Kosher food finds at non-Jewish supermarkets

amother

Calendula

Mon, Apr 24 2023, 8:00 am

amother OP wrote:

I lived in town and shopped at the local large Jewish supermarkets until recently. Walmart and Target and the like were too far to be practical, and Instacart didn’t exist.

Now I moved OOT and the kosher store doesn’t carry much, and it’s expensive. I’m trying to order through Instacart from local grocery stores and I’m looking for ideas of what I can get there.

The only things I don’t buy in non Jewish stores are Jewish specific products - plastic plates, cups, tin pans, rye bread, dairy and meat products, checked produce.

zaq

Mon, Apr 24 2023, 9:04 am

Disposable tableware and foil pans are Jewish-specific products? News to me. Unless you reuse them, in which case they would require tevilah, but if you're reusing, why bother with disposables? Get the real thing.

Last edited by zaq on Mon, Apr 24 2023, 10:15 am; edited 1 time in total

amother

Skyblue

Mon, Apr 24 2023, 10:09 am

zaq wrote:

Disposable tableware and foil pan are Jewish-specific products? News to me. Unless you reuse them, in which case they would require tevilah, but if you're reusing, why bother with disposables? Get the real thing.

They definitely seem to be used more in the Frum community than elsewhere! As a BT, this really threw me for a loop at first.

But I see your point that they're not Jewish-specific products just because they're often used in the Frum world.

mha3484

Mon, Apr 24 2023, 10:16 am

I have a hybrid set up in my city, The main grocery store is not Jewish but has 3 large kosher aisles. Still 85% of what I buy is not in those Aisles. I stick to the kosher section for anything that needs to be pas yisroel, chalav yisroel or meat. Everything else is cheaper and better quality in the regular aisles.

zaq

Mon, Apr 24 2023, 10:34 am

Levy's Real Jewish Rye is sold in national stores. Levy's Bakery is owned by Arnold Bread, which is a division of Bimbo Bakeries, a giant Mexican-owned conglomerate. Whereas Levy's was, as the name implies, once a Jewish-owned company, it is no longer. And it was never, as far as I can recall, certified pas yisroel.

amother

Lemonlime

Mon, Apr 24 2023, 10:46 am

zaq wrote:

I buy almost everything at Walmart but I concur with the previous poster. Plastic plates and cups (and cutlery) and foil pans are WAY cheaper in town and I will shlep them home when I go to stock up on bread, milk, and meat.

Non-Jews may use them but I guess not in bulk enough to bring the prices down. Or they primarily want the heavier weight stuff, while for one time use I’d rather something lightweight.

The cheapest cutlery in Walmart is $1 for 24 forks. In town it’s $4 for a box of 400. Cups in Walmart are $4+. In town a pack is under $2 and often just about $1. Etc.

(But if someone is buying on Instacart which adds 30% or more to your order price I guess that makes less of a difference. Even with the many free trials I’ve gotten I can’t seem to bring myself to make an order.)

amother

Yolk

Mon, Apr 24 2023, 10:47 am

zaq wrote:

I've found that even though "disposables" aren't Jewish specific, the variety and bulk packages aren't really available in regular chain stores.

Take 7oz disposable cups for example. Target doesn't seem to carry a package of 100 pieces. Most families in my area are buying this in the local Jewish supermarket. Disposable pans are mostly available at Target in roaster size, round pan etc in a 2 pack. The local store usually has bigger packs and more size varieties available at a better prices.

amother

Bone

Mon, Apr 24 2023, 12:04 pm

amother Strawberry wrote:

Lol I'm rofl at this thread! I live oot in a community that only recently acquired a fully stocked (exorbitantly priced) grocery store. Of course we shop at regular supermarkets! That's the beauty of hechsherim such as OU, you check the package to see if it's kosher.

Same! I grew up OOT and never saw a kosher supermarket except when we visited NY!

LOL

amother

Calendula

Mon, Apr 24 2023, 12:20 pm

amother Lemonlime wrote:

Walmart isn’t marked up on instacart

out-of-towner

Mon, Apr 24 2023, 12:22 pm

As someone who grew up way OOT, lived a number of years in a large tri-state area community, and now has moved back to a large but still OOT community, let me explain both sides:

Living in the in-town community that I used to live in, the Frum supermarkets were competitively priced, even for things like produce and chicken. Additionally the traffic and headaches of going to places like Costco, with finding parking and everything it wasn't worth it for us to go to such places (not to mention the fact that I hadn't space in my tiny NY home to store stuff in bulk even if I wanted to). We were Costco members for a year and didn't save any money by being one. Whenever I tried to shop at like a Stop and Shop (which was the local non Jewish chain) given that I keep CY and PY whatever I could get there like produce and pantry staples wasn't saving me enough money to be worth the extra stop. Additionally, the Frum stores offer delivery for a reasonable fee and when I was working full time that was worth my every penny vis-a-vis the time it saved me.

Now I live OOT once again. We do have a fully stocked Kosher grocery here, but it is significantly more expensive. I do shop there, possibly more than the average person who lives here, but I also shop in not exclusively Kosher stores. It has become an adjustment though. Like those who say they buy paper goods in the Frum stores, I tend to do that as well, because non Jewish stores don't have nearly the same selection of disposables and aluminum pans. Just a factor of Frum life is that many of us tend to use more of those kinds of things with all of the cooking and hosting that we tend to do. I do buy 9x13s in Costco, as well as the Kirkland clear plastic cutlery that I personally like, but disposable plastic plates and bowls tend to come from the Frum store (or more recently Amazon). The nice disposable dishes that I use for Shabbos and YT come mostly from Amazon these days, but also from the Frum store if need be (though I recently found hard plastic cups from Chinet at Costco which have been good as well).

Speaking of Costco. Whereas in NY it wasn't worthwhile for me to have membership, here OOT it definitely is. Though I don't find their produce to be exceptionally well priced, the prices on chicken and cheese are worth a trip for me. Chicken cutlets are around half the price of my local Kosher store, and meat tends to be reasonably priced as well. CY cheese is also a good few dollars savings per package, and when you can get things like Grape juice, matza, and wine they are also very well priced. I tend to go at least once a month. If you are big into things like Chummus and guacamole you can often find that with Hashgacha at Costco, and I get things like juice, soft drinks, bottled water, condiments and spices from there as well. Also nuts, Kind Bars, Veggie Straws, Hippa Peas, and Made Good Granola bites there.

I also tend to shop in Target a lot, simply because they have a curbside pickup option that is super convenient for me. I have found some surprises in the food department that I enjoy being able to get, like the Beyond Meat products like meatballs and burgers. They also have vacuum packed frozen salmon with Hashgacha that is reasonably priced, as well as ready to bake marinated salmon (don't remember the brand offhand) with a Hashgacha. The So Delicious ice cream is also worthwhile. I also buy cake and frosting mixes, flour, sugar, popcorn, chips, and salsa from there.