Khartoum - Post Report Question and Answers
How would you describe the availability and cost of groceries and household supplies relative to your home country?
Most of the local products are less expensive than in the United States, but any American brands are costly. You will be able to find local produce such as carrots, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, and peppers, but green beans, mushrooms, and broccoli are seasonal, imported, and hard to come by. The quality of local produce can vary from day to day. The Health Unit will provide information on properly cleaning produce before eating. Beef, chicken and fish are available, but since Sudan is a Muslim country, you will not find pork products. Bread is available, but sad. All dairy products need to be checked to be sure they have not gone bad. Some canned goods of fair quality are available. The cost for a week’s worth of groceries for two people would cost us roughly $30.
Sudan operates under Sharia Law, meaning alcohol is illegal. Therefore, you will not find it available for purchase in any store or restaurant. You also may not send alcohol into the country in any of your shipments. - Feb 2018
Basic groceries are available, but basically only what can be grown here is fresh. Things like tomatoes, onion, and potatoes are available year-round while mushrooms, beans and broccoli appear to be seasonal. Beef is abundant, although most of the cuts here are unrecognizable. Plenty of chicken. Only fish native to the Nile or the Red Sea are available, although I have on occasion found imported salmon. Most household supplies are available, but can be expensive. Pork is not sold, but is available to the embassy through a periodic shipment. Groceries are cheap by U.S. standards...a weekly grocery trip might run you $50. - May 2017
Depends on which exchange rate you use...however, nothing from the US is available at local markets due to economic sanctions on Sudan, though you can build up a hefty Amazon.com bill ordering dry goods. Let's just say if you're coming, back sure you max out your consumables. - Nov 2016
Almost everything is available. Some things are far more expensive than in the U.S. What I miss: sushi, blue cheese dressing (but blue cheese is available to make your own), Herdez green salsa, liquid Tide, my hairdresser. - Oct 2016
Food is expensive. It's US$10 for a gallon of milk for example. Western items are rare, and when they're available they're really pricey. We don't get COLA because of Management, but we should. Your weekly grocery bill for very limited items will be for US$200/person. The meat is hard to get right too, and you have to look around for a clean butcher. Household supplies tend to be very low quality, so you'll want to do a good consumables shipment and bring it all in. From hand soap to paper towels and toilet paper and dish washing sponges. - Mar 2016
Western-style food here is generally expensive or difficult to find. Most Americans order food online, from Amazon, Walmart, NetGrocer, or the like. - Jun 2015
The costs are more expensive than you might expect. The prices (despite our reduction of the Cost of Living Allowance recently) have gone up. The Sudanese pound fluctuates and most Western goods are unusually expensive. - Mar 2015
Things like cleaning supplies are very expensive as are standard Western fare like Doritos or cereal. You can get meat very cheaply and it's very fresh (an entire beef tenderloin is under US$25 and it was probably mooing the day before). Local fruits and veggies are inexpensive. Use your consumables shipment. Netgrocer and Amazon help a lot too. - Apr 2014
Expensive! Take advantage of your consumables shipment. There isn't a commissary here and most Western items are at least $20 or more. - Jun 2011
You can get almost everything here. The imported goods are expensive, but the local stuff is perfectly fine and not expensive. - Apr 2010
Fresh fruits and veggies at the open air market were of pretty good quality (especially the tomatoes!) I ate so many kilos of nice tomatoes while there that now I am spoiled for life! The cost per kilo is comparable to other places. Not cheaper, not more. Other imported goods (cheeses, breakfast cereals) are double, if not triple the price in Europe or U.S. - May 2009
Pretty much everything you need is available locally: expensive because imported, and perhaps not your favourite brands. - Sep 2008
