by Alice Rush
DO THE grocery stores in the Netherlands have a grocery pickup or delivery service? Ever since Covid, many of the U.S. grocery stores have gone to a curbside pickup option or a delivery option. Grocery delivery isn’t available at our address in Maine, but I love the pickup option.
I haven’t kept shopping lists in quite a while, because it has been easier to go online to the app on my phone, and just put what I need into my virtual cart. I keep adding to my cart until I reach the minimum order for the pickup service. When it is convenient for me, I schedule it and go to the designated car parking area at the store. They bring everything to me, and put it in the car! What could be easier? Delivery to my door I guess, but I can’t blame them for not being able to turn an appropriate profit when distributing to the hinterlands.
Before Covid, we tried the meal delivery services that claim to save money. Their theory is that you won’t waste food purchasing groceries that don’t get used. These providers send you the exact ingredients for a particular meal that you have selected the prior week. What I don’t like about this is that we don’t know what we might want from week to week. Plus, there are typically no leftovers. Yes, I like leftovers. In fact, some foods have better flavor as a leftover. Be skeptical if you must, but it’s true. The flavors need that time to fully season.
YEARS AGO, we also tried the “ugly” produce delivery services. These companies deliver the fruits and vegetables that weren’t selected by the grocery managers at the supermarkets. The food is good, it just looks a little funny, or there was too much of it. We did that for a while because I thought it made good sense. However, over time we had an excess of some produce that we didn’t use, which kind of defeats the whole mission of using perfectly good food instead of throwing it away.
So the grocery pickup service has been a little of the best of both worlds. It saves money because I’m not tempted by all the tasty goodies I would see if I went in the store. It also saves me money because there are a number of stores in the local area where I work, and I can go to each of their apps to compare prices and place an order at each store if I choose. They are so close together it isn’t really any added fuel cost for me to make multiple stops that way.
All that said, however, unlike many people I know, I actually enjoy grocery shopping. Walking through the aisles and seeing the products prompts my imagination for meal ideas. But there are other ways to get creative with meal planning, just check the television listings. Then, from the comfort of your sofa you can check prices and sales and make your grocery list or, in my case, lists. In the U.S., some of the foodie programs even have a QR code that you can scan and make an order based on exactly what they are preparing on that particular show! All ingredients delivered right to your door. That however, will only work if you live in a city.
* Alice is a Maine realtor and a licensed helicopter and fixed wing pilot. She first met her Dutch husband in Maryland in 2005, and married him four years later.
