Supermarkets in Rome

Supermarkets in Rome

In Rome you will find a large range of supermarket chains in whichever area you end up living in. Some of these chains are:

• Tuodi
• Todis
• Conad
• Simply
• In'S
• Carrefour/Carrefour Market
• Auchan (alcampo)
• Lidl

.. and I'm sure that there is many more that I have missed. Generally speaking, the prices are very similar to those which you would find in Spain, and in supermarkets like "Todis" I have noticed that it is actually even cheaper than "Mercadona" (supermarket chain), which is where I usually do my shopping in Spain. As well, the "Todis" supermarket which is located at "Tuscolana" station is open 24 hours, which is greatly appreciated! This doesn't mean however, that some foods are in fact not more expensive, like fresh fish for example. In fact, I have never bought fresh fish in Rome before, because unfortunately if I don't buy frozen fish, the cost of my shopping increases too much. Bread, depending on where you buy it, can either be really cheap or really expensive, even though the difference in price isn't really the end of the world. Pasta, vegetables and fruit are cheaper than in Spain. Especially the brand Barilla, which you can find for around 40 or 60 cents here, in comparison to 2 euros plus in Spain if I remember correctly. There are options of a much higher quality but for a price that isn't much higher. As well as vegetables being cheaper, produce like cucumbers, onions or patatoes seem to be of a superior quality to those which I buy in Spain. Rice is more expensive and eggs and milk are similarly priced. Sausage, pastries and deserts are slightly more expensive or of a similar cost. Serrano ham (prosciutto crudo) is really expensive. Pulses and virgin olive oil are similarly priced to Spain. Household products also have similar prices.

We have also been to Lidl a couple of times and it is cheap there. The problem is, is that it is quite far away from where we live (the closest is in "Pigneto") and we have to rely on the bus to get us there. Unfortunately there is no Lidl in the city centre, only further out into the city. The closest are in "Tiburtina" and in "Pineto" (on Metro line C).

One of the things that "surprised" me there was that pre-prepared tomato purees didn't exist. They sell you the tomato already crushed but the rest you have to do yourself, it's easy! Pour the tomato into a saucepan, add about 4 spoonfuls of oil for each litre of tomato and one teaspoonful of sugar (to counteract the tomato's acidity) and add salt to taste. When it starts to simmer, lower the heat and let it cook for about an hour or when you see that it is ready. If you want you can vary the sauce by adding in cayenne, pepper, fried up onions and / or garlic... whatever you desire.

I'll attach some photos that I have taken of a couple of catalogs from Conad that I had lying around at home. Normally, each week, they have lots of products on offer. (Sorry for the photo quality, although I think you can make out the images ok!)

Photo gallery