We've previously talked about bakery tourism, that particular tourist phenomenon that drives you to travel miles and miles just to taste the "best and most authentic" croissant in France. This time, however, we want to talk to you about a different type of tourism, one that isn't driven by the smell of vanilla and cinnamon but takes hold among the shelves of snacks, frozen foods, fruit stands, and extravagant drinks: it's called grocery tourism, and it has to do with that irrepressible urge to visit local supermarkets.
Authenticity to Be Discovered in The Grocery Aisles
It seems like everything that's trendy these days is thanks to social media, and we have to say that's true here too: the rise of food and travel bloggers has sparked this craze for wandering around supermarkets and discovering what locals eat. But why? Because if globalization, this damned beloved globalization, has brought large food chains to the world, there must still be something authentic for travelers to discover: and it seems supermarkets are truly living up to this desire.
Even when it comes to grocery stores, obviously, a certain standardization emerges in some cases: to give just one example, Lidl, the German food giant present in most European countries, is characterized by that smell that remains absolutely identical in every city and, therefore, if you close your eyes you don't even know if you're in Milan, London or Corfu.
But fortunately, there are still many other markets that are native to that specific place: think of Sainsbury's in England, Carrefour in France, and Walmart in the United States, veritable "museums in their own right," as The Guardian‘s Arwa Mahdawi called them, where you can wander the various aisles and imagine what the locals‘ pantries might contain. Understanding their habits, discovering never-before-seen products, tasting local snacks, and discovering new flavors: this is grocery tourism, and it has its reason to exist because, regardless of the social media frenzy, it's true that supermarkets say a lot about a people.
Where Does Grocery Tourism Come From?
Grocery tourism is a phenomenon that, in reality, has always existed: social media —especially TikTok and Instagram, but also YouTube—are to blame for giving it a name. In fact, it was on these platforms that the term was coined: we don't know exactly who started this trend, but the number of people who enjoy this type of experience abroad is certainly growing. And the reason is somewhat the same as bakery tourism—as with many other experiences—and lies in the desire of people to take part in authentic experiences, who reject classic, undifferentiated tourism, and who seek from the trip a return in terms of knowledge related to that specific culture and the unique features they have managed to uncover, bringing home a glimpse of social life not found in any travel guide or blog.
The idea of discovering what locals like, what snacks they eat while watching a movie, like in Mexico where, according to The Bucket List Company (a travel organization), you can find an infinite amount of chips; but also what dish is that for us, pasta with tuna is the quintessential meal for when you have no desire or time to cook, which for the Japanese, for example, is instant ramen. In short, wandering around supermarkets is like peeking into the traditions and tastes of the locals, a low-cost experience that embodies unparalleled authenticity.
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