The Hague - Post Report Question and Answers

How would you describe the availability and cost of groceries and household supplies relative to your home country?

Excellent. If you're a healthy eater, you might find that the selection here is larger and cheaper than in the U.S. Grocery stores are smaller, but I feel like it mostly comes at the cost of a smaller selection of snacks and processed foods. Groceries tend to be cheaper than in the U.S., except for meat which can be quite a bit more. There are plenty of grocery delivery services here that are very affordable and can make the best conveniences of the States. - May 2022


The cost and availability of groceries is comparable to any major city in the US. If you shop at the farmers and weekend markets (and some local food stands), you may find better pricing than the grocery store. - Feb 2021


I find the groceries in line with what we pay in the USA, but if you look around and go to some of the weekend fresh markets, you can get much better prices especially fruits and vegetables; usually one-third the cost of the grocery store. - Jan 2019


You can get products similar to U.S. with few exceptions. If you like to bake bring powdered sugar because Dutch stuff is not the same. Prices are about 20% higher. - Feb 2015


Most U.S. comparable foods are available here. Marks & Spencer recently arrived, creating an outlet for British foods as well. Costs are higher than U.S. prices by about 35%. - Jun 2014


You can get almost anything you need from the local grocery store although it will be significantly smaller scale than you are used to (think a 2-pack of toilet paper). - Apr 2014


Costs are high here. Some families always go the the base to get things...it is two plus hours away. We prefer to shop on the local market.much more fun and saves on gas and time. Things are expensive, but the COLA almost covers the USD difference. - Jul 2011


There are two main grocery chains - Albert Heijn and C1000.C1000 has cheaper prices but the number of their stores are a little more limited than Albert Heijn. We buy all our meats and dairy locally and use the US Military Base at Schinnen which is 2 hrs away for everything else. We make a once a month run to the base. For our family of five we spend USD 1k per month on groceries. - Nov 2010


It is slightly expensive, but the COLA covers it. - Jul 2010


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