Supermarkets and grocery shopping in the Netherlands: 2026 expat guide

Dutch supermarkets are smaller than US or UK hypermarkets, but you will usually have several competing brands within cycling distance. Opening hours are generous, often 08:00 to 21:00 or later, with Sunday opening common in cities. Very small towns may have limited Sunday hours or none at all.

Before your first shop, a few practical things are worth knowing. Grocery costs are a significant part of your monthly budget. For a full breakdown, see our Netherlands relocation budget guide, which covers groceries as part of the complete €2,450-€2,800 monthly Amsterdam cost of living.

Below is a practical positioning of the main chains expats actually use. Reddit threads where Dutch people compare chains consistently place Lidl, Aldi and Dirk as the cheapest options, while Albert Heijn is seen as the priciest but most convenient, especially for singles using the app and weekly Bonus offers.

Your spend depends more on lifestyle than on the exact supermarket. Dutch and expat data points from NLCompass relocation-budget data and large Reddit polls are remarkably consistent. These figures align with the complete Netherlands relocation budget guide, which assumes €250-€350 per month for a single person in Amsterdam as part of a €2,450-€2,800 monthly cost of living.

On Reddit and Dutch consumer forums, a clear hierarchy emerges for a normal mixed basket. Dirk is often cited as cheapest overall where it exists. Lidl and Aldi are very cheap for basics, vegetables and store brands, but often only a few cents cheaper than AH or Jumbo on specific items once you include discounts.

Albert Heijn is typically the most expensive of the big chains, but heavy Bonus discounts and personal offers can bring the effective price closer to Jumbo or even Lidl on some products. Jumbo tends to sit in the middle: cheaper than AH for many items, but not as systematically cheap as Lidl or Dirk, and sometimes similar to AH once offers are applied.

From multiple Dutch and expat threads, a clear pattern emerges. Many people do a combo strategy: main shop at Lidl or Dirk, then a quick AH top-up for things Lidl does not have or that are on AH Bonus. Those who choose convenience over price do everything at AH or Jumbo, accepting a higher bill in exchange for one stop and a polished experience.

A lot of fresh items (cheese, meat, bread, veg) are bought at specialist shops or Turkish supermarkets, then supermarkets are used for dry goods, drinks and cleaning products. If you are time-poor and earning a higher salary, a single AH or Jumbo with smart use of discounts can be perfectly rational. If you are optimising every euro, combining Dirk or Lidl with ethnic shops is usually the sweet spot.

Using the NLCompass Amsterdam cost-of-living basket and Dutch spending threads as reference, here are approximate one-week baskets for a single person cooking most meals at home. The baseline basket below is for an omnivore cooking five to six dinners at home.

Albert Heijn Bonuskaart

The Bonuskaart is a free loyalty card or app that unlocks Bonus discounts and personal offers. Without it, you are already at the high end of the market. The card is not tied to nationality and any email address and phone number work fine, so expats can get one on day one. No BSN required.

Jumbo and other chains

Jumbo also has a loyalty scheme and app with digital vouchers and promotions. Dirk, Plus, Coop, Hoogvliet and Vomar typically run straightforward discounts and sometimes savings programmes, but their apps are less central to the experience than AH's. For most expats, getting an AH Bonuskaart and Jumbo account on day one is worth the five minutes it takes.

The Netherlands has a deposit system called statiegeld covering large plastic bottles, small plastic bottles and many cans, plus traditional deposits on some glass bottles. You pay a small deposit when buying eligible drinks; for years this was €0.25 on big bottles and €0.15 on small, and from 2025 the amount on small bottles and cans has been increasing toward €0.20 to boost return rates.

What can I buy in a supermarket?

Under Dutch alcohol law, grocery stores can sell only mildly alcoholic drinks, which in practice means beer, cider, most wine and some lower-strength fortified wines. You cannot buy spirits (whisky, vodka, gin, rum, tequila and anything over roughly 15% ABV) in supermarkets. Supermarkets must also sell alcohol in closed containers only; you are not allowed to drink it in the store.

Where to buy spirits

For spirits you need a licensed liquor store called a slijterij. The best-known chain is Gall & Gall, often located near or next to Albert Heijn. Independent shops and chains exist in most cities. Online liquor stores such as drankdozijn.nl and drankgigant.nl often have significantly lower prices than physical stores, especially if you buy multiple bottles or watch weekly deals.

One recurring frustration among expats is the water content and texture of supermarket meat, especially minced beef and chicken, and the relatively small range of cuts compared with some countries. Most long-term expats end up with a blend of sources.

Buying meat in bulk online from Dutch farms and freezing it can give top quality at a lower price per kilo if you have freezer space. For eggs, many people buy from farms, markets or Turkish shops to get better prices and larger trays than supermarkets offer.

Dutch supermarkets carry a limited range of supplements, mostly basic vitamin D, multivitamins and occasional omega-3. The selection is narrower than in the UK, US or Australia, and prices can be high for name brands. For a wider range, expats typically turn to drugstores, online stores or specialist supplement retailers that ship to the Netherlands.

If something does not work at self-checkout, Dutch staff in big cities are used to people asking for help in English. Do not hesitate to ask.

A practical expat grocery week in a Dutch city might look like this. This approach combines price optimisation with convenience and covers fresh, dry goods, specialty items and alcohol across different channels. See our relocation budget guide for how groceries fit into your total monthly spend.