Recently having relocated to Dubai you have probably been pleasantly surprised by the amount of supermarkets.  Most communities have a small or sometimes very large supermarket on their door step.

Over the next few months you will no doubt find yourself visiting a variety of supermarkets as you may like the bread from one supermarket and the meat from another.  Or you will also soon discover that the stock ordering system in Dubai is  a bit hit or miss and your local supermarket that you always got a certain cereal from may run out for months – miraculously re-appearing months later.

In addition if you like to have your bacon sandwich on a Friday morning you will need to shop at the supermarkets which have a dedicated ‘Pork Section‘ and that might not be your local supermarket.  Chains which do have pork sections include  include Spinneys, Waitrose, Choithrams and Park’n’Shop. These supermarkets are very popular with western expats but can be quite expensive so for your weekly bulk shopping try  Carrefour, Union Co-Op, Lu’Lu and Geant. 

Carrefour, Union-Co-op and Spinneys all have excellent fish counters but for a change why not take a trip down to one of the new fish souks located in Jumeirah.  Click here for location.

Meat

The main supermarkets all stock a good range of meats and some of it is much cheaper than you would have paid for it back home.  There are also some very popular dedicated butcher shops in town such as Prime Gourmet and The Butcher Shop & Grill who will also give you some good tips on the cuts and how best to cook them.

Fresh Fruit & Veg and Organic Products

Shopping for fresh fruit and veg can be a hit & miss in the supermarkets with some products ie raspberries being so extortionate you practically need to take out a mortgage to buy them!  Try to buy local (not necessarily from the UAE but from countries nearby such as melons from Iran, mangoes from India, local lettuce, tomatoes, peppers etc) and this keeps the price down.

Each year Dubai has more and more organic products on offer with supermarkets having sections dedicated to Organic products and stores such as The Organic Cafe and Down to Earth being totally dedicated to fresh organic and biodynamic food, supplements, skincare, cosmetics, baby items and household cleaning products.  They also have well stocked section for customers with special diets such as ‘Gluten Free’

Over recent years Dubai has seen the arrival of local farmers markets such as Ripe.  From October 10th Ripe will open it’s local farmers market at Zabeel Park selling local, organic and fresh products.  In addition to the markets they can deliver and have a shop open all year in Al Manara selling delicious and nutritious produce along with eggs, pulses, local Italian cheeses, organic olive oil, fresh bread, gluten-free goodies and much more!

A bit of luxury

If you can’t find that one ingredient take a trip to Galeries Lafayette and take the escalator to the top floor where they have a grocery section with shelves stocked with gorgeous yummy products from around the world, great meats, pastas, exotic biscuits, chocolates and maybe that one ingredient you couldn’t find anywhere else in Dubai.

On-line Grocery Shopping

Many expats moving to Dubai will be very familiar with on-line shopping not just for luxury products but for their daily groceries. Well known supermarkets such as Tesco and Wal-Mart have been doing it for years.  This is not so popular here however, there are shops offering an on-line service.  Click here for a list.