029 This week we compare the price of groceries that we typically buy at our local markets in California and France. It’s kind of difficult and unfair to compare some of the items because some of them are imported from France. However, we try and compare items we like to purchase when in both places. We used 0.93 euros for each US dollar, as that was our recent exchange rate.
Thanks again for watching,
Michael and April
Description of Us:
We are a couple of American Francophiles who have come to truly appreciate so many things about French culture. We love the food, wine, art, and history of France, but especially the people we have met along the way. Join us as we make our dream of living in France a reality. Follow us as we explore the French living and a new life there with our beloved dog, Bernice. We enjoy learning about stone house renovation, wine, cooking, brocante shopping, and the French community we are now a part of.
welcome back as you might guess going back and forth between the United States and France it’s inevitable that you start comparing the costs that are associated with living in each place and this week we’re going to take a look at some of our staple weekly purchases from the grocery store from our local B Air Market here in in California and we’re comparing it to the intermar grocery store in our local Town um near us of Bine so um [Music] enjoy we start our comparison with apples um apples kind of come in different varieties and sizes so we just basically tried to go with the least expensive in each place and for a pack of six in France Us doll it’s about $268 and for the United States same amount of apples it’s about [Music] $5.97 next up we are comparing orange juices so in the United States there’s a big variety of orange juice to choose from and so we went with our weekly staple and um it is about $4.99 us here here and the one that we use in France is about $591 for the same 1 and 1/2 L container so you can see that in France is a little bit pricier than [Music] here this next comparison is one of my favorites um we’re comparing the price of camon bear and we tried to show kind of the selection that we have here in our local grocery store here in California but as you will be able to see it is nothing compared to the selection that you have for um cheese in France and the price here for this same brand same size was $7.99 and in France um $289 comparatively in US Dollars and um I have to say that we’ve seen this price difference in cheeses kind of go across all the different styles of cheese as well including crier and um lots of our favorites so it really is a lot less expensive there versus in the United [Music] States the next compar compon is um a little tricky because we tend to buy eggs in a little bit bigger sizes here in the United States um as you can see we took we tried to compare like our organic brown eggs that we get each week to what you find in the grocery stores in France um one thing that’s really different is the eggs in France are not refrigerated and you don’t have to keep them in the refrigerator when you get them home um which is different than in the United States and you can see that the price difference is also [Music] substantial in the United States 12 eggs is about $5.98 and in France the same 12 eggs are $3.22 equivalent the next comparison is taking yogurt from the United States and comparing it to the yogurt in France and so there are similar Brands but yogurt was invented in France and they take their creamy desserts and creamy um snacks very seriously so you can see that we have a selection and there are some unique types of yogurts and pudding snacks but as you’ll see in France there are cases and cases of different styles of yogurt so we took um the brand that we like to eat which is um NSA and we did a per serving amount so you can see that we we did the French yogurt that comes in the um eight glass jars it’s our favorite just plain vanilla yogurt very tasty and when we did the comparison um eight servings to eight servings in the United States it’s $10.98 and in France $261 next up something you cannot live without in France and that is butter and the french butter is just fantastic we are trying to do a very price for- price comparison so we use the president um brand because it’s the same size and packaging and everything but I will tell you it’s not my favorite um butter um it’s very good but I I have some salty ones that are just the best on a baguette but for comparison sake we did do a side by side for that size of butter for the United States it’s $349 and for the same one in France it’s $31 Cent you could not do a comparison from the US and France without talking about wine we picked Ros and so it’s kind of unfair because French wine it when you import it it just costs a lot more here um but across the board most wine in France France is much much cheaper and um we haven’t really found one yet that wasn’t um to our liking so we picked just a rosé that we enjoy it is a French Rosé and here in the United States it is um $15.99 and for the same bottle in France it is $817 so um yes we enjoy exploring these comparisons very much [Music] our final comparison is for chicken and this one’s a little tricky because here in the United States you can buy such big packages that the prices can kind of vary considerably between something that comes in you know a huge multi pack and something that comes more in single servings or or one or two servings and in France you you pretty much just get smaller um things in the grocery store in general but servings of meat in included and so we did do a comparison without kind of taking into effect the that here in the United States you can pay quite a bit more for free range and and all those different uh delineation so we just did standard grocery store chicken to standard grocery store chicken and in France it’s about $266 per pound and in the United States um it averages out to be about $1.99 a pound so it’s just a little bit more [Music] there so as you can see these are the side by side comparisons for the all of the total um groceries and you can see there’s quite a big difference in cost between United States we ended up with $56.88 as opposed to the same groceries or comparison groceries of $31.15 in France so I hope you enjoyed watching that uh comparison and um I hope that you’ll send us like questions that you might have about other things that you’re interested in uh for France as we look forward to heading back for our whole summer so we look forward to seeing you next week thank you to everyone who comes week after week and please like And subscribe [Music]
21 Comments
How about produce?
I buy "fresh" oj in states IT IS NOT THE SAME😢
That's it……I am moving to France
The prices are an important point. But the coupons are much more important. In the US the corporate make the low and for making more $ they put much more poison on the food.
At u.s. with taxes or without?
Compare the camenbert " origine france " you have the transport , americane taxe for importation .
Compare the americane chicken it's good , no taxe douane, no transport.
Very interesting video. Thank you.❤
This mus be the American exceptionalism that everyone is pining about. Its surprising how expensive food here is considering the enormous subsidies provided to big ag. and the low quality of our food and nutrition.
Keep in mind when you compare a French-brand food in the U.S., it will always be more expensive than France due to the import costs for getting the products to the U.S. Otherwise, most food in France is cheaper and also better for you than similar food in the U.S.
My wife always compares prices and is dreading returning to the US after 3 months in France – groceries are way cheaper in France and the quality of fruit,veg and meat is way higher in France. We just bought 3 kg of fresh apricots from a local farm – tasted divine and we made jam – in France just €9, in the states unobtainable or taste like cardboard if you actually find some. The only drawback to France is if fruit is not in season you cannot get it. Right now it's cherries and apricots, coming next month it will be nectarines then plums and peaches, September it's kiwis, then apples. Well at least down here in Perpignan.
California prices are higher compared to other U.S. states.
French here : you do a straight forward comparison of prices but is there also a straight comparison of income ei : more money in a US pocket than a French one or the other way around or more or less the same ? Thanks for the answer and nice vid btw 👍
For orange juice, you chose one of the premium brands in France and compared it to what is a standard brand in the US. One grocery chain even sells that brand, Simply, in France. Others have similar house brands.
You didn't even mention open-air markets for fruit and vegetables(and much else)which you find all around France. In big cities like Paris there are two of these per week in neighborhoods all around the town. Smaller places, once a week. Then there are bakeries where you can buy real bread open everyday.
An aside about the open-air markets, if you arrive at closing time about 2pm, vendors will have discounted prices. If you are down-and-out, there are often associations to which vendors give no longer saleable products and which give away the food immediately after the market is closed.
Orange juice ; don’t know where you got that absurd price for ½ l.
Carrefour Tropicana 1l : 2,69€
Mais en France les taxes sont inclus dans les prix.
Seeing you scan the California grocery shelves at BelAir, I realize that you must live (at least while in California 😊) near us! We are in Vacaville! We are currently selling and packing and on our way! We would love to connect!
Unfortunately, my old home,the Uk , followed that arsehole TRUMP and gave us Brexit. Now prices have gone up by about 30% with Brexit adding at least half of that food inflation. I have lived in France for 30 years but recent trips to the UK make me very sad….
Plus, in Europe is forbidden GMO food. In the USA mostly all food is GMO and tasteless
Thanks, that was very interesting. I would like to see you include vegetables.
Please note that in France tax is included.
I hope you can feature some for-sale houses in that area. That’ll help us who are still dreaming about a scharmed-life in France.