Russian supermarkets

It is amazing to eat out and sample Russian food if you want to know Russian cuisine but in case of cooking at home you need to get some food from a supermarket.

Firstly, it is a difficult task to find a good supermarket in Russia and do the groceries. Secondly, it is also a hard task to find ingredients to make food from your home country. In this guide we are going to provide you with a new information about Russian supermarkets and Russian groceries:

• grocery shopping in Russia
• supermarkets in Russia
• supermarket chains in Russia
• discount supermarkets in Russia
• supermarket opening times
• things you need to know about Russian supermarkets
• food delivery services in Russia
• international grocery stores in Russia
• food shopping at Russian markets
• specialty stores in Russia
• health food shopping in Russia
• convenience stores
• liquor stores in Russia

Grocery shopping in Russia

After arriving in Russia you will do a few essentials. Among these things is food shopping. And how to do this in Russia? In Russia the grocery shopping is a little bit different from your home country.

Before supermarkets were not so popular in Russia. Thus, people did their food shopping at small shops, grocery stores and, of course, normal markets. These days the things are different, so Russians do their shopping in convenience stores, hypermarkets, and supermarkets.

Supermarkets in Russia

For now, in Russia you can find all types of supermarkets. Supermarkets are divided into the hypermarkets where you can find any thing from laptops to carpets and local convenience stores with a little bit limited selection. Supermarkets in Russia have the products from Russia and also other countries. Because of the European Union sanctions you will not find many products and brands.

If you live near the city center, then you will shop at a small supermarket. But you can also find hypermarkets when reaching them by public transport and car. These stores sell a lot of products like groceries, food-to-go, clothes, and electronics.

Supermarket chains in Russia

There are a lot of Russian and international supermarket chains in Russia. The main supermarket chains include:

Magnit: Magnit is considered to be one of the biggest supermarket chains in Russia. In 2024 year they got about 25000 outlets in Russia. By the way, they sell food produced by themselves.

Pyaterochka is considered to be one of the biggest supermarkets chains in Russia. In 2024 year they sell grocery products and have about 17000 convenience stores in Russia. This shop is owned by the X5 retail group who own Perekrestok supermarket and Karusel hypermarket. Pyaterochka outlets also have ready-made foods, a salad bar, and a café. You will always find one of the Pyaterochka stores in your own city.

Dixy is the next biggest food retail company. There you can find all types of groceries and non-food items. They have about 2000 stores in western and central Russia.

Lenta is the biggest supermarket chain in Russia and has about 255 hypermarkets and 419 supermarkets across Russia.

Auchan is also the largest supermarkets chain in Russia and has abot 200 stores in Russia in 2024 year.

Discount supermarkets in Russia

There are not so many discount supermarkets in Russia but the available are the following:

Mayak is a hypermarkets chain in big cities in Russia. They offer the products at the low prices.

Da! Is the next one discount supermarket in Russia whose name mean yes.

Chizhik is considered to be the discount supermarket in Moscow and it is owned by the X5 network of stores.

Supermarket opening times

In Russia supermarkets operate longer hours in big cities than in rural areas. For instance, in Moscow supermarkets are open from 08.00 or 10.00 till 22.00 or 23.00. But in many big cities supermarkets are open 24/7.

Russian supermarkets are normally open at weekends but their opening hours are shorter. When it comes to the national holidays like New Year or Christmas the opening hours are different in those supermarkets.

Supermarkets in Russia are usually open at weekends, although you may find that their opening hours are shorter. You might also find that shops have different hours on New Year’s Day and other national holidays.

Things you need to know about Russian supermarkets

Options – you will not sometimes get the products from your home country if you are from America or the European Union. For example, you will not find the European cheese on the shelves.

Lockers – the entrance to the Russian supermarkets contains the special lockers to put your bags inside them.

Alcohol – shops do not sell alcohol after 23.00. In small cities the ban is longer. As an option you can go to a restaurant or bar.

Separate departments: if you buy goods that need weighting like fruits and vegetables you will have to print a slip stating the weight to show at checkout.

Ripped receipts: your cashier may rip the receipt before handing it to you.

Food delivery services in Russia

If you can not go to the local supermarket in person most supermarkets offer home delivery. For example, such supermarket like Pyaterochka require you to download a mobile app before ordering. In big supermarkets like Perekrestok you can order groceries to pick up in-store. It is important to know that its illegal to deliver alcohol from an online sale.

The next food delivery services in Russia like Sbermarket and Yandex.eda.The companies that offer an online-only service are the following:

• Ozon.ru;

• Utkonos.

If you are failed to decide what to cook Chefmarket deliver ingredients to your home and then you will be able to cook by yourself. Their recipies are only in Russian, so this will serve to you as a good language practice. If you do not like to cook then you will have the takeaway option such as Delivery Club.

International grocery stores in Russia

If you choose to try something different or order food from your home country then Russia has some international grocery stores. For example, when it comes to the big cities you can find their products from China, Japan, Vietnam, Korea, and Thailand. There you can also find a few Indian supermarkets those specialize on spices, cosmetics, and snacks.

So, if you want to find an offline supermarket that sells products from Europe and the US this task can be more difficult. This came to Russia because of the foreign sanctions. But when it is up to online stores, you can find foreign brands there. For instance, Ozon.ru has some British brands, and if you search by country you can find products from any corner of this world.

Food shopping at Russian markets

There are a lot of food markets in Russia and most of them are covered and protected from severe winter while shopping. Markets in Russia sell all kinds of products like books, food, electronics etc. For today, Russian markets have introduced street food stands to take something to eat. For instance, Tsentralny Rynok and Danilovsky Market in Moscow offer a lot of stalls to eat something from pizza to seafood.

Specialty stores in Russia

Sometimes in Russia you can find a specialty store. Although many people shop at the supermarkets you can buy something from the specialty shop like quality meat or tasty bread. Some of them are the following:

• Bakery: pekarnya

• Butcher shop: myasnaya lavka

Health food shopping in Russia

According to Bloomberg’s 2019 Global Health Index, Russia is the 95th healthiest country globally.

The countries are:

– Singapore;

– Japan;

– South Korea;

– Taiwan;

– Israel;

– Norway;

– Iceland;

– Sweden;

– Switzerland;

– Netherlands;

– Luxembourg;

– Germany;

– Hong Kong;

– Finland;

– Italy;

– Denmark;

– Belgium;

– Malta;

– France;

– Austria;

– Australia;

– Ireland;

– Slovenia;

– New Zealand;

– Spain;

– Czech Republic;

– Costa Rica;

– Cyprus;

– Canada;

– United Arab Emirates;

– United Kingdom;

– Portugal;

– Greece;

– Kuwait;

– Chile;

– Croatia;

– Kazakhstan;

– Argentina;

– Bahrain;

– Slovakia;

– Hungary;

– Poland;

– Uruguay;

– Estonia;

– Qatar;

– Seychelles;

– Malaysia;

– Belarus;

– Panama;

– Bosnia and Herzegovina;

– Macau;

– Brazil;

– Iran;

– Latvia;

– Turkey;

– Jordan;

– Lithuania;

– Moldova;

– Trinidad and Tobago;

– Bulgaria;

– Azerbaijan;

– Turkmenistan;

– Oman;

– Russia;

– Thailand;

– United States;

– Algeria;

– Jamaica;

– Suriname;

– Romania;

– Tunisia;

– North Macedonia;

– Ukraine;

– Tajikistan;

– Saudi Arabia;

– Armenia;

– Fiji;

– Brunei;

– Saint Lucia;

– Grenada;

– Saint Vincent and the Grenadines;

– Antigua and Barbuda;

– Andorra;

– Dominica;

– Saint Kitts and Nevis;

– Liechtenstein;

– Monaco;

– Cuba;

– Nicaragua;

– Albania;

– Serbia;

– Mauritius;

– Paraguay;

– Lebanon;

– Kyrgyzstan;

– Guyana;

– Mexico;

– Colombia;

– Dominican Republic;

– Georgia;

– El Salvador;

– Belize;

– Vietnam;

– Cambodia;

– Morocco;

– Ecuador;

– Venezuela;

– Indonesia;

– Peru;

– Cape Verde;

– Bolivia;

– South Africa;

– Montenegro;

– Uzbekistan;

– Sri Lanka;

– Libya;

– Bangladesh;

– Mongolia;

– Egypt;

– Syria;

– Myanmar;

– Philippines;

– Honduras;

– Laos;

– Sao Tome and Principe;

– Guatemala;

– Botswana;

– Ghana;

– Iraq;

– Senegal;

– Malawi;

– Namibia;

– Ethiopia;

– Nepal;

– Pakistan;

– India;

– Djibouti;

– Sudan;

– Tanzania;

– Comoros;

– Kenya;

– Burkina Faso;

– Uganda;

– Burundi;

– Eritrea;

– Yemen;

– Zambia;

– Mauritania;

– Gambia;

– Gabon;

– Zimbabwe;

– Togo;

– Niger;

– Mali;

– Madagascar;

– Republic of the Congo;

– Benin;

– Micronesia;

– Vanuatu;

– Nauru;

– Palau;

– Palestine;

– Samoa;

– San Marino;

– Solomon Islands;

– Tonga;

– Tuvalu;

– Rwanda;

– Haiti;

– Papua New Guinea;

– Mozambique;

– Ivory Coast;

– Cameroon;

– Afghanistan;

– Kiribati;

– Equatorial Guinea;

– Nigeria;

– Angola;

– Guinea;

– Liberia;

– Eswatini;

– Maldives;

– Timor Leste;

– Bhutan;

– North Korea;

– Bahamas;

– Barbados;

– China;

– Sierra Leone;

– Somalia;

– Lesotho;

– Chad;

– South Sudan;

– Central African Republic;

– Niue;

– Cook Islands;

– Marshall Islands;

– Guinea Bissau.

According to Bloomberg’s 2024 Global Health Index, Russia is the following country globally.

The countries are:

• Singapore;

• Japan;

• South Korea;

• Taiwan;

• Israel;

• Norway;

• Iceland;

• Sweden;

• Switzerland;

• Netherlands;

• Luxembourg;

• Germany;

• Hong Kong;

• Finland;

• Italy;

• Denmark;

• Belgium;

• Malta;

• France;

• Austria;

• Australia;

• Ireland;

• Slovenia;

• New Zealand;

• Spain;

• Czech Republic;

• Costa Rica;

• Cyprus;

• Canada;

• United Arab Emirates;

• United Kingdom;

• Portugal;

• Greece;

• Kuwait;

• Chile;

• Croatia;

• Kazakhstan;

• Argentina;

• Bahrain;

• Slovakia;

• Hungary;

• Poland;

• Uruguay;

• Estonia;

• Qatar;

• Seychelles;

• Malaysia;

• Belarus;

• Panama;

• Bosnia and Herzegovina;

• Macau;

• Brazil;

• Iran;

• Latvia;

• Turkey;

• Jordan;

• Lithuania;

• Moldova;

• Trinidad and Tobago;

• Bulgaria;

• Azerbaijan;

• Turkmenistan;

• Oman;

• Russia;

• Thailand;

• United States;

• Algeria;

• Jamaica;

• Suriname;

• Romania;

• Tunisia;

• North Macedonia;

• Ukraine;
• Tajikistan;

• Saudi Arabia;

• Armenia;

• Fiji;

• Brunei;

• Saint Lucia;

• Grenada;

• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines;

• Antigua and Barbuda;

• Andorra;

• Dominica;

• Saint Kitts and Nevis;

• Liechtenstein;

• Monaco;

• Cuba;

• Nicaragua;

• Albania;

• Serbia;

• Mauritius;

• Paraguay;

• Lebanon;

• Kyrgyzstan;

• Guyana;

• Mexico;

• Colombia;

• Dominican Republic;

• Georgia;

• El Salvador;

• Belize;

• Vietnam;

• Cambodia;

• Morocco;

• Ecuador;

• Venezuela;

• Indonesia;

• Peru;

• Cape Verde;

• Bolivia;

• South Africa;

• Montenegro;

• Uzbekistan;

• Sri Lanka;

• Libya;

• Bangladesh;

• Mongolia;

• Egypt;

• Syria;
• Myanmar;

• Philippines;

• Honduras;

• Laos;

• Sao Tome and Principe;

• Guatemala;

• Botswana;

• Ghana;

• Iraq;

• Senegal;

• Malawi;

• Namibia;

• Ethiopia;

• Nepal;

• Pakistan;

• India;

• Djibouti;

• Sudan;

• Tanzania;

• Comoros;

• Kenya;

• Burkina Faso;

• Uganda;

• Burundi;

• Eritrea;

• Yemen;

• Zambia;

• Mauritania;

• Gambia;

• Gabon;

• Zimbabwe;

• Togo;

• Niger;

• Mali;

• Madagascar;

• Republic of the Congo;

• Benin;

• Micronesia;

• Vanuatu;

• Nauru;

• Palau;

• Palestine;

• Samoa;

• San Marino;

• Solomon Islands;

• Tonga;

• Tuwalu;
• Rwanda;

• Haiti;

• Papua New Guinea;

• Mozambique;

• Ivory Coast;

• Cameroon;

• Afghanistan;

• DR Congo;
• Kiribati;

• Equatorial Guinea;

• Nigeria;

• Angola;

• Guinea;

• Liberia;

• Eswatini;

• Maldives;

• Timor Leste;

• Bhutan;

• North Korea;
• Bahamas;

• Barbados;

• China;

• Sierra Leone;

• Somalia;

• Lesotho;

• Chad;

• South Sudan;

• Central African Republic;

• Niue;

• Cook Islands;

• Marshall Islands;

• Guinea Bissau.

If you prefer organic food, Ugleche Pole has stores in Moscow and an online store serving the region. You can find other health food shops in your local area by searching online for magazin zdorovoy pishchi. Vitamins and supplements are available at chemists and online.

Convenience stores

Then you can find there a convenience store. Like traditional supermarkets, they sell food, drinks and other items on a smaller scale. If you are living in a big city then you will find the next one with the sign produkti.

Kiosks are also widespread in Russia. They sell all types of products like sweets, snacks, and newspapers.

Liquor stores in Russia

Over-18s are allowed to buy alcohol in Russia – supermarkets might ask you to show ID. It’s possible to purchase strong liquor, beer, and wine in a Russian supermarket, providing it’s not between 23:00 and 08:00. However, for more choice, you can visit a specialist shop. There are a few chains in Russia that specialize in alcoholic drinks, for example, Krasnoye & Beloye and Bristol. There are also plenty of independent liquor stores, so check online to find one in your local area.