There are 2 monopolies for grocery shopping in Oman - Al Fair and Lulu. Al Fairs are can be found in just about every strip mall. They are small, cater towards european products (however slightly), and thus tend to be more expensive. Lulu on the other hand is similar to Walmart, although they are 1/3 of the size and things aren't all that cheap. This is probably the only time I have ever missed Walmart....if only to have a large car park (I'm starting to go Brit already!), double-wide aisles, huge shopping carts (not for us, but for the families of +8 which is the average size) , 15 cashiers, too many products to choose from, a carousel for bagging... ahhhh I digress.
The selection of produce has been fantastic. We noticed most items tasted fresher than back at home (less time on the truck and in freezer warehouses I suppose). The origin of all fresh food - fruit, veg and meat is posted above the selection. So you have your choice of mango from Thailand, South Africa, or Australia for example. It's actually quite nice to see where the products are grown. Omani grown is obviously the freshest and surprisingly they do grow a wide selection - lettuce, tomato, cauliflower, cucumber, green beans.
There are strong Indian and East Asian influences for product selection. I've come across many varieties of eggplant, chilies, root vegetables, and dragon fruit looking things that we'd never see at home, not even in the specialty shops. It's really interesting watching people fill their carts with this stuff that I've never seen, let alone taste! There are a few items that don't come to town very often. Broccoli was brought in from Spain this week which was a pleasant surprise. Celery, mushrooms and romaine lettuce are just about non existent.
Meat selection has been a big adjustment. There's beef, goat, lamb and whole chickens. Being a muslim country, there is no bacon! However, there is 1 Al Fair where you go to a door at the back of the store and ring a bell to enter. This is the 'bacon' room. Pork is taxed ~20% and is close to 3x the price of at home. You also pay a premium for a small cut of beef and depending on the week, the cuts may not look all that appetizing. The butch counter is big, it's just that half of the meat is goat (or mutton) from Pakistan or India. Lamb from New Zealand ($$$), and beef from NZ. They sell everything too - hearts, liver, kidney, tripe (stomach), brain...becareful when ordering curries...
We were hoping there would be lots choices for fish, and there are, but 90% of them we've never heard of and they don't typically sell fillets. You have to either buy the whole fish or ask the butch to cut you a piece of fish. We tried a popular fish - the King Fish, but it wasn't very good. So much for being adventurous. We also bought a frozen bag of shrimp, only to find they too weren't that great. There was finally a nice fillet of Halibut last week, and it was tasty!
Non perishable groceries are not like at home at all. Adam has taken to baking and has had trouble finding very basic items. For 3 weeks, there weren't any chocolate chips, then I guess a shipment came in because at every store there is now Hershey's chips. Who knows how long the stock will last and when the next shipment is, lol. Even cocoa powder and icing sugar cannot be found. Fresh milk is there but it expires after 1 week. Most people get the non refrigerated milk, which is what we've opted for. There is also a monopoly of Corn Flakes for cereal selection. Forget everything else, it's corn flakes Kelloggs or corn flakes Sultans! Instant coffee is also a big hit here, you'll rarely find fresh brew unless you specify french press. At work the choice is instant coffee or arabic tea.
The bakery and deli counters are fantastic - lots of cheeses, varieties of flat breads and baguettes, samosas, curries, rice pilafs, hummous, yogurt spreads, fresh cut fruits and cakes and sweets.
Aside from the difference in product selection, the crowd is very different too. Because women don't go out unless in a group or with their husband, the shoppers are predominately men or the whole family. Kids are allowed to run wild, open packages, eat food (who knows if they pay for the stuff they eat), knock stuff over off the shelf and parents don't both to pick it up...that sort of thing. But I can't really blame the parents, it's pretty difficult to keep track of 5-8 kids under the age of 10. It's also not their culture to be as orderly as Westerners, so I can't view this as being 'wrong'. It is also common to see people sampling the grapes, chilis, anything left open really.
The evening is prime shopping time. 7-10 PM is by far the busiest time of the day for all shops. The aisles are packed, people run over each other and get in your personal space. There isn't a common language or courtesy, so people generally don't say excuse me or sorry. It's 60% arabic 30% hindu and 10% english. They are probably used to crowds, so may be don't think anything of it when standing in someones way or bumping into them...
If you're wondering 'what vehicles do they drive for a +8 size family?'. Anything from a car to an SUV. The law requires only the driver to wear a seat belt and kids carseats are not law. Usually an SUV with 5 kids hanging out the window and 2 kids sitting on the passenger is what you see leaving the parking lot.
We look at every shopping trip as an adventure. Not only because of the sights, but also because a few items aren't price tagged so we never know what the total will be!
The selection of produce has been fantastic. We noticed most items tasted fresher than back at home (less time on the truck and in freezer warehouses I suppose). The origin of all fresh food - fruit, veg and meat is posted above the selection. So you have your choice of mango from Thailand, South Africa, or Australia for example. It's actually quite nice to see where the products are grown. Omani grown is obviously the freshest and surprisingly they do grow a wide selection - lettuce, tomato, cauliflower, cucumber, green beans.
There are strong Indian and East Asian influences for product selection. I've come across many varieties of eggplant, chilies, root vegetables, and dragon fruit looking things that we'd never see at home, not even in the specialty shops. It's really interesting watching people fill their carts with this stuff that I've never seen, let alone taste! There are a few items that don't come to town very often. Broccoli was brought in from Spain this week which was a pleasant surprise. Celery, mushrooms and romaine lettuce are just about non existent.
Meat selection has been a big adjustment. There's beef, goat, lamb and whole chickens. Being a muslim country, there is no bacon! However, there is 1 Al Fair where you go to a door at the back of the store and ring a bell to enter. This is the 'bacon' room. Pork is taxed ~20% and is close to 3x the price of at home. You also pay a premium for a small cut of beef and depending on the week, the cuts may not look all that appetizing. The butch counter is big, it's just that half of the meat is goat (or mutton) from Pakistan or India. Lamb from New Zealand ($$$), and beef from NZ. They sell everything too - hearts, liver, kidney, tripe (stomach), brain...becareful when ordering curries...
We were hoping there would be lots choices for fish, and there are, but 90% of them we've never heard of and they don't typically sell fillets. You have to either buy the whole fish or ask the butch to cut you a piece of fish. We tried a popular fish - the King Fish, but it wasn't very good. So much for being adventurous. We also bought a frozen bag of shrimp, only to find they too weren't that great. There was finally a nice fillet of Halibut last week, and it was tasty!
Non perishable groceries are not like at home at all. Adam has taken to baking and has had trouble finding very basic items. For 3 weeks, there weren't any chocolate chips, then I guess a shipment came in because at every store there is now Hershey's chips. Who knows how long the stock will last and when the next shipment is, lol. Even cocoa powder and icing sugar cannot be found. Fresh milk is there but it expires after 1 week. Most people get the non refrigerated milk, which is what we've opted for. There is also a monopoly of Corn Flakes for cereal selection. Forget everything else, it's corn flakes Kelloggs or corn flakes Sultans! Instant coffee is also a big hit here, you'll rarely find fresh brew unless you specify french press. At work the choice is instant coffee or arabic tea.
The bakery and deli counters are fantastic - lots of cheeses, varieties of flat breads and baguettes, samosas, curries, rice pilafs, hummous, yogurt spreads, fresh cut fruits and cakes and sweets.
Aside from the difference in product selection, the crowd is very different too. Because women don't go out unless in a group or with their husband, the shoppers are predominately men or the whole family. Kids are allowed to run wild, open packages, eat food (who knows if they pay for the stuff they eat), knock stuff over off the shelf and parents don't both to pick it up...that sort of thing. But I can't really blame the parents, it's pretty difficult to keep track of 5-8 kids under the age of 10. It's also not their culture to be as orderly as Westerners, so I can't view this as being 'wrong'. It is also common to see people sampling the grapes, chilis, anything left open really.
The evening is prime shopping time. 7-10 PM is by far the busiest time of the day for all shops. The aisles are packed, people run over each other and get in your personal space. There isn't a common language or courtesy, so people generally don't say excuse me or sorry. It's 60% arabic 30% hindu and 10% english. They are probably used to crowds, so may be don't think anything of it when standing in someones way or bumping into them...
If you're wondering 'what vehicles do they drive for a +8 size family?'. Anything from a car to an SUV. The law requires only the driver to wear a seat belt and kids carseats are not law. Usually an SUV with 5 kids hanging out the window and 2 kids sitting on the passenger is what you see leaving the parking lot.
We look at every shopping trip as an adventure. Not only because of the sights, but also because a few items aren't price tagged so we never know what the total will be!
Travel is like a giant blank canvas, and the painting on the canvas is only limited by one’s imagination.
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