does change the feeling of speed where things rot because we based that on the days we own the fruit.
The most advanced technology is used to keep produce fresh in special warehouses.
Dutch people do eat cereals, but in a very different way. They love eating bread and cereal biscuits. Cornflakes and things like that are available but not as often as in the US.
You start your video with telling of all those supermarkets. But we donnot have much really big ones. So they have to choose what they are selling. I know the Jumbo in a specific city can sell different things then in the village where I am living. I understand that in the USA a lot of things are big and much. Here it is more fine tuning. One of the reasons: we are living with a lot of people on a stamp, space is a thing.
Don't worry, Mastercard and VISA will be accepted everywhere soon as Maestro and VPAY will be replaced with Debit Mastercard and VISA Debit.
When you were in the jumbo did you see the “kletskassa”? A checkout special for people that want to have a talk while checking out. I saw it on American video channels.
oh wow! that's interesting...I haven't heard of kletkassa but I'll look for it next time I go!
These videos are great. So informative
Why would you want the choice of 100 kinds or cereals or crisps ?
In Veenendaal, we have McDonalds, Burger King and KFC next to each other. 😁
At AH you can but you don’t have to weigh your plant stuff.
Choice is dependent on the kind of store. You have small and big AH’s in one city. While I really don’t know what’s wrong with the cereal choice anyway. Face it, you going to tell me Americans choose every time a different box from the 1 million options? Of course not. It’s not a problem.
Don't be caught by surprise trying to pay for your groceries at a store that's part one of the big chains.. they are (often?) franchises and can afaik individually choose whether they take CC. For example the AH in Kattenbroek at Emiclaer shopping center doesn't take Credit Cards (or at least it didn't when i still had a CC).
I love the Netherlands like everywhere is a build up area very convenient
lil tip if they accept ur card they usualy have a sticker on the door
Fruits lasting long is a concern to me being Dutch, I buy organic. AH has a lot of fruits that seem to last forever. It is unnatural to me.
AH was so proud when they made it possible to not get a receipt a few years ago. Better for the environment. And then when they introduced the self scanning machines, they made it mandatory to get one....
No you don’t, you can use your bonuskaart to open the gate 😊
@@kirstenmc68 and you can register the card to your phone or smartwatch.
Or the barcode on your phone. And even then, you can choose between a full receipt and a very short one with just the barcode on it.
Apple Pay directly linked to your bankaccount. Is widely accepted.
First supermarkt you entertainment is the Jumbo, but it has the inside of Albert Heijn.
Everything in the store is not even ripe. Thats why it takes longer to go bad. It sort of ripes in your kitchen!!
Thats the same when a dutch go to us and find out that everything have to be big. Als the People.
I think the biggest culture shock might be that all Dutchies are berating you for having a credit card, while you are really talking about a debit card... SHE HAS NO CREDIT CARD EVERYONE... 🙄
On a side note: you live near my neighborhood, nice to see it from a foreigner's perspective. Have a great time here!
i think it still uses the credit card payment system, so the card is still like a credit card(the physical card) but with instant money transfer.
european debit cards use a completely different payment processing system.
20 years ago everything was better here. If you think that the fruit and vegetables have a long shelf life now then you really have no idea how bad the quality is now. If you buy a cucumber at Jumbo what do you taste? A bit strange that we get green beans from Morocco don't you think? The quality of green beans here in the Netherlands is much better but too expensive for those bloodsucking supermarkets. Grapes from African countries while our European neighbors are known for the best grapes in the world. And I can go on like this for a while. We live in a rotten world.
3:32 were you in Amersfoort!
In the near vicinity of our home there are 5 grocery stores scattered around. Thus, when I need to buy some groceries I can go to the one that is on the route home.
I actually don't mind paying with cash. I find that if I use my card too much, I can't rain in my spending as much. But you are like me with the cats. I'd be calling to them every time I see one.
Wauw! Die kat aan het einde van je video is mooi!:)
Dutch farmers are the best in the world. 80% is for export and we are the world's largest exporter after America, so it is fresh and does not have to be shipped first
It’s nit a credut card but every year we played Postcode Lottery and in November we getting this card for free food €12,50 per ticket
I also had that shock at this Plus. You cannot leave the supermarket without buying something. And also there was nobody to help me. Terrible. But the three supermarkets at the Leusderweg are great. Aldi is very different from Jumbo and AH, so I usually visit two of the three.
The long lasting vegetables is probably because of our big agricultural sciences sector.
only places where on occasion a credit card might be accepted , border gasstationds , and public tourist places whit alot of tourist . anywhere else , its either cash , debit card or pay app on your phone .
We use debits cards because we are too stingy (or sensible) to pay off credit card with added interest.
I use Apple Pay in stores, mine is linked to my debit card but maybe it will work when you use it with your credit card as well.