Buying Groceries in Panama!

One of the overlooked pleasures of moving to a new city is finding your new favorite cup of coffee; your new go-to pizza place; your new favorite grocery store. These pleasures are small, and, as I said, usually go overlooked, but they mean a lot when it comes to calling your new city home.

With that in mind, let me take you on a brief tour of Panama’s grocers: from the big modern supermarkets to the traditional ma-and-pa minis, and even to the guys hawking avocados in the middle of the street.

The first thing you need to understand before you buy anything in Panama is that it is, when it comes down to it, a country of “guys”. Who’s your soup guy? Who’s your veggie guy? What about your fruit? Now, it doesn’t have to be this way. You can just go to Rey or Riba Smith or Super 99 and do your shopping and be done with it. If that’s the kind of person you are, well, then you can stop reading right now and be content with your one-stop-shop. There’s nothing wrong with it. To each their own.

However, if you want to maybe save a little money, or be a little adventurous, then, please, by all means, read on.

As I was saying, Panama is a country of “guys” who specialize in specific things: fish, beans, soup, empanadas, vegetables, fruit, meat, pots, pans, electronics. I buy my empanadas in Calidonia, because most people do and some even resell them at a markup (there’s a reason they all look the same). I can get my phone fixed in Fernandez de Cordoba, but my TV can only be fixed in El Dorado. And not in the mall. There’s no “guy” for that in the mall. But, if you know who to ask, they’ll tell you where he is. He’s close.

You get the idea. Everyone’s got their specialization.

So, as I mentioned, Panama has modern chain supermarkets just like everywhere else in the world: Rey and Super 99 are good examples. Rey is jointly owned by Panamanians and Ecuadorians and has a lot of affordable Latin American products and brands. Super 99 is Panamanian (owned by former President Ricardo Martinelli, now a political asylee in Colombia) and is pretty much the same, though usually not as organized or, well, nice. Also, while I’m on the subject, always go to the butcher counter for meat and cheese at these places. Don’t be lazy and buy the prepackaged stuff. It’s usually on the verge of expiration and can spoil by the time you get home. Don’t risk it. Plus, it gives you an opportunity to practice your Spanish!

You can put places like Super Carne in this category as well.

Riba Smith is a Panamanian supermarket chain that offers more American and European products and brands. For example, they import, as of me writing this, Mountain Dew Code Red, Taco Bell Tortilla Chips, and Cookies & Crème Cheerios Protein. In my experience, most of the expats who complain that Panama is “just as expensive” as their home country exclusively shop at Riba Smith (or import everything from Amazon). That box of Cheerios is $9.75 plus tax, after all. But, of course, there are times when only Riba Smith will do. They are, for example, the only place to buy three different flavors of Stove Top stuffing (original or low sodium) for Thanksgiving. The store in Bella Vista even has a wine room!

If you’re looking to stretch your balboa without compromising on quality then I’d recommend Súper Xtra. There’s a convenient location in Albrook Mall that even has a shuttle to take you to the National Terminal to catch a bus or the metro. They’re a clean, modern supermarket without the fuss and a wide selection of economical brands and products, pretty much all of which are sourced from Latin America. El Machetazo is what you’d get if you let Súper Xtra sit outside in the sun for too long on a hot summer day: it's slightly delirious, as though it suffered a heat stroke and never quite recovered. It’s not clean, and, even when it is, somehow isn’t. I haven’t found one location that doesn’t smell overwhelmingly like salted cod. I particularly recommend their Calidonia location, which is, I assure you, a fever dream. I love the place, but there might be a hint of Stockholm syndrome involved. I was once able to prove my Panamanian residency with my Machetazo loyalty card. This is where true Panamanians shop.

El Fuerte and Jumbo are similar.

Grand Deli Gourmet sells mostly European or pseudo-European imports (that feta is from Wisconsin, not Corinth), though it does have some nicer American products such as Tillamook ice cream and Boar’s Head. They also have a cafe with breakfasts and lunches that are particularly popular with my parents, for some reason. The prices seem reasonable for what they offer, but it’s not exactly the kind of place where you can find everything that you’re looking for.

Super Kosher and Supermercado DeliK, both located in Paitilla, are massive kosher supermarkets that offer not only Jewish and Israeli food and Judaica, but also a large selection of lactose-free and gluten-free products. Supermercado DeliK has a kosher cafe while Super Kosher offers a kosher cafe and fleishig / basar restaurant (that has a Happy Hour!). They also have a sizable kosher wine room. Don’t forget to ask them to validate your parking!

Organica has locations throughout the city and offers American health food products such as non-dairy Alfredo sauce with avocado oil and keto almond flour tortillas, as well as personal hygiene and household products in the same vein such as Dr. Bronner’s soaps, including a refill station. Each location also has a cafe with health-conscious options. The prices are what you’d expect and sales are common.

PriceSmart is basically Costco or Sam’s Club and opened its first club store in Panama in 1996. Diamond membership costs $42.80 a year for two people. There are other membership levels, but unless you own a business I don’t really see the point. PriceSmart has great deals on toilet paper and paper towels and has good deals on lots of different products that are constantly changing so they’re worth checking out at least once a month to see what they’ve got in stock, which includes tubs of mayonnaise and industrial-sized cans of liquid cheese. They also have a pharmacy, optometrist, and a restaurant with cheap but good pizza, fried chicken, burgers, hot dogs, salads, and the like.

Now for something that requires a little nuance: Panamanians refer to what Americans call convenience stores as “Chinos” because most of them are owned and operated by Chinese families. Legally, these stores are called minisupermercados or “minisupers” and usually have the abbreviation “M/S” in front of their name. There is, however, a version of a minisuper that is especially common in the interior, but also exists in the city, that is closer to a supermarket like Rey than a convenience store like 7-11. (Some in the more remote parts of Panama are closer to a Lowes or Home Depot.) A good example of this is Frutería Mini-Max in Plaza Bal Harbour in Paitilla or Frutería Mimi in Costa Del Este and El Cangrejo. While their names suggest that they sell fruit, this is an understatement, as they sell pretty much everything you’d get at a regular grocery store, plus some specialty items such as Asian spices, fruits, vegetables, sauces, noodles, and the like. Do you want Japanese mayonnaise in a bottle shaped like a baby? Check. Do you want a pickled daikon radish? Check. Do you want unbearably spicy Korean cheese-flavored ramen? Check. But these stores usually limit their wares to Asian items suited for the Panamanian palate.

This is not the case in the Chinese markets in El Dorado. These are geared towards the Chinese palate. Most of the products that you’ll find here are in their original Chinese packaging without explanation in either Spanish or English and it's uncommon to find anyone who works there who can explain what anything is. In my opinion, the best and most accessible of these is Deli Club Market, located above the food court in El Dorado Mall. It has an impressive selection of everything you’d ever need to make Chinese food, as well as Chinese personal hygiene items and even Chinese toilet paper! For me, the strangest thing about these markets is the pervasive stock of Peking duck hanging in nearly every window. I mean, how long do these ducks last and how many people are buying them? Why are there so many? A true mystery.

If you’re driving on Calle 50 toward Coco Del Mar, there’s an Arrocha pharmacy on your right. Turn just before that pharmacy (up what feels like the steepest hill in the world) and you’ll find yourself on Calle 72. Halfway down the street, on your left, you’ll find Frutería Donde Arvey. Donde Arvey is your new one-stop shop for fruits and vegetables. If it's in the country and in season, then they’ve got it in stock. As I’m writing this, they’ve got ten mangos for $1. Six green plantains for $1. Avocados, 75 cents. Papaya, 25 cents. Apples, oranges, parsley, eggs, honey, garlic, yucca, peppers - all at some of the best prices in the city. The only downside is that you might show up on a day between deliveries or after the first and fifteenth when a lot of their stock has been picked over or wiped out. There are other places similar to Donde Arvey throughout the city, but Donde Arvey is a great example.

La Casa del Jamón - The House of Ham - does indeed have an impressive selection of Spanish hams, but it also has an impressive selection of all things Spanish: lamb, duck, seafood, bread, olives, potatoes, rice, beans, oil, beer, wine. It’s a great place to find bulk anchovies, ingredients for fabada or paella, or a good deal on a case of wine. It’s located in an industrial park in Costa del Este and can be a little tricky to get to.

Market on Calle Uruguay is an amazing restaurant and I highly recommend it as such, but its foyer houses an Italian market named La Factoria with a delightful selection of upmarket Italian products, from chocolate to charcuterie and seafood to cheese (would you like a wheel of Willoughby?). They also have specialty pastas and Italian delicacies such as pomodoro and almond sauce, grilled artichoke hearts, cold-extracted olive oil, and creamed Sicilian capers.

Foodie has a number of locations throughout the city. They’re not the kind of place where I’d do all of my shopping, but they do offer specialty products that other places might not have. Their prices tend to be on the higher side, which doesn’t really make much sense since you can usually buy the same thing somewhere else for considerably less. But, you know, sometimes you’re craving alfalfa sprouts and they’re the only place who’s got them in stock.

An often overlooked place to do your shopping is in the comfort of your own home with PedidosYa. Unlike the United States with its exorbitant DoorDash and UberEats charges, PedidosYa is extremely affordable. I pay $8 a month for Plus membership that gives me free delivery from pretty much everywhere as well as exclusive discounts and promos from places that I actually want to order from. You can order most things directly from the PedidosYa Super or choose locations like Rey or even Fruteria Mimi. The prices are usually the same as in the store. It’s also a great option when you realize that you’re out of milk or forgot an ingredient and don’t feel like heading to the store. You can also use the app to order from restaurants and stores. Once, Jenny was with a client at the bank and realized that she forgot her phone charger. I was unable to bring her one, so I bought a new one and had it delivered directly to her at the bank for only $12. It’s a good option to keep in mind.

We’ll now turn our attention to the various national and municipal markets. The epicenter of this network is a place called Merca, short for Mercados Nacionales de la Cadena de Frío. This is the location where most of the food is purchased by vendors before it’s brought into the city. A few years ago, Merca moved to a new location with plenty of space far away from everything after practically bursting its seams for decades in what is now a park beside the Electoral Tribunal. As the central location in this network, Merca offers by far the best deals you’ll ever find on fruits and vegetables, especially bulk amounts. And while its impracticality makes it an uncommon place for the expat to shop, sometimes you find yourself needing a good deal on five bags of potatoes, twenty pineapples, and a truckload of onions. You never know what life is going to throw at you, so it’s best to be prepared.

The city supports a network of public markets such as Mercado San Felipe Neri on the corner of Avenida Balboa and Avenida B. The market is a collection of independent vendors divided into meat in one wing and fruits and vegetables in the other. The butchers offer rare, unusual, or custom cuts of beef, pork, and chicken at great prices. They sell, for example, eggs at various stages of development, which, admittedly isn’t my thing, but to each their own. They have pig’s jowls and mountains of beef rib bones that my dogs lose their minds for, but would also go well in a soup. The fruits and vegetables are also competitively priced with most of the supply being sourced from Merca, but more conveniently located. Parking isn’t exactly what I’d call ample, but they do have a dedicated customer parking lot.

The Mercado de Mariscos is pretty much the same thing, but for fish and without the parking.

Now for the guys walking the street, selling mainly fruits and vegetables. In El Dorado, for example, you might notice them wearing matching vests emblazoned with a company name and an even dispersion across every lane. In Paitilla, it's a van packed with produce with the driver selling by the pound. On Frederico Boyd, you’ll see a more chaotic enterprise with crushed boxes of ripe avocados stacked on the cracked sidewalk under a tree. In Corozal, it’s just one dude with a pile of pineapples on a blanket. This is the last line of capitalism ensuring that fruits and vegetables approaching their ‘best by’ date find their way into someone’s dinner. There’s nothing wrong with buying from these gentlemen and, hey, maybe you’ll wind up with a new ‘guy’ who can get you the best deal on avocados in town.

As you can see, from the biggest and most modern supermarket to the humble hawker on the street, Panama is full of options when it comes to shopping for groceries. I recommend that you be a little adventurous and color outside of the lines of your comfort zone, maybe this week buy some meat at a specialty store like Pretelt, get your greens at Donde Arvey, and a bottle of wine from Super Kosher. Next week, get your meat at La Casa del Jamón, do some shopping at Súper Xtra, and stock up on toilet paper at PriceSmart. Variety, afterall, is the spice of life.