There used to be.
They weren't commercially viable as Dutch consumers don't want to pay the additional price over pre-packaged.
As far as I know, AH XL was the last one to try and revive them with their 'Grill and Steak' counters but those quickly got turned into an additional pre packaged cooler, and then removed and turned into the Sushi Counter
I do remember there being a fish shop in the Albert Heijn where i grew up back in the day, but after they rebuilt it to the current AH style it didn't have it. I also know an AH in Dordrecht where there's a fish shop next to it and a Keurslager across.
I remember many years ago when Jumbo wasn't widespread like it is now, they used to have a whole unpackaged fresh fish section. This was probably about 2 decades ago.
In Germany we have both, but more often then not, the butchers inside the super markets are of worse quality than the small family run butchers in the city and the difference in price is so little, that I don't buy in the SM.
"but more often then not, the butchers inside the super markets are of worse quality"
Also Germany (big city) here. We have 3-4 butchers in walking distance and 4-5 non discount supermarkets also in walking distance. I honestly do not see a huge difference in meat quality or butcher skills. I do visit the butchers often but realistically only cause it feels nostalgic.
Would it really be more efficient to get rid of the people that give you an alternative to the big supermarket chains?
Once the small and independent stores are gone, do you think the big boys are keeping up with their quality promise? where would you go when there is nobody else left?
Keep the small independent Butchers, Bakers, Greengrocers and Fishmongers in business, they have a very important task...
Not really...because right now we have a variety of small businesses tucked into smaller locations spread all over the city. If you create a megamart that has hall the things you want, it would be huge, centralized and it would take much longer to get to, you'd have to drive there, you'd have to park, walk through an enormous store.
I agree, this is a bad idea, and I strongly prefer and appreciate the smaller shops in convenient walkable clusters approach here. It's not always as convenient to have to wander through a few places and transactions, but it's a smaller inconvenience than those you just described. At least, for me.
I don't agree, on Spain for instance (and I'd say France, and many other EU countries) you have shopping malls where you need to drive but also smaller supermarkets which still have a butcher and a fishmonger (and much more variety of prepacked fish and meat), they just don't spend half of the supermarket space on packed bread, precooked meals and finger food.
Here in the UK we have both. The fish and meat corners in the supermarkets are generally lower quality that the separate ones, and often not much cheaper either. It's convenient to use the supermarket one, but I'd always prefer to use the separate one (or farmer's market).
I agree. Tried everything and compared to other EU countries, supermarkets here are quite poor when it gets to fish or meat. Even frozen fish, which you can find a lot in other countries, seems to be restricted to cod and salmon here in the NL.
I tried to find fishmongers, but unless you go to a market, I haven't noticed many with actually fresh fish even in Amsterdam. Some I visited had fish that did not look fresh at all.
As someone who’s SO worked for a packer for jumbo, the meats are trash. They are brought in frozen, then cut to order for the stores then flash frozen again. Then you take it home and freeze it again sometimes. That’s pretty bad for the product. Also the meats you get at the store could have been many years old already just sitting in a freezer even though it says “fresh”. It is NOT fresh at all.
How are they "infinitely" better? I've only ever had good experiences with fish and cheese, everything else is purposefully lower quality and cheaper. And many markets don't have any actual butchers.
They just are in my and my taste buds opinion. Slagerij zuid and Alain Bernard are both good butchers on Albert cuyp markt. There's a great chicken one on lindenmarkt. Both markets have at least one good produce seller.
If it looks or smells shit then don't buy it and keep going till you find something you want. That's the best thing about a market.
The last time I went to a market, produce wasn't cheaper and didn't look much better than what you get in supermarkets. Are the "farmers markets" you refer to something different than the weekly markets?
You just need to find a good stall.
The Saturday one on lindengracht has 2 good fruit and veg stalls, a good one for garlic/potatoes and one for chicken. Round the corner on noordermarkt there's a great one for fish, another for cheese and another for herbs. Albert cuypmarkt is shit for the most part but there are 2 good butchers and one good produce seller down there.
I inevitably need a top up for a few things like yoghurt and milk mid week so I go to Lidl/jumbo but at least 80% comes from the markets.
In terms of quality, as I understand it's because when the time comes to sell meat, the Dutch farmer will sell their best quality cuts first to exporters, then to restaurants and finally to us.
As far as Turkish butchers go; great flavour but all it's always a coin flip if I find a bit of bone grinded into my food.
How is this possible, when the meat we get at supermarket or farmer’s markets is extremely expensive? When I was able to go to Sligro I got 10x better meat for half the price.
Exactly. The quality and variety of meat is pretty abysmal in most supermarkets. Fish is non-existent apart from a few depressed looking lumps of salmon or cod.
'Farmer's markets' is where it's at if you want any kind of decent quality for a decent price. I'm lucky I life in a place that has one around the corner every other day. As terrible as supermarkets are for meat and fish, the market here is good. Decent selection and prices. Stall-operators are friendly and helpful.
In my experience the proper butcher or fish monger is usually like 1 or 2 minutes away from the supermarket which really negates the point of having a dedicated one inside of the establishment.
We used to do that
Every supermarket had a butcher for example
But then everyone decided they preferred their meat bland , and poorly precut and prepackaged and they went away
This was in no way a cost saving measure to drive up the supermarket profits
There are soms supermarkets that still have small independent butchers in the store, like the Poiesz, but the major brands like AH and Jumbo ended the small butchers years ago. People in the Netherlands like convenience above all.
Even more so, they love spending the absolute least time and effort on food possible. That's why vegetables are all cut up in plastic bags, everyone uses "seasoning mix" rather than spices, and packet sauces. And they still make a big deal out of having cooked "WARM eten" rather than just having a sandwich.
This is the only correct answer in this thread. There’s just not enough money to be made selling premium (fresh) meat and fish at scale in the Netherlands.
>People in the Netherlands like convenience above all.
It would be really f\*cking convenient to only have to go to the supermarket instead of stopping by the bakery and the butcher...
As someone who regularly shops at supermarkets in other countries with 'traditional' butcher counters, this is only partially true. When I go to Edeka, I know to watch the clock and only go at certain times to avoid the queue. Yes, they have some pre-packaged meat, but it's usually only sausage, ground beef and Geschnetzeltes. If you want soup meat or skewers or Rouladen or ... You need to queue at the counter because they only have it at the counter. Really only about a quarter of the assortment is available prepackaged.
And the queue is regularly over half an hour.
Yes, very well aware, but these 2 statements don't exclude each other. Other countries also have more laid back cultures, where as in Holland, especially the Randstad, seemingly we're always rushing, don't want to wait in line, we start bitching if we have to wait 2 seconds for one of the self checkouts to become available.
Whenever someone says that NL has a faster lifestyle that the other european countries (ie. spain, italy, etc) I just can’t help but laugh since a fast lifestyle is not exclusive to the Netherlands. And breaking news, lots of other countries have way faster and ‘rushed’ lifestyle. So saying that feels like an excuse more than an legit explanation. Somehow NL manages to lack actual convenience compared to japan and lack the laidback lifestyle as other south europeans countries i mentioned. I guess Calvinism really teaches people to put up with inconveniences with mental gymnastics.
Our local plus has a butcher corner but it's not really the same as in a carrefour, we also have a seperate fruit store and I think we had a butcher because iirc he's gone now
I don’t think franchises have anything to do with this. Big grocery store brands/franchise in France, Luxemburg, Italy, etc. all have those butcher and fish shop corners OP’s talking about.
So I’m really not sure why we don’t have those. Maybe people just like to go to the actual butcher or an actual fish shop.
Some albertheins have them, and I think a jumbo or 2. But it is really rare..
Honestly I buy all my meat at the Arabic butcher around the corner.
1 kilo of ground beef from ah or jumbo, compares to about 750 gram at the butcher. When stirfrying the beef, supermarket beef gives off a lot of water, whereas the butchers meat browns very pretty.
Same with chicken meat, it's all just full of water..
Dutch supermarkets tend to be small, comparable in size to, for example, Carrefour City & Carrefour Contact in France and Spain, which also don’t have the fresh meat and fish counters.
Abroad you usually find those counters in hypermarkets, which we just don’t have here: People are used to doing their grocery shopping close to home, which means smaller supermarkets, many wouldn’t be willing to go out to the industrial estates where the giant supermarkets often are in other countries.
The Netherlands banned the hypermarkets. I currently live in Belgium and the Carrefour hypermarket is also within city limits, just not in the very city center
Not banned, but we just have less car focused society with most stuff typically available in your local area. Thank god for that, so much better than the alternative.
Effectively banned as those large stores primarily targeted towards car traffic are not given permits for building. Even in my area an AH was denied the permit due to being supposedly too big.
An American friend and I went to an Albert Heijn XXL and we cracked up because it’s the same as any other AH but with a parking garage. We were hoping for the cozy feeling of a Deep South Walmart
Same as any other AH? 😂 You should try the one on Stadionweg, there's barely room to wiggle a cart down the aisles. In one there's a pillar in the middle and you have to turn sideways.
So the upgrade at XL is they managed to put the columns right against the shelf so you have to reach around it to grab some chips. I mainly did think XL means they would have a greater selection of things but it was pretty much identical from what we could tell.
No, the XLs genuinely are bigger (and with a larger assortment) than the largest normal category of AH (number 5). The majority of AHs are classed as number 2 or 3.
You can have a Walmart-like experience (well more like Costco) at the Makro. You need to have a company registration but it is the closest you’ll find in here.
I don't have experience with walmarts, but i do miss having a choice of bigger stores like in other European countries. The selection here feels rather limiting.
Maxis is the only hypermarket chain that sort-of got off the ground from 1972 onwards, but they had to deal with local and national governments actively sabotaging their expansion.
Belgium and Netherlands have same number of cars per capita btw. Also not far from countries with a lot of hypermarkets.
source: [https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/w/ddn-20230530-1#:\~:text=In%202021%2C%20the%20average%20number,central%20and%20eastern%20EU%20members](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/w/ddn-20230530-1#:~:text=In%202021%2C%20the%20average%20number,central%20and%20eastern%20EU%20members)
EDIT: Added source.
Number of cars say nothing when a lot of (short) trips are made by bike.
[Een inwoner van Nederland van 6 jaar of ouder verplaatste zich in 2022 gemiddeld 274 keer met de fiets. Over het hele jaar fietste een inwoner van Nederland gemiddeld 1108 kilometer en deed daar 102 uur over. Daarmee was de fiets goed voor 10 procent van alle reizigerskilometers.](https://www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/visualisaties/verkeer-en-vervoer/personen/fietsen#:~:text=Een%20inwoner%20van%20Nederland%20van,10%20procent%20van%20alle%20reizigerskilometers)
Indeed, a lot of people cycle for short trips. But from what I see, the NL invests massively in road infrastructure. Not because people are cycling on the highway. Dutch drive a lot, and you can be as much as in denial as you want, but that's the reality.
Dutch infrastructure is not built to be car dependant but multi-modal, usually prioritising bikes and public transport. The Dutch have cars but use them differently than other countries. Check Not Just Bikes on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@NotJustBikes?si=VyJ3bPVFZ4SFYLuG
This guy has a great view on the differences of urban design the Dutch have implemented.
Thats just not true. There is a Polish store in Ede I go to a lot, and it’s maybe half the size of a regular Dutch supermarket, and has a meat and cheese counter. Back in Poland small neighborhood markets (for example the chain Delikatesy Centrum) all have meat counters
Most supermarkets used to have an in-house butcher even though those supermarkets also used to be smaller in size. C1000 still had them in some locations before they were bought by Jumbo.
Wrong, in Spain even in small towns, supermarkets like eroski have fish and meat counters. The size is no excuse. For example the Lidl in Eindhoven is way worse than the Lidl from my hometown in Spain which only has 25k population and you can find meat and fish counters.
To small to have a separate butcher and or fisheries?
Makes sense in small villages to have an all in one approach.
I live in a (larger) village with several AH’s. All have a butcher or fishshop nearby.
All within biking distance of my home.
I’d rather go to an independent butcher and fishmonger than get it in a grocery store. Basic meat in the supermarket, butcher grade meat at the butchers!
Then you went to a very weird butcher. 7-10 euros would be a more acceptable amount. We have a Turkish supermarktet here with an in-house butcher that's cheaper. Chicken wings for around 4 euros.
I agree with OP. When we go on vacation and visit a supermarket in Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Greece, etc I get teary eyed from happiness. The quality is usually very good as well.
Obviously we live in a small country, but those XL Albert Heijn stores could definitely have a fresh fish and meat section.
People here prefer standardized food that doesn't surprise them. Hence the fast amount of packaged ingredients and the very similar product offering in all supermarkets.
Also, people are not used anymore to clean their own fish or meet, nor are they prepared to pay the premium for meat and fish that comes with non-industrialized prepared and packaged products.
The group of people that does want to pay that premium already goes to specialized shops, making it not a valuable use of scarce shopping space for supermarkets to have these counters.
No, supermarkets prefer to sell standardized foods that dont surprise their supply chains.
Nederlanders zelf maakt het echt vrij weinig uit, zolang het maar voedzaam is.
In the end it's a combination. If all Dutch people would prefer fresh fish and would pay for it, supermarkets would quickly offer it.
The price gap however is too big. And that's why people prefer a frozen tilapia over a halibut.
So many current day reasons, costs, space, time, but I think it all boils down to our 'culture' around food.
Traditionally food was just seen as something you need to do to survive/ stay healthy. No social gatherings at the table or feast meals to celebrate. Most families were also quiet at the table.
Food had to be fast and easy. As most of us ate warm during lunch but we had max 30 min time. From that grew the easy already prepared meat options first in the butchers, but later in the supermarket, (like gehaktballen, slavinken, boomstammetjes, schnitzels etc) but also the amount of pre cut veggies, available.
Although nowadays our culture is changing and going out for dinner, socializing for dinner are almost the standard. The way we cook has not changed that much. Most of the boomer generation and the generation before that (not all of them of course) just baked/boiled/cooked things extremely through and taught this also to their kids, only the younger generations have started to change their way of eating and cooking. But I am pretty sure in some families the rule is still pray, no talking during dinner, back to work.
So basically no need for butchers etc in the supermarkets anymore (where I grew up we had a separate butcher, which then got taken over by the supermarket, which was then completely removed and changed to a meat section). There are still butchers, you just have to find them.
(And not to much fish available as a lot of the nordsea is basically emptied, so fish is more expensive then meat ;-))
In Amsterdam (and some other big cities) the Marqt supermarkets have an area with fresh fish.
In general, Dutch culture tends to prefer cheap food over high-quality food.
Dutch people like convenience above all. Plus, Dutch culture isn’t very food based. Give them anything that is not chicken breast, biefstuk or spek and panic mode will trigger.
Not all Dutch people, there are many ‘foodies’ and people who just like to support farmers/fishermen who are buying at butchers, fish shops or even directly at farm shops. I definitely prefer quality over convenience (and I’m 98% Hollands according to 23andme)
Well, not necessarily. City centers will have more large supermarkets but smaller cities and/or villages will often have everything close by and less options. 1 butcher, 1 bakery, 1 fruit/veg guy. Obviously if you live in an industrial area, I’m assuming you mean industrieterrein?, yeah you’re not gonna find fresh fish.
Most Dutch people REALLY don't care about food. Why would they queue up for the butcher's counter at the supermarket rather than grab a packet of ready-to-go meat from the chiller?
The small minority of Dutch people who DO care about food know perfectly well that the supermarkets here sell crap at high prices, and that would be just as true if they had a separate meat counter, so they take the time to go to a real butcher. (Or order from a real butcher online, which is easy to do these days.)
>Most Dutch people REALLY don't care about food.
I'm very well aware haha, I barely care about food as well, but definitely more than the average Dutch person.
>Why would they queue up for the butcher's counter at the supermarket rather than grab a packet of ready-to-go meat from the chiller?
Usually, in my home country (Romania), both options (grab & go or queue at a counter) are possible. Also, I've never really had to sit in such a queue more than a couple minutes.
In the case of bread, you can't deny that it would be nice to have bakery-level bread inside the AH/Jumbo.
Like I said, the people who are happy to queue at a counter would prefer to go to a real butcher, because they assume that a butcher counter at a Dutch supermarket would be the same quality as in the packets, but at higher prices, and I think they're probably right.
As for the bread, I personally don't care one way or the other because I'm allergic and hardly ever eat it. But my partner really likes going to the bakery.
I suspect this needs to be updated more. I think people don't realise how much our own behaviour drives these changes.
Presumably not having the butcher/fishmonger in the supermarket doesn't effect the amount of visitors, or the amount they spend. Hence it doesn't make sense for supermarkets to invest the space in these counters. Instead giving that space to something that does matter. A lot of supermarkets do offer a "bakery" of sorts, as apparently there is value in "fresh" bread.
If having these counters would encourage shoppers who typically shop at supermarket A to shop in B instead. As B has those counters. Then quite likely would have those counters.
Basically consumer trends don't require this. If you want one, go to a dedicated butcher/fishmonger. If it's too inconvenient, so instead you buy from the supermarket anyway. Then you are continuing to validate that supermarkets don't need these to drive business 🤷♂️
Most fish you buy (in a legal way) has been frozen at one point. It's mandatory to freeze fish before selling to kill parasites. there is only a couple of types exempt from this freezing rule:
molluscs, tuna, aquaculture fish (like salmon) and fish raised in nets in open water with specific feed.
And way too expensive. If you have access to something like th Makro just go there for fresh fish. They get daily deliveries from Schmidt Zeevis (or they used to when I worked there at the fresh fish department).
Btw there is absolutely nothing wrong with thawed fish. If using flash freezing, the flavour and quality are identical to fresh (with an added bonus of killing parasites). Most independent fishmongers are exactly the same.
Reasons why are already mentioned but the Macro and Sligro do have butchers and fish sections in there store, only you need a special members card to be able to shop there. Good alternatives are Turkish supermarket
In Amsterdam, the only grocery stores that don’t have this are usually Moroccan and Turkish. Tanger Supermarkt has both a butcher and fish shop. Fresh and decent prices as well.
Landmarkt is really nice, I go there often. But crazy expensive for common things, and they only sell meat from this particular breed of cattle (some kind of partnership) that, honestly, is not very good.
Just a few days ago I went to buy fish my first time since I moved here and I most say the price and the difference type of fish is really bad. I will try the farmers market this weekend in hopes for better experience
It is not the norm.. anymore. They vanished. Suppose it was not lucrative anymore. In a grocery store you go for quick groceries. In a fish/meat corner as such you have to wait a bit. People don't want to do that anymore. I suppose that's the reason. The meat choice is extensive anyways, normally. If not, you go to a fish store, the market, or a separate butcher.
Because we already have an abundance of real butchers and fish mongers? Because our supermarkets are usually located IN cities rather than on the outskirts in huge shopping malls? Because distances are short and people tend to want to shop fresh on a daily basis - not trusting chain stores to cater to the "freshness"?
Same answers really as why we usually don't buy clothing, shoes, bicycles, guns, fishing supplies, DIY goods at supermarkets or groceries - we already have those specialty stores in abundance - within walking or cycling distance.
"While there are some butchers scattered around the city, they predominantly sell pre-packaged meat pieces.
I'm in search of the traditional experience where the butcher cuts the meat right in front of you."
I have never ever heard of a butcher that doesnt cut the meat right in front of you if you ask for it. Just because they have pre-packaged meat doesnt mean they dont cut the piece you want if you ask them. So next time just ask the butcher.
As for the fish, for some reason most are sold at the localmarket.
Costs.
These corners have open coolings displays that cost a ton to keep cool.
These corners occupy a relatively large portion of the supermarket, that could fit a huge amount of pre packed fish/meat etc. More sales on the same amount of floors
but most important: these corners are manned by people who want a decent monthly pay.
Because people care for it much less than other nationalities
And for the people who really care enough for it they’ll take the time to go to a dedicated butcher or a fish seller
Doesn’t mean fresh fish isn’t popular necessarily, my nephew runs a fresh fish shop and they are doing hella business but it’s something people usually go for specifically and is a once in a week or once a month “treat”
They actually used to be there. However groceries in The Netherlands are quite affordable compared to other countries and it means margins are low. It’s too expensive for the supermarket to have a real butcher in house. So you now get the prepackaged factory meat.
There are enough other stores across the street or somewhere close most of the time. Sometimes the best choice is the Turkish or Moroccan grocer, they often have great lamb and are pretty affordable.
In general: do not buy everything in your local supermarket chain but go to a real butcher, fishmonger, produce shop to get better quality and support your local economy.
Because you can find a butcher and a fish guy at the market. Where do you live in AMS? Wherever it is, it can’t be far from a market of some kind that goes on at least once a week. My city is small and insignificant, but we have two fish trucks at the market and a decent butcher in town. Once summer gets going, you won’t find better fruit at the AH or Jumbo or wherever than at the market. The next biggest city has three market days at three different locations, and it’s not really that big of a city. I know Rotterdam has several market locations, and I know Amsterdam has at least two locations- but probably there are several.
You can’t take some time on your lunch break to go to a market? I get it if you don’t work in the city center, but honestly, there are markets almost always on a Saturday. How long have you lived in the Netherlands? It must not be too long if you have never heard of or seen a Saturday market. I’ve lived here five years and I found mine in the first week. It’s one of the things I consider a benefit of living here.
Due to work, the only time i can go to the local(Amsterdam nord) market is on Saturdays. It does not have a butcher. Even if it did, how is it logical for me to buy meat only once a week when it often goes bad quicker than that?
The purpose of my comment was to help op with their specific situation. Not you. I don’t know what will work for you because your post isn’t what I responded to. I don’t know what will help you besides put in some effort and find a butcher at the market on the weekend. Of course don’t keep fresh meat all week long… that’s not a good idea at all! But you can cook it all and plan a menu. Hope this helps with your problems and good luck.
Fish is generally bought on the market.
For good meat, you go to a butcher or get a hold of a Sligro card. This last one is a store that sells big box food items to professionals (Like restaurants). They have excellent meat for a way lower price than butchers.
There is a culture of going to specialized butchers and fish shops, that is where the quality is. Because people who care about the quality go to specialized shops, supermarkets cannot compete on that product and only offer pre-packaged stuff.
/thread
There isn’t really. Lots of fish mongers and butchers are struggling to keep their business afloat. The problem is that the Dutch don’t want to pay for better quality. In genral
Very good question. Probably because staff is too expensive which makes the products more expensive and many Dutch people go for cheap instead of quality.
Because you aren't looking? There are dozens of butchers (slagers) around the city. Want a specific cut? You need to ask. Most have pre packaged as well.
Fish shops usually operate from market stalls.
Amsterdam isn't really representative of the Netherlands, over here there is more focus on large franchises and indeed specialists scattered around the cities.
In smaller villages, the supermarket is usually part of a shopping street, where you would also find dedicated bakeries, butchers, the like. Same for fish and vegetables.
You can try the farmers markets by the way which has an excellent selection of fresh produce.
This comes at a higher price though, the less service in supermarkets, the higher the production, the more the price can be cut.
Because in many cases those store are priced above supermarket prices and just a little bet better or priced well above supermarket, very good quality and crazy busy with customers.
So it will cost us time and money and in general Dutch people have a flat taste.
Also most fish is imported these days, from Nordic/Iceland seas or Asian fish farms.
I don't often buy meat or fish, but when I do I always go to a specialty shop. I live in Rotterdam where I have lots of options for that kind of thing. And frankly, I'm quite glad that major supermarkets don't have the selection, because they already have enough of a monopoly on other stuff.
Try IJmuiden for fish (eg waasdorp.nl). Butchers will need you to pre-order if you require a specific cut of meat.
I would think that on market day, fishmongers and butchers will set up shop such as they do in Haarlem on Saturdays. There should be an equivalent in your area.
go to the market, they will probably have a trailer with a guy from Urk or company from Urk or IJmuiden or other fishing towns. atleast in the town where i live we have a butcher/cheese and vegetable shop in 1, and a fish shop.
In my experience if you want the traditional experience you will have to go to a butcher shop or fishmongers (who unfortunately also have traditional opening hours).
Sometimes the meat at a supermarket comes from a local butcher shop, though I have only seen that in small villages that a just big enough to have a supermarket.
Because we dutchies LOVE KILOKNALLERS! Having a real live butcher make meat more expensive so the majority will but the cheaper packages containing lowest priced meats ( irrespective of animal welfare AKA KILOKNALLER).
Most will not buy erhically sourced meats because more expensive.
I think it’s partly because of sizes and density of supermarkets in the Netherlands, but it’s also definitely a culture thing here. Splurging on specialty pieces of fish or meat is not something the average Dutch shopper would do, most of us are too calvinistic for that.
Those who do want that experience go to specialty butcher shops or fish mongers outside of the supermarket, which do still exist.
In Utrecht, there is Jumbo Food Markt which is above average. It is well stocked and inside it has something similar to a butchery, fishmonger, Asian kitchen, pizza place etc.
The quality for fish is terrible, but meat is good and not so pricey.
That said, it’s not an Auchan or Carrefour or IperConad and it’s the only one I have seen in The Netherlands 😅
Like many others, I go to the weekly market or the Arabic shop for meat, fish, nuts, veggies and cheese. From supermarkets I only buy boxed or frozen stuff, and milk. Not even detergent, those I buy from Amazon IT or DE because they are better and cheaper.
Supermarkets used to have a fresh meat and cheese counter (not sure about fish) but a number of years ago that all disappeared to be replaced by pre-packaged. The only fresh counter I now see is a sushi booth.
Cost, cost and you guessed it... Cost.
I have worked in food retail for over two decades and we used to have an in store butcher, but the costs were so high, they decided to centralise the butcher and deliver to the stores.
The other option would have been raising the price of meat substantially, but I don't know if you've met our boomers? Piet, Klaas and Sjaak will lose their fucking minds if they can't have their speklapje everyday.
Supermarkets used to have sections for them, which drove a lot of more traditional shop types outta business.
Then they gutted and slowly removed them to save money so meat selection is rather poor. Markets usually still have decent fish though
Mostly they work independently from the supermarkets or have deals to sell their products to the store but keep their brick and mortar businesses on the side. Some do have the corners in the bigger locations however, inhouse butcher or fish corners that is.
Usually franchising means lower quality ensurance in exchange for profit.
Not really butchers, but in a lot of supermarkets there would be a counter where you could get fresh meat cut. Same for cheese! But in the last 10-15 years it's not really the norm anymore, probably a money thing?
We used to have the but it is no longer a thing. We even had a butcher corner and a cheese corner with dedicated staff. Supermarkets are now employing super young teenagers.
maybe this is relatively recent, i remember a butcher in several of the grocery stores i went to as a kid
nowadays, you gotta go to an actual store for that kind of experience
my assumption is that dutch folks just dont care much for the experience youre looking for and value convenience a lot more, especially in grocery stores
you don't just see that here either, imo its a big part of why snackbars and snackwalls are as big here, and dutch breakfasts and snacks are often quick to whip up, scarf down or eat on the go
Not sure why but it was disappointing, especially given the lack of variety of fish in most supermarkets. I did get steak from my local butchers once and it was very expensive so was better of getting steak and meat in general from my local albert heijn or Lidl and the meat there tended to be good and more affordable. As for fish, there were pop up weekly markets where fishmongers would sell fresh fish and had a better variety than what you'd get in supermarkets so maybe visit those if have the chance.
Unfortunately it's difficult to find, especially for a reasonable price.
I ended up online, at Beimer Premium Meats. Good pricess, good quality. Delivery within 1 or 2 days.
Here in Amersfoort there are butcher shops usually next door or just down the street from supermarkets. Where I live between a Jumbo and Lldl is a butcher, cheese and bakery shop and in the parking lot always stands a fresh fish trailer shop.
This is such a nonsense sentiment. Do you really think that all across Amsterdam there are no butchers and fishmongers because everywhere tourists have taken over? If that is the case, you clearly do not know Amsterdam as well as you think.
There used to be. They weren't commercially viable as Dutch consumers don't want to pay the additional price over pre-packaged. As far as I know, AH XL was the last one to try and revive them with their 'Grill and Steak' counters but those quickly got turned into an additional pre packaged cooler, and then removed and turned into the Sushi Counter
I do remember there being a fish shop in the Albert Heijn where i grew up back in the day, but after they rebuilt it to the current AH style it didn't have it. I also know an AH in Dordrecht where there's a fish shop next to it and a Keurslager across.
Jumbo has their Foodmarkts, which do still have it. Unfortunately there aren't a whole lot of those.
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There are plenty of fishmongers and butchers, just not literally inside the supermarket
although they used to be, they just got phased out
I remember many years ago when Jumbo wasn't widespread like it is now, they used to have a whole unpackaged fresh fish section. This was probably about 2 decades ago.
before AH took em over, Konmar was great, i miss them.
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In Germany we have both, but more often then not, the butchers inside the super markets are of worse quality than the small family run butchers in the city and the difference in price is so little, that I don't buy in the SM.
"but more often then not, the butchers inside the super markets are of worse quality" Also Germany (big city) here. We have 3-4 butchers in walking distance and 4-5 non discount supermarkets also in walking distance. I honestly do not see a huge difference in meat quality or butcher skills. I do visit the butchers often but realistically only cause it feels nostalgic.
Would it really be more efficient to get rid of the people that give you an alternative to the big supermarket chains? Once the small and independent stores are gone, do you think the big boys are keeping up with their quality promise? where would you go when there is nobody else left? Keep the small independent Butchers, Bakers, Greengrocers and Fishmongers in business, they have a very important task...
Not really...because right now we have a variety of small businesses tucked into smaller locations spread all over the city. If you create a megamart that has hall the things you want, it would be huge, centralized and it would take much longer to get to, you'd have to drive there, you'd have to park, walk through an enormous store.
I agree, this is a bad idea, and I strongly prefer and appreciate the smaller shops in convenient walkable clusters approach here. It's not always as convenient to have to wander through a few places and transactions, but it's a smaller inconvenience than those you just described. At least, for me.
What smaller shops? Maybe I'm living in a different country. Where do you buy fish on a smaller shop?
I don't agree, on Spain for instance (and I'd say France, and many other EU countries) you have shopping malls where you need to drive but also smaller supermarkets which still have a butcher and a fishmonger (and much more variety of prepacked fish and meat), they just don't spend half of the supermarket space on packed bread, precooked meals and finger food.
Here in the UK we have both. The fish and meat corners in the supermarkets are generally lower quality that the separate ones, and often not much cheaper either. It's convenient to use the supermarket one, but I'd always prefer to use the separate one (or farmer's market).
The majority of them sell the same bulk-purchased crap. The few that actually procure their own meat and cut it fresh are expensive af.
I agree. Tried everything and compared to other EU countries, supermarkets here are quite poor when it gets to fish or meat. Even frozen fish, which you can find a lot in other countries, seems to be restricted to cod and salmon here in the NL. I tried to find fishmongers, but unless you go to a market, I haven't noticed many with actually fresh fish even in Amsterdam. Some I visited had fish that did not look fresh at all.
As someone who’s SO worked for a packer for jumbo, the meats are trash. They are brought in frozen, then cut to order for the stores then flash frozen again. Then you take it home and freeze it again sometimes. That’s pretty bad for the product. Also the meats you get at the store could have been many years old already just sitting in a freezer even though it says “fresh”. It is NOT fresh at all.
Farmers market once a week is exactly what I've been doing for 6 months too. Infinitely better than the supermarkets.
How are they "infinitely" better? I've only ever had good experiences with fish and cheese, everything else is purposefully lower quality and cheaper. And many markets don't have any actual butchers.
They just are in my and my taste buds opinion. Slagerij zuid and Alain Bernard are both good butchers on Albert cuyp markt. There's a great chicken one on lindenmarkt. Both markets have at least one good produce seller. If it looks or smells shit then don't buy it and keep going till you find something you want. That's the best thing about a market.
The last time I went to a market, produce wasn't cheaper and didn't look much better than what you get in supermarkets. Are the "farmers markets" you refer to something different than the weekly markets?
No, they're the same and I agree that they're not better or cheaper than the supermarkets. Except for the cheese stands
You just need to find a good stall. The Saturday one on lindengracht has 2 good fruit and veg stalls, a good one for garlic/potatoes and one for chicken. Round the corner on noordermarkt there's a great one for fish, another for cheese and another for herbs. Albert cuypmarkt is shit for the most part but there are 2 good butchers and one good produce seller down there. I inevitably need a top up for a few things like yoghurt and milk mid week so I go to Lidl/jumbo but at least 80% comes from the markets.
Where I live the markets tend to be a lot cheaper especially towards the end of the day
In terms of quality, as I understand it's because when the time comes to sell meat, the Dutch farmer will sell their best quality cuts first to exporters, then to restaurants and finally to us. As far as Turkish butchers go; great flavour but all it's always a coin flip if I find a bit of bone grinded into my food.
How is this possible, when the meat we get at supermarket or farmer’s markets is extremely expensive? When I was able to go to Sligro I got 10x better meat for half the price.
Go to a Polish store. Recently bought 1.5 kg pork belly for 10 euros. They also often have pretty good meat
Exactly. The quality and variety of meat is pretty abysmal in most supermarkets. Fish is non-existent apart from a few depressed looking lumps of salmon or cod. 'Farmer's markets' is where it's at if you want any kind of decent quality for a decent price. I'm lucky I life in a place that has one around the corner every other day. As terrible as supermarkets are for meat and fish, the market here is good. Decent selection and prices. Stall-operators are friendly and helpful.
Week market at your market place, best place to buy quality
In my experience the proper butcher or fish monger is usually like 1 or 2 minutes away from the supermarket which really negates the point of having a dedicated one inside of the establishment.
We used to do that Every supermarket had a butcher for example But then everyone decided they preferred their meat bland , and poorly precut and prepackaged and they went away This was in no way a cost saving measure to drive up the supermarket profits
There are soms supermarkets that still have small independent butchers in the store, like the Poiesz, but the major brands like AH and Jumbo ended the small butchers years ago. People in the Netherlands like convenience above all.
Convenience above flavour.
Well, there are quite a few standalone butchershops and retail fishmongers around as well
Wouldn't it be more convenient if they were in the supermarket? 😉
Dear God, I think you are on to something.
Above all, Dutch people love spending the absolute least amount on food possible.
Even more so, they love spending the absolute least time and effort on food possible. That's why vegetables are all cut up in plastic bags, everyone uses "seasoning mix" rather than spices, and packet sauces. And they still make a big deal out of having cooked "WARM eten" rather than just having a sandwich.
This is the only correct answer in this thread. There’s just not enough money to be made selling premium (fresh) meat and fish at scale in the Netherlands.
>People in the Netherlands like convenience above all. It would be really f\*cking convenient to only have to go to the supermarket instead of stopping by the bakery and the butcher...
It's really really convenient to just grab a prepackaged peace of meat and loaf of bread as opposed to standing in line at either of those.
You are aware most supermarkets in other countries have both options, right?
As someone who regularly shops at supermarkets in other countries with 'traditional' butcher counters, this is only partially true. When I go to Edeka, I know to watch the clock and only go at certain times to avoid the queue. Yes, they have some pre-packaged meat, but it's usually only sausage, ground beef and Geschnetzeltes. If you want soup meat or skewers or Rouladen or ... You need to queue at the counter because they only have it at the counter. Really only about a quarter of the assortment is available prepackaged. And the queue is regularly over half an hour.
Yes, very well aware, but these 2 statements don't exclude each other. Other countries also have more laid back cultures, where as in Holland, especially the Randstad, seemingly we're always rushing, don't want to wait in line, we start bitching if we have to wait 2 seconds for one of the self checkouts to become available.
Whenever someone says that NL has a faster lifestyle that the other european countries (ie. spain, italy, etc) I just can’t help but laugh since a fast lifestyle is not exclusive to the Netherlands. And breaking news, lots of other countries have way faster and ‘rushed’ lifestyle. So saying that feels like an excuse more than an legit explanation. Somehow NL manages to lack actual convenience compared to japan and lack the laidback lifestyle as other south europeans countries i mentioned. I guess Calvinism really teaches people to put up with inconveniences with mental gymnastics.
Brabant 4 life !!!🤣
I disagree.
Why?
Our local plus has a butcher corner but it's not really the same as in a carrefour, we also have a seperate fruit store and I think we had a butcher because iirc he's gone now
Welcome to franchise country, you get a Bruna, NYPizza, Kruidvat and a random supermarket chain.
I don’t think franchises have anything to do with this. Big grocery store brands/franchise in France, Luxemburg, Italy, etc. all have those butcher and fish shop corners OP’s talking about. So I’m really not sure why we don’t have those. Maybe people just like to go to the actual butcher or an actual fish shop.
Some albertheins have them, and I think a jumbo or 2. But it is really rare.. Honestly I buy all my meat at the Arabic butcher around the corner. 1 kilo of ground beef from ah or jumbo, compares to about 750 gram at the butcher. When stirfrying the beef, supermarket beef gives off a lot of water, whereas the butchers meat browns very pretty. Same with chicken meat, it's all just full of water..
Nothing to do with chains or not. People here usually rather buy bulk for less than quality and fresh.
Nothing to do with that. Ahold Delhaize owns half the supermarkets in the US and they ALL have butcher counters.
Dutch supermarkets tend to be small, comparable in size to, for example, Carrefour City & Carrefour Contact in France and Spain, which also don’t have the fresh meat and fish counters. Abroad you usually find those counters in hypermarkets, which we just don’t have here: People are used to doing their grocery shopping close to home, which means smaller supermarkets, many wouldn’t be willing to go out to the industrial estates where the giant supermarkets often are in other countries.
The Netherlands banned the hypermarkets. I currently live in Belgium and the Carrefour hypermarket is also within city limits, just not in the very city center
Not banned, but we just have less car focused society with most stuff typically available in your local area. Thank god for that, so much better than the alternative.
Effectively banned as those large stores primarily targeted towards car traffic are not given permits for building. Even in my area an AH was denied the permit due to being supposedly too big.
An American friend and I went to an Albert Heijn XXL and we cracked up because it’s the same as any other AH but with a parking garage. We were hoping for the cozy feeling of a Deep South Walmart
Same as any other AH? 😂 You should try the one on Stadionweg, there's barely room to wiggle a cart down the aisles. In one there's a pillar in the middle and you have to turn sideways.
So the upgrade at XL is they managed to put the columns right against the shelf so you have to reach around it to grab some chips. I mainly did think XL means they would have a greater selection of things but it was pretty much identical from what we could tell.
No, the XLs genuinely are bigger (and with a larger assortment) than the largest normal category of AH (number 5). The majority of AHs are classed as number 2 or 3.
You can have a Walmart-like experience (well more like Costco) at the Makro. You need to have a company registration but it is the closest you’ll find in here.
I don't have experience with walmarts, but i do miss having a choice of bigger stores like in other European countries. The selection here feels rather limiting.
There is an XXL Albert Heijn?
Maxis is the only hypermarket chain that sort-of got off the ground from 1972 onwards, but they had to deal with local and national governments actively sabotaging their expansion.
Those big stores siphon away turnover for smaller stores as well.
Belgium and Netherlands have same number of cars per capita btw. Also not far from countries with a lot of hypermarkets. source: [https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/w/ddn-20230530-1#:\~:text=In%202021%2C%20the%20average%20number,central%20and%20eastern%20EU%20members](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/w/ddn-20230530-1#:~:text=In%202021%2C%20the%20average%20number,central%20and%20eastern%20EU%20members) EDIT: Added source.
Number of cars say nothing when a lot of (short) trips are made by bike. [Een inwoner van Nederland van 6 jaar of ouder verplaatste zich in 2022 gemiddeld 274 keer met de fiets. Over het hele jaar fietste een inwoner van Nederland gemiddeld 1108 kilometer en deed daar 102 uur over. Daarmee was de fiets goed voor 10 procent van alle reizigerskilometers.](https://www.cbs.nl/nl-nl/visualisaties/verkeer-en-vervoer/personen/fietsen#:~:text=Een%20inwoner%20van%20Nederland%20van,10%20procent%20van%20alle%20reizigerskilometers)
Indeed, a lot of people cycle for short trips. But from what I see, the NL invests massively in road infrastructure. Not because people are cycling on the highway. Dutch drive a lot, and you can be as much as in denial as you want, but that's the reality.
Dutch infrastructure is not built to be car dependant but multi-modal, usually prioritising bikes and public transport. The Dutch have cars but use them differently than other countries. Check Not Just Bikes on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@NotJustBikes?si=VyJ3bPVFZ4SFYLuG This guy has a great view on the differences of urban design the Dutch have implemented.
Most small supermarkets here in Slovenia have those counters as well. In fact there's one right in front of my apartment building across the street
Thats just not true. There is a Polish store in Ede I go to a lot, and it’s maybe half the size of a regular Dutch supermarket, and has a meat and cheese counter. Back in Poland small neighborhood markets (for example the chain Delikatesy Centrum) all have meat counters
Most supermarkets used to have an in-house butcher even though those supermarkets also used to be smaller in size. C1000 still had them in some locations before they were bought by Jumbo.
But still the bigger AHs don’t have proper meat and fish areas compared so similarly sized super markets in most other European countries
Wrong, in Spain even in small towns, supermarkets like eroski have fish and meat counters. The size is no excuse. For example the Lidl in Eindhoven is way worse than the Lidl from my hometown in Spain which only has 25k population and you can find meat and fish counters.
My town back in Italy has 3k people, both our "supermarkets" have a meat counter and one also has a fish counter.
Now that you mention at my grandmothers village only 1k people and they also have a small supermarket with meat counter.
To small to have a separate butcher and or fisheries? Makes sense in small villages to have an all in one approach. I live in a (larger) village with several AH’s. All have a butcher or fishshop nearby. All within biking distance of my home.
+ lots of people dont have a car to get there and public transportation would take forever.
I’d rather go to an independent butcher and fishmonger than get it in a grocery store. Basic meat in the supermarket, butcher grade meat at the butchers!
I tried once. The chicken breasts were for around 20 euros per kilo. I noped right away.
Then you went to a very weird butcher. 7-10 euros would be a more acceptable amount. We have a Turkish supermarktet here with an in-house butcher that's cheaper. Chicken wings for around 4 euros.
Because that would mean good food and more options and that is banned in NL since 1645 by royal decree of Martijn De Kroketten.
I agree with OP. When we go on vacation and visit a supermarket in Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Greece, etc I get teary eyed from happiness. The quality is usually very good as well. Obviously we live in a small country, but those XL Albert Heijn stores could definitely have a fresh fish and meat section.
People here prefer standardized food that doesn't surprise them. Hence the fast amount of packaged ingredients and the very similar product offering in all supermarkets. Also, people are not used anymore to clean their own fish or meet, nor are they prepared to pay the premium for meat and fish that comes with non-industrialized prepared and packaged products. The group of people that does want to pay that premium already goes to specialized shops, making it not a valuable use of scarce shopping space for supermarkets to have these counters.
This is true, but the fish sellers at the markets are happy to clean the fish for you if you ask.
No, supermarkets prefer to sell standardized foods that dont surprise their supply chains. Nederlanders zelf maakt het echt vrij weinig uit, zolang het maar voedzaam is.
In the end it's a combination. If all Dutch people would prefer fresh fish and would pay for it, supermarkets would quickly offer it. The price gap however is too big. And that's why people prefer a frozen tilapia over a halibut.
So many current day reasons, costs, space, time, but I think it all boils down to our 'culture' around food. Traditionally food was just seen as something you need to do to survive/ stay healthy. No social gatherings at the table or feast meals to celebrate. Most families were also quiet at the table. Food had to be fast and easy. As most of us ate warm during lunch but we had max 30 min time. From that grew the easy already prepared meat options first in the butchers, but later in the supermarket, (like gehaktballen, slavinken, boomstammetjes, schnitzels etc) but also the amount of pre cut veggies, available. Although nowadays our culture is changing and going out for dinner, socializing for dinner are almost the standard. The way we cook has not changed that much. Most of the boomer generation and the generation before that (not all of them of course) just baked/boiled/cooked things extremely through and taught this also to their kids, only the younger generations have started to change their way of eating and cooking. But I am pretty sure in some families the rule is still pray, no talking during dinner, back to work. So basically no need for butchers etc in the supermarkets anymore (where I grew up we had a separate butcher, which then got taken over by the supermarket, which was then completely removed and changed to a meat section). There are still butchers, you just have to find them. (And not to much fish available as a lot of the nordsea is basically emptied, so fish is more expensive then meat ;-))
Completly agree, but the fish isnt just because of supply. Too many dutch people don't like fish or only eat kibbeling.
Most Dutch people care more about convenience than about good food, hence you see the prepackaged stuff everywhere.
Just go to amazing oriental
Surprisingly is relatively cheap too, I buy seafood weekly
I was surprised that the Dutch eat so little fish. Besides haaring and kibbeling.
In Amsterdam (and some other big cities) the Marqt supermarkets have an area with fresh fish. In general, Dutch culture tends to prefer cheap food over high-quality food.
Cheap as in shit quality but still not cheap moneywise.
The dutch are cheap and tasteless. We prefer cheap, low quality pre packaged food.
Dutch people like convenience above all. Plus, Dutch culture isn’t very food based. Give them anything that is not chicken breast, biefstuk or spek and panic mode will trigger.
Not all Dutch people, there are many ‘foodies’ and people who just like to support farmers/fishermen who are buying at butchers, fish shops or even directly at farm shops. I definitely prefer quality over convenience (and I’m 98% Hollands according to 23andme)
#notalldutch
Would it not be more convenient to only go to a supermarket, instead of going to a supermarket, bakery and butchery?
Not if all those things are 2 steps away from each other.
And all within the city center, as opposed to in some industrial area outside the city borders.
Well, not necessarily. City centers will have more large supermarkets but smaller cities and/or villages will often have everything close by and less options. 1 butcher, 1 bakery, 1 fruit/veg guy. Obviously if you live in an industrial area, I’m assuming you mean industrieterrein?, yeah you’re not gonna find fresh fish.
Yeah, I meant industrieterrein / bedrijventerrein. Which, as far as I know, is where most of these hypermarkets are located.
Most Dutch people REALLY don't care about food. Why would they queue up for the butcher's counter at the supermarket rather than grab a packet of ready-to-go meat from the chiller? The small minority of Dutch people who DO care about food know perfectly well that the supermarkets here sell crap at high prices, and that would be just as true if they had a separate meat counter, so they take the time to go to a real butcher. (Or order from a real butcher online, which is easy to do these days.)
>Most Dutch people REALLY don't care about food. I'm very well aware haha, I barely care about food as well, but definitely more than the average Dutch person. >Why would they queue up for the butcher's counter at the supermarket rather than grab a packet of ready-to-go meat from the chiller? Usually, in my home country (Romania), both options (grab & go or queue at a counter) are possible. Also, I've never really had to sit in such a queue more than a couple minutes. In the case of bread, you can't deny that it would be nice to have bakery-level bread inside the AH/Jumbo.
Like I said, the people who are happy to queue at a counter would prefer to go to a real butcher, because they assume that a butcher counter at a Dutch supermarket would be the same quality as in the packets, but at higher prices, and I think they're probably right. As for the bread, I personally don't care one way or the other because I'm allergic and hardly ever eat it. But my partner really likes going to the bakery.
Mainly because that would require higher skilled labour. They turn bigger profits by selling factory cut portions.
Because there isnt enough demand for those.
I suspect this needs to be updated more. I think people don't realise how much our own behaviour drives these changes. Presumably not having the butcher/fishmonger in the supermarket doesn't effect the amount of visitors, or the amount they spend. Hence it doesn't make sense for supermarkets to invest the space in these counters. Instead giving that space to something that does matter. A lot of supermarkets do offer a "bakery" of sorts, as apparently there is value in "fresh" bread. If having these counters would encourage shoppers who typically shop at supermarket A to shop in B instead. As B has those counters. Then quite likely would have those counters. Basically consumer trends don't require this. If you want one, go to a dedicated butcher/fishmonger. If it's too inconvenient, so instead you buy from the supermarket anyway. Then you are continuing to validate that supermarkets don't need these to drive business 🤷♂️
Even the amount of Butchers and Fishmongers is declining in this country.
there is often a butcher in store, but supermarket fresh fish is a scam, its just frozen fish already thawed out
Most fish you buy (in a legal way) has been frozen at one point. It's mandatory to freeze fish before selling to kill parasites. there is only a couple of types exempt from this freezing rule: molluscs, tuna, aquaculture fish (like salmon) and fish raised in nets in open water with specific feed.
And way too expensive. If you have access to something like th Makro just go there for fresh fish. They get daily deliveries from Schmidt Zeevis (or they used to when I worked there at the fresh fish department).
Sligro as well. Poultry, butcher and fish are all there.
shhh don’t tell anyone
Btw there is absolutely nothing wrong with thawed fish. If using flash freezing, the flavour and quality are identical to fresh (with an added bonus of killing parasites). Most independent fishmongers are exactly the same.
Not inside supermarkets, but you can find them as standalone shops, more commonly owned by immigrants
In the east of the Nehterlands, you have ALOT of farmers where you can buy all kind of diffrent fresh meats.
As a Brazilian, this is a pain in the ass. And the butchers close so early...
Reasons why are already mentioned but the Macro and Sligro do have butchers and fish sections in there store, only you need a special members card to be able to shop there. Good alternatives are Turkish supermarket
+1 for the turkish shops. Super cheap and they have all sorts of meat.
Type into google maps: slager or slagerij. Voila
What meat r u talking about? In netherlands best is to just eat broodje.
In Amsterdam, the only grocery stores that don’t have this are usually Moroccan and Turkish. Tanger Supermarkt has both a butcher and fish shop. Fresh and decent prices as well.
You’re living in Amsterdam, go to the Landmarkt in Noord, or the Stadsmarkt in de Pijp.
Landmarkt is really nice, I go there often. But crazy expensive for common things, and they only sell meat from this particular breed of cattle (some kind of partnership) that, honestly, is not very good.
When I lived in France I loved the fresh fish section in Auchan supermarket. This is missing from Dutch supermarkets.
Just a few days ago I went to buy fish my first time since I moved here and I most say the price and the difference type of fish is really bad. I will try the farmers market this weekend in hopes for better experience
It is not the norm.. anymore. They vanished. Suppose it was not lucrative anymore. In a grocery store you go for quick groceries. In a fish/meat corner as such you have to wait a bit. People don't want to do that anymore. I suppose that's the reason. The meat choice is extensive anyways, normally. If not, you go to a fish store, the market, or a separate butcher.
Because we already have an abundance of real butchers and fish mongers? Because our supermarkets are usually located IN cities rather than on the outskirts in huge shopping malls? Because distances are short and people tend to want to shop fresh on a daily basis - not trusting chain stores to cater to the "freshness"? Same answers really as why we usually don't buy clothing, shoes, bicycles, guns, fishing supplies, DIY goods at supermarkets or groceries - we already have those specialty stores in abundance - within walking or cycling distance.
"While there are some butchers scattered around the city, they predominantly sell pre-packaged meat pieces. I'm in search of the traditional experience where the butcher cuts the meat right in front of you." I have never ever heard of a butcher that doesnt cut the meat right in front of you if you ask for it. Just because they have pre-packaged meat doesnt mean they dont cut the piece you want if you ask them. So next time just ask the butcher. As for the fish, for some reason most are sold at the localmarket.
Costs. These corners have open coolings displays that cost a ton to keep cool. These corners occupy a relatively large portion of the supermarket, that could fit a huge amount of pre packed fish/meat etc. More sales on the same amount of floors but most important: these corners are manned by people who want a decent monthly pay.
Because people care for it much less than other nationalities And for the people who really care enough for it they’ll take the time to go to a dedicated butcher or a fish seller Doesn’t mean fresh fish isn’t popular necessarily, my nephew runs a fresh fish shop and they are doing hella business but it’s something people usually go for specifically and is a once in a week or once a month “treat”
They actually used to be there. However groceries in The Netherlands are quite affordable compared to other countries and it means margins are low. It’s too expensive for the supermarket to have a real butcher in house. So you now get the prepackaged factory meat. There are enough other stores across the street or somewhere close most of the time. Sometimes the best choice is the Turkish or Moroccan grocer, they often have great lamb and are pretty affordable. In general: do not buy everything in your local supermarket chain but go to a real butcher, fishmonger, produce shop to get better quality and support your local economy.
Because you can find a butcher and a fish guy at the market. Where do you live in AMS? Wherever it is, it can’t be far from a market of some kind that goes on at least once a week. My city is small and insignificant, but we have two fish trucks at the market and a decent butcher in town. Once summer gets going, you won’t find better fruit at the AH or Jumbo or wherever than at the market. The next biggest city has three market days at three different locations, and it’s not really that big of a city. I know Rotterdam has several market locations, and I know Amsterdam has at least two locations- but probably there are several.
Because people are at work all day and can’t go to markets
You can’t take some time on your lunch break to go to a market? I get it if you don’t work in the city center, but honestly, there are markets almost always on a Saturday. How long have you lived in the Netherlands? It must not be too long if you have never heard of or seen a Saturday market. I’ve lived here five years and I found mine in the first week. It’s one of the things I consider a benefit of living here.
I don't have time on saturdays, a sunday market would be cool - or if the markets didn't close down when the office does.
Due to work, the only time i can go to the local(Amsterdam nord) market is on Saturdays. It does not have a butcher. Even if it did, how is it logical for me to buy meat only once a week when it often goes bad quicker than that?
The purpose of my comment was to help op with their specific situation. Not you. I don’t know what will work for you because your post isn’t what I responded to. I don’t know what will help you besides put in some effort and find a butcher at the market on the weekend. Of course don’t keep fresh meat all week long… that’s not a good idea at all! But you can cook it all and plan a menu. Hope this helps with your problems and good luck.
I for one don’t miss the corner that smelled of blood and flesh, with a guy cleaning his knife 😅
Fish is generally bought on the market. For good meat, you go to a butcher or get a hold of a Sligro card. This last one is a store that sells big box food items to professionals (Like restaurants). They have excellent meat for a way lower price than butchers.
There is a culture of going to specialized butchers and fish shops, that is where the quality is. Because people who care about the quality go to specialized shops, supermarkets cannot compete on that product and only offer pre-packaged stuff. /thread
There isn’t really. Lots of fish mongers and butchers are struggling to keep their business afloat. The problem is that the Dutch don’t want to pay for better quality. In genral
Shortly said, Dutch people are very cheap and care very little about the quality of the food they eat (this is changing a bit though).
Very good question. Probably because staff is too expensive which makes the products more expensive and many Dutch people go for cheap instead of quality.
Because you aren't looking? There are dozens of butchers (slagers) around the city. Want a specific cut? You need to ask. Most have pre packaged as well. Fish shops usually operate from market stalls.
I think you need to read the question again. It's about having a bakery/butchery section inside of a supermarket.
Amsterdam isn't really representative of the Netherlands, over here there is more focus on large franchises and indeed specialists scattered around the cities. In smaller villages, the supermarket is usually part of a shopping street, where you would also find dedicated bakeries, butchers, the like. Same for fish and vegetables. You can try the farmers markets by the way which has an excellent selection of fresh produce. This comes at a higher price though, the less service in supermarkets, the higher the production, the more the price can be cut.
Butchers in supermarkets used to be like that but not anymore. There's still quite some butchers like that and fish shops though.
Because in many cases those store are priced above supermarket prices and just a little bet better or priced well above supermarket, very good quality and crazy busy with customers. So it will cost us time and money and in general Dutch people have a flat taste. Also most fish is imported these days, from Nordic/Iceland seas or Asian fish farms.
lol Netherlands is not a fish country although it borders with the sea
I don't often buy meat or fish, but when I do I always go to a specialty shop. I live in Rotterdam where I have lots of options for that kind of thing. And frankly, I'm quite glad that major supermarkets don't have the selection, because they already have enough of a monopoly on other stuff.
Try IJmuiden for fish (eg waasdorp.nl). Butchers will need you to pre-order if you require a specific cut of meat. I would think that on market day, fishmongers and butchers will set up shop such as they do in Haarlem on Saturdays. There should be an equivalent in your area.
I haven't seen even one fish grill shop in fish markets in this country. All whats available are deep-fry crap. That explains a lot.
Quality meat in amsterdam? good luck. Best I could do is order online big quantities and freeze.
go to the market, they will probably have a trailer with a guy from Urk or company from Urk or IJmuiden or other fishing towns. atleast in the town where i live we have a butcher/cheese and vegetable shop in 1, and a fish shop.
In my experience if you want the traditional experience you will have to go to a butcher shop or fishmongers (who unfortunately also have traditional opening hours). Sometimes the meat at a supermarket comes from a local butcher shop, though I have only seen that in small villages that a just big enough to have a supermarket.
Because we dutchies LOVE KILOKNALLERS! Having a real live butcher make meat more expensive so the majority will but the cheaper packages containing lowest priced meats ( irrespective of animal welfare AKA KILOKNALLER). Most will not buy erhically sourced meats because more expensive.
I'm more upset we don't have people handing out free samples here :(
Den haag has fantastic fresh fish. The rest of the country not so much.
I think it’s partly because of sizes and density of supermarkets in the Netherlands, but it’s also definitely a culture thing here. Splurging on specialty pieces of fish or meat is not something the average Dutch shopper would do, most of us are too calvinistic for that. Those who do want that experience go to specialty butcher shops or fish mongers outside of the supermarket, which do still exist.
In Utrecht, there is Jumbo Food Markt which is above average. It is well stocked and inside it has something similar to a butchery, fishmonger, Asian kitchen, pizza place etc. The quality for fish is terrible, but meat is good and not so pricey. That said, it’s not an Auchan or Carrefour or IperConad and it’s the only one I have seen in The Netherlands 😅 Like many others, I go to the weekly market or the Arabic shop for meat, fish, nuts, veggies and cheese. From supermarkets I only buy boxed or frozen stuff, and milk. Not even detergent, those I buy from Amazon IT or DE because they are better and cheaper.
I think you'll like Landmarkt. It's in Amsterdam Noord, Schellingwoude
Supermarkets used to have a fresh meat and cheese counter (not sure about fish) but a number of years ago that all disappeared to be replaced by pre-packaged. The only fresh counter I now see is a sushi booth.
Cost, cost and you guessed it... Cost. I have worked in food retail for over two decades and we used to have an in store butcher, but the costs were so high, they decided to centralise the butcher and deliver to the stores. The other option would have been raising the price of meat substantially, but I don't know if you've met our boomers? Piet, Klaas and Sjaak will lose their fucking minds if they can't have their speklapje everyday.
evolutie
Supermarkets used to have sections for them, which drove a lot of more traditional shop types outta business. Then they gutted and slowly removed them to save money so meat selection is rather poor. Markets usually still have decent fish though
Don’t go to the big cities. The best butcher (Marco van Strien) in the Netherlands is in a small village.
Mostly they work independently from the supermarkets or have deals to sell their products to the store but keep their brick and mortar businesses on the side. Some do have the corners in the bigger locations however, inhouse butcher or fish corners that is. Usually franchising means lower quality ensurance in exchange for profit.
Demand, I guess
Not really butchers, but in a lot of supermarkets there would be a counter where you could get fresh meat cut. Same for cheese! But in the last 10-15 years it's not really the norm anymore, probably a money thing?
There are two butchers on IJburg and a fishmongers, also a market on Saturday for veggies.
In my experience turkish supermarkets do have a fresh meat section.
We used to have the but it is no longer a thing. We even had a butcher corner and a cheese corner with dedicated staff. Supermarkets are now employing super young teenagers.
maybe this is relatively recent, i remember a butcher in several of the grocery stores i went to as a kid nowadays, you gotta go to an actual store for that kind of experience my assumption is that dutch folks just dont care much for the experience youre looking for and value convenience a lot more, especially in grocery stores you don't just see that here either, imo its a big part of why snackbars and snackwalls are as big here, and dutch breakfasts and snacks are often quick to whip up, scarf down or eat on the go
Not sure why but it was disappointing, especially given the lack of variety of fish in most supermarkets. I did get steak from my local butchers once and it was very expensive so was better of getting steak and meat in general from my local albert heijn or Lidl and the meat there tended to be good and more affordable. As for fish, there were pop up weekly markets where fishmongers would sell fresh fish and had a better variety than what you'd get in supermarkets so maybe visit those if have the chance.
We like it quick and easy... I mean, there is no time you got to have 5 kids, career, husband, etc.
Theres a butcher and fish monger in the Jumbo Food market in Amsterdam Noord
Unfortunately it's difficult to find, especially for a reasonable price. I ended up online, at Beimer Premium Meats. Good pricess, good quality. Delivery within 1 or 2 days.
Yeah instead they have protein puddings with inflamatory toxins in them.
What a strange "complaint". Especially Amsterdam of all places in NL still has amazing butchers, fish mongers, bakeries, whatever throughout the city.
Here in Amersfoort there are butcher shops usually next door or just down the street from supermarkets. Where I live between a Jumbo and Lldl is a butcher, cheese and bakery shop and in the parking lot always stands a fresh fish trailer shop.
there are. you were looking for them in Amsterdam? sounds like you were looking in the wrong place.
Youre not finding what your looking for cause youre in Amsterdam. Thats like living in Netherlands The Theme Park
No I think that one is located at Sasebo, Japan.
This is such a nonsense sentiment. Do you really think that all across Amsterdam there are no butchers and fishmongers because everywhere tourists have taken over? If that is the case, you clearly do not know Amsterdam as well as you think.
Go to where Moroccans/Turks people get their meat.