Grocery Store Experience, by Autumn Hlina

One big difference I noticed was the grocery stores. The grocery stores had a lot of different types of food but within that there was very little variety. This may be due to Spain having specialty stores like fish, meat, and bread which is not as common for people to go to in the US. The food in Spain looks much fresher, has less preservatives, and is more local. The eggs and milk were not in the fridge due to different processing methods. According to the Testing Table, milk is shelf stable because Spain applies a higher heat treatment. The eggs are shelf stable because they are not washed meaning they still have their cuticle which protects it from bacteria entering the egg. There were no signs on aisles but I feel like it is not really needed because the stores are smaller. Customers shop quicker in Spain and only come in for what they need. In the US, customers have a grocery list but also will walk down every aisle even if they do not need anything from that particular aisle. Shopping also may be quicker because it is much more convenient to pop into a store on the way home. In the US it is less convenient to pop into a store because people commute mostly by car rather than on foot. When checking out people often paid cash. The cashier was less delicate with the food and tossed it to the baggage area. The customer was required to bag their own groceries. I thought it was interesting how the cashier would start scanning the next person's items before the customer was finished bagging their groceries. Learning how Spanish grocery stores differ from American ones has shown me what each culture values for diet and the customer employee interaction.

https://www.tastingtable.com/942873/differences-between-american-and-european-supermarkets/