German supermarket (&general) tips and advice please

[naturalbaby]

We're spending a week self catering in Germany with 3 kids under 4yrs. We're taking enough food/drink/milk for the first day or 2. Our German is o.k but can anyone give me some tips on which supermarket would be good to get most things from and what labels or brands to look out for?

My youngest has just turned 1 so I need full fat milk for him, and shouldn't have to worry about formula or baby food. I don't want to be stuck with little/no suitable food and drink but don't want to pack loads if we can get it there.

We're arriving late on Saturday so are hoping a big supermarket will be open on Sunday. Would it be better to stop on the way on Saturday?

most supermarkets are closed on sundays but open long (sometimes until 10pm) on saturdays.
big chain is REWE for example which has most brands. brands depend on what you want to buy, really.
if someone of you has allergy issues, you really need the label, as there is no big "may contain" warning on the pack.

Thanks. I was trying to read up and saw 'shops closed on Sundays' so will try and find somewhere to stop on the way. I'm trying not to think about how long it'll take to get there!

whereabouts are you going? skiing? there are usually big supermarkets near airports/roads to and from airports. (just like here, really)

German food is wonderful and you will find a great selection of sumptious youghurts breads cheeses and coldcuts! Bread is usually bought daily from the bakery, and is fresh and tempting. They will have a great variety of white and grainy rolls, and the PRETZLN which is a boiled soft bread with salt grain topping that kids love. They are usually shaped like a traditional pastry shape (try them in M&S, they are sold here but are much nicer baked freshly!) also buy Berliner Donuts, yum yum!! I havent been to germany for a while so am not up to date with the brands or shops, we used to love the NANZ chain but not sure its around any more! Kinder chocolate is popular and my kids loved the KINDER treats in the chiller section, soft chocolate biscuit with a milk filling. Also the Milka chocolate is everywhere, as is a wide variety of Ritter Sport bars. Be adventurous and try the coldcuts, hams and breads and you will not go hungry!! I also remember tinned Hunchen soup with noodles being a firm favourite with my little ones!

Have fun!!

you want Vollmilch for the little one - thats full fat.

You wont find much by way of ready meals etc - lots of fresh seasonal produce. In the summer there's loads of good barbeque things in the supermarkets.

If you're in the countryside for your hols - you may find the 'super'markets very small, and have limited opening hours - may even shut at lunchtime - and definitely on sundays and bank hols. There will prob be a good local baker (backerei), butcher (metzgerei/fleischerei) and look out for local markets as these tend to be very good too.

Drinks are often sold by the crate and pretty much always in deposit bottled so be aware of that too!

Big supermarket names to look out for: Rewe/Real/Kaisers/Tengelmans/Edeka. Also, baby food tends to be quite good and lots of organics- but you'll not recognise the brands except for Hipp. No huggies nappies either. But DMs is a good superdrug type shop for all that stuff.

I live in Germany at the mo so if you want any more pointers just shout!

Also - in the shops you'll find that the kids are often given free rolls / slices of ham at the deli counter etc so take them shopping too - much more child friendly than in the UK - ditto for eating out - even if not specified on menus they'll often do a half portion - or bring extra plates for kids to share a main / off your plate.

Oooo, am getting more excited now! Am looking forward to stocking up and trying new stuff. We're driving so I'll have a week to work out what to load the car up with to bring home.

Main supermarkets:

Discount:
Aldi
Netto
Lidl

Normal supermarkets:
Edeka (pron. Ay-de-ka)
Kaisers in North Germany is the same as Tengelmann in South Germany - reasonably upmarket but nowhere near Waitrose standards
Rewe (pron. Ray-vay)
real (pron. Ray-ahl)- big hypermarkets but fairly downmarket

In tourist regions supermarkets are allowed to open for, I think, 18 Sundays per year which are designated by the local authority, and then only from 12 to 6pm. Obviously towns will choose times of year for Sunday opening when they have most tourists. Large train stations etc will have limited grocery supplies and are open 7 days a week but might not have fresh milk on Sunday. I'm afraid UHT milk is bizarrely widespread here and a lot of people drink condensed milk in their coffee instead of milk, hence the difficulty of finding fresh milk on Sunday. However, our local bakery is open a few hours on Sunday and if you're lucky they have a litre or two of Vollmilch left from Saturday.

To be honest, your best bet for getting a reliable answer is to phone the tourist information in the place you're going to visit - I would be shocked if they didn't speak good enough English to cope with your enquiry. They will know for sure about Sunday opening there.

To be honest, German supermarkets are pretty awful by comparison with UK ones - the real good food is found in small bakeries, butchers and delis.

Brands? Jamie Oliver!! He gets everywhere.