Supermarket tourism

Last year, I made the observation that getting to know a person can happen through their grocery list.

It turns out that this also works for getting to know a country, with more and more tourists flocking to supermarkets at their destination and exploring the local specialty aisles.

Dayna Camilleri-Clarke, writing for the BBC:

Increasingly, she says, we’re seeking moments that feel authentic, participatory and accessible. Rather than simply observing a destination, we want to feel part of it.

A foreign supermarket offers exactly that.

But, as expected, authenticity takes a hit once supermarkets become tourist attractions.

The irony is hard to miss: a supermarket only works as a slice of normal life because nobody is putting on a show for you. Once tourists outnumber locals, it stops being an ordinary shop.

Authenticity as a feeling requires people going about their tasks, living their normal lives, working towards their current goals. Supermarket aisles are soulless without the people they are built for. An aisle comes to life when a person takes a product from it.

Of course, none of that crossed my mind the afternoon I stood in front of a dairy fridge in Athens looking at rows of white tubs, their labels entirely indecipherable. I turned them over one by one, searching for a single word I recognised, when a woman reached past my shoulder and grabbed one without slowing her trolley. I bought the same tub. It remains the best yoghurt I’ve ever eaten.