Where I live (Kalundborg), there are one million stores where to buy your groceries. There are Rema 1000, Lidl, Aldi, Netto, 365, Kvicky, Fotex and Meny as the leading grocery stores.
Two main categories
I separate them into two categories: cheap and expensive. The cheap ones are Rema 1000, Lidl, Aldi and Fakta. The expensive ones are Kvicky, Fotex and Meny. Netto is a bit in between since depending on the product it can be seen as expensive or cheap in comparison to the other stores.
Lidl, Netto, Aldi and Kvikly have Too Good To Go offers but they are hard to catch because a lot of students look after them.
You should download apps with the word “tilbud” (offers/sales) that publish the magazines, folders, and special sales of several stores around Denmark. This way you can be aware of the prices of your grocery list items.
Last hour prices
Usually, grocery stores are open from 7 to 21 or 22 hours. It is a long time if you compare it to other countries where shops close normally earlier like Belgium.
Here, the last hour is really interesting if you want to save some money. During this last open hour, you will be witness to one amazing Danish store tradition: last-hour sales.
They normally put yellow or orange stickers on ‘fresh’ products like bakery and prepared salads and sandwiches but also on last items: fish, veggies, dry products, cheese, and milk. usually, those products are the last one of their pack and since the workers have to put the new boxes they will put the last items in a corner or at the entrance so people take it.
Reduce waste corner or section
Many shops like Rema, Lidl or Fakta have a little section dedicated to products that will expire soon and that have been replaced with fresher ones. The products of this section have a discount of 20% but often it is 50% or more. This section is really good for students and other people who want to buy cheap products but that are still good.
In this section, there is most of the time milk, fish (in vinegar or sauce), sauces, meat, cheese, etc.
I hope this post will be useful to those who want to know what it is like living in Kalundborg (Denmark) and those who plan to move here for work, studies or other.