REWE is one our our favorite grocery stores here in Germany. If your stationed at Spangdahlem there is one in Spechier, a few minutes drive from the base, and one in Bitburg, about 15 minutes from the base. I like the selection better at the one in Bitburg for some items but we shop at the one in Speicher most often.
It is open Monday – Saturday 7 am to 10 pm. Closed Sundays. Accepts VAT but it’s only 7% on grocery. Accepts Euro and US credit card €5 purchase minimum to use a card.
The cards require a €1 coin to use. If you went to the newcomer’s brief you should’ve gotten a token to use, I also got one from the base library. You get the coin/token back when you return the cart. Do you spy Mr. B in the kids in the first photo getting a cart?
If you buy drinks you also pay a deposit on the bottles and the crates and you get it back when you return them. You take them into the store, feed them into the machine and then it prints it out on a receipt. You use that at checkout and it’s deducted from your total.
The produce off base is much fresher and there is a wider variety. We have gotten pomegranates the size of a small cantaloupe from REWE last winter.
The product shelving system is similar to the states with the lowest costing items (Ja! or REWE brand) being on the bottom shelves. The white labeled candy bars on the bottom shelf are the Ja! brand.
Some of our favorite things to buy are the Bourbon Vanilla ice cream for €1,99, fruits, and German treats to send to family & friends. Mr. B also buys an apple drink that is apple juice and water, he loves it but I think it’s disgusting. He also likes the orange Fanta which tastes different (and better) than the Fanta in the States. When Boo was here we were also buying the 1 liter bottles of coke.
It also offers a meat counter where you can buy meats and cheeses. They weigh the meat in kilos and not pounds so if you plan on buying something plan on having a converter on your phone or know your math so you know what to ask for. Sometimes there is someone who speaks English well there other times not.
They have a huge selection of cheese, including one that is green! Mr. B & Bea were brave enough to try it and said it was good. I’ll take their word for it.
Eggs are not refrigerated in German stores and you can find some colorful options like the ones above. Also they do not have cold milk, only shelf milk.
If your searching for Head Cheese search no further as they have a huge assortment! No worries there will be plenty left as we will not be adding that to our grocery list.
Make sure to bring your own bags!! If you forget you have to pay per bag if you want one or cart all the items out without a bag. We carry reusable bags in the cars that we grab and take when we go in shopping at German stores.
I highly recommend taking the REWE shopping tour offered via the AFRC on base. Our tour was 3 hours long and we ate so much food! A great way to get an overview of what the store has to offer and try some new foods to see what you like or don’t like. When they tell you to come hungry they mean it. It is also family friendly and we took our 3 kids with us and several other families had their kids with them.
Also if your not a fan of spiders you can find peppermint oil here to mix with water to make a spray for inside the house. It has been helping me keep these unwanted invaders out of the house.
Have you shopped at REWE? What is your favorite thing to buy?
Know Before You Go:
Where: Kapellenstraße 64, 54662 Speicher & Mötscher Straße 45a Bitburg, Germany
How To Get There: To Speicher it’s about a 10 minute drive from base, To Bitburg it’s about a 15 minute drive from base.
What: German grocery store open Monday – Saturday 7 am to 10. Closed Sunday and German holidays.
Cost: Accepts Euro and US credit cards.
Where to find info: Online, above links
As always, you provide us with information about the daily happenings of life. Those strawberries look better than any I’ve seen here. Yum. I enjoy reading and seeing the photos on your blog.
They were delicious! And those were even out of season when we bought them.
I’ve read a couple of times now of expats only being able to find UHT (“shelf”) milk here in Germany. We have plenty of fresh milk where I am here in Wiesbaden! 🙂 It sounds like you have a really good selection of food at your local REWE though – we only have the smaller “Local” versions near us, so they don’t have deli counters, but I tend to get our meat products from the butcher in any case. Great overview of your local supermarket!
Yeah I’m not sure why fresh milk is hard to find here. I know you can get it at a few places but it’s not in abundance like in the States. I’ve heard local butchers are great but we haven’t tried one yet.
I was about to say the same thing! All the Rewes in Frankfurt have fresh milk (the larger ones even have it fresh from the local farm).
I despised Rewe when I was in Germany. The fruit and veg go bad so quickly because they don’t use the cooling cabinets like we have in the UK. I would often buy carrots only to have them squidgy after 3 days.
REWE, ALDI, LIDL nad so on all provide a great alternative to the blinding mediocrity of the Commissary.I am curious why some have a problem finding fresh milk. Never have had that problem in the decade we have spent in Germany. A declining exchange rate or strictly American commodities that are super expensive here are the only reason to patronize the “on base alternative”. Local butchers and bakers provide whatever the big box REWES and the like lack. We also use a local tailor and dry cleaner in our village that provide quick and efficient service. ( a couple times with AAFES not cleaning clothes or losing items altogether is a good motivator)
I’m not sure about the milk, we were specifically told at the tour (by a German) that it was not available but I had a friend just tell me that she gets fresh milk at REWE so it may be available there. We get milk on base. I also love our local tailor she is super fast & prices are great!
Aww I miss Rewe. I also miss Edeka and the Turkish markets. There you could find the best produce and meat. MISS it. There is pasteurized milk and fresh milk (available in the cold sections). I loved Landliebe. Landleibe’s chocolate milk is the BEST. Still on the search for chocolate milk here in Okinawa, but they’re not big on dairy here as they are in West, maybe even mainland, japan. Great blog. So much sweet nostalgia. Enjoy!
We found the milk, not sure why we were told on the tour that they didn’t have it. Will have to get the chocolate milk for the kids to try. I’m not a milk drinker, can only use it in my cereal.