Previously we’ve used Leclerc, and been largely happy (elsewhere), but recently we’ve been using SuperU. The aisles are narrow, but they offer a lot of local produce.
One thing that really impressed was allowing people from a local goats cheese farm to do a presentation in the shop. Imagine a young woman from Le Vazereau approaching two dodgy Brits in a French supermarket, asking if they were familiar with the products of a farm 20km away, only to get the response, “Yes, we were there a couple of days ago. Their Camembert-type cheese (“le Chinonois”) is delicious.”
SuperU is our number 1 because of their policy of selling some local produce.
Grand Frais number 2 because of usually good veg with wide choice. Only place nearby we can get fresh galangal
Biocoop number 3 as can buy en vrac and lots of organic stuff
After that we go to wherever is convenient, but boycott carrefour for historic reasons. Staples from Aldi or Lidl.
I use supermarkets a bit, but get out as quickly as poss, because I find them so depressing. Mind you my wife’s even worse - as soon as she’s got what she needs, she makes an excuse about Gigi having been left to long alone in the car and scuttles off.
Re local - our Intermarchés sell much more local wine than SuperU, whilst Carrefour is only used for household goods, the odd bit of fish and the non-standard Tabascos.
OTOH,
I find Point Vert an acceptable local halfway house between street market and supermarket
We have a Lidl and Aldi right next each other literally in our backyard. If it weren’t for the fence we could walk into their parking lots. But we have to walk around the corned, probably 100 metres. There’s a LeClerc 500 metres down the road I usually walk to as well. We probably split 40/40 between Lidl and Leclerc. I think Leclerc has better quality prducts. We don’t buy much from Aldi, although they are very close to us.
I use those two as well plus Lidl. I have always preferred Leclerc because the nearby shop is big and the prices always seem good but recently I’ve been using the smaller closer SuperU more. They both support local producers. There is also a farm shop nearby which stocks a fantastic range of locally produced products, everything from meat and cheese through to beer and chocolate. I have a cousin who lives on the outskirts of Paris and claims to feel uncomfortable in the countryside who was won over by a visit there.
Some years ago a local pig farmer opened a farm shop to sell his own produce directly.
When I gave this exciting news to my very traditional neighbour she gave a grunt of obvious disapproval.
“You don’t understand” I said “now we can get fresh, top quality meat direct from the farm. It will be much better than anything you get from a supermarket.”
“No you don’t understand” she said “That farmer feeds his pork on chemically enhanced feed to promote growth and prevent diseases. They put on weight quickly and never see the light of day while they are being raised in air conditioned sheds. I get my meat from Spa supermarket. The butcher there has a franchise to operate in the shop. He goes round all the local farmers who raise a few pigs for themselves but, because of restrictive EU regulations, they are not allowed to sell them to anyone else. The butcher in the Spa supermarket buys up all the best pigs, takes care of all the EU paperwork and we get the benefit.”
We subsequently raised a pig and butchered it ourselves (with the help of neighbours). It was only then we appreciated the difference between home grown pork and industrial pork.
I have a small Super U within 20mins walking from home and being a loyal customer for the past 35 years have stayed with them for what I consider good quality products and many many local ones too. Yes, I might pay a few centimes or even a euro more for some branded stuff but I take into consideration the cost of petrol to get elsewhere - 22kms return to Carrefour and 16kms to LeClerc. Some items I have found cheaper too and being a smaller outlet, the staff recognise their clients and you can have a nice banter with them and other clients that I often meet up with. They have a fresh butchery counter along with fish and all local dishes and they have a boulangerie/tearoom a few minutes away that supplies the fresh bakery products daily. As the OP said, they often have a stand with a local producer selling their stuff too.
Don’t forget to get a loyalty card which adds money onto each visit if it applies. I recently had a good €10 mount up which reduced my bill a little. They don’t seem to give as much away as they used to and before that, you selected gifts from a catalogue if you had gained enough money points but they stopped that, I still have champagne flutes, a big world atlas and other items from those days.
Oh no it doesn’t! One of my huge frustrations with Leclerc’s loyalty card, I can spend well over 100€ and the amount on my loyalty card doesn’t shift at all because I am not buying the few things that they add their loyalty points to.
I have written “if it applies” and in many cases it does not but it costs nothing to use the card and get whatever they deem to add on - a bonus if you save it up.
No, I was buying in Super U locally back in 1989 and it was never a Champion shop and was never taken over. The gifts were usually items they sold in the bigger shops anyway and came with “U” marked on the packaging.
Friday nights in our house when mum had been doing the shopping that day, we would be sat down with the books, a saucer of water and told to stick the stamps in. When full, we had to trek all the way to Slough as was the nearest Green Shield redemption centre and then carry home the items selected via green line bus. I think Tesco did pink stamps but we never went there. I remember well those coins, my brother collected them and for me, I ended up with dozens of Crystal d’Arques glasses of all shapes and sizes from BP as FIL had a company account there and I still have 25 flutes to this day plus wine and sherry glasses.
We buy fresh porducts either from the local market or the epicerie or charcuterie.
However, the Intermarche in the village has a lot of very local products, including beef from the wonderful farmer whose cattle are in the field at the end of our garden. I’m not a fan of beef, but this is sublime and I know exactly what they are eating and how they are cared for. Can’t beat it!
On the subject of pork, I’ve stopped buying it when sourced from a village about 10km away as the intensity of the farming there is appalling. As pointed out above, local doesn’t always mean good!
