Tbilisi - Post Report Question and Answers
How would you describe the availability and cost of groceries and household supplies relative to your home country?
Seasonal fruits and veggies are amazing and dirt cheap. Fresh baked tandoor-style bread on every corner. There is nothing you can’t find, I’m not sure why this is a consumables post. Colleagues complain about quality of meat at grocery stores but there are speciality butchers downtown. - Aug 2023
Most things are available on the economy. Some things you see one week may not be there the next week, but eventually it will return. Tons of street markets with fruits, vegetables, and meats. - Sep 2022
Good availability of lots of groceries at a reasonable price. Local fruits and vegetables are fantastic as is the wine. Fish is a bit more expensive. You have more limited choices of Asian, Indian, or Mexican ingredients/ spices. - Jun 2020
Actually, not bad, but then again, we're not that picky, and this is a consumables post, so you can ship the deal-breakers like chocolate chips, vanilla, whole wheat flour, Karo, molasses, maple syrup, pecans, stuffing mix, canned pumpkin (although local fresh pumpkins are wonderful), and high-quality pet food. At Carrefour, you could find quite a lot. No one's going to starve in Georgia; food is plentiful and cheap. Produce tends to be seasonal, however. So you won't find certain vegetables and fruits all year long. - Jan 2019
This is a consumables post, so we shipped most of the household stuff that we thought we would need. The local quality (though not actually local) is poor and can be expensive. There are two main groceries stores: Carrefour and Goodwill. There's a Goodwill in Vake, so that's where I typically buy most of my groceries. Because we shipped a lot of canned goods/dry good products, I don't typically buy them, although I think in generally, those types of things are a little more expensive here. Goodwill has a lot of German products that are fine quality, but a little pricey. The milk is all the ultra-hot treated stuff, which I don't mind, but my husband really doesn't like. Goodwill has really good chicken, pork, and trout.
There's also a fancy butcher in Tbilisi where we buy all of our beef and sausages. I don't like Georgian cheese, and the grocery store's selection of cheese is very limited (there's one sharp cheddar that I buy every time I see it, and there is sometimes mozzarella cheese, although it's sort of expensive). Georgians have their own yogurt (which is good, but much more watery than Greek yogurt) and cottage cheese (which is NOT good). Very hard to find good coffee locally. Oh also, there are a ton of spices available for way less money than in the US.
One of the best parts of living here are all the fruit and vegetables stands that are all over. We got here in May and had a continual supply of local produce through...November. Strawberries, cherries, nectarines, lettuce, spinach, figs, tangerines, oranges--they're all incredibly cheap and incredibly good. During the winter, there was still a consistent supply of peppers, onions, mushrooms, potatoes, green apples, and pears. There's one spicy pepper that I've found.
I cook comfortably here, but it just takes more time. There are no pre-cut butternut squashes or cans of chicken broth. - Apr 2017
Almost all local and regional produce and meat is very cheap. There's a Carrefour and a German-based supermarket called Goodwill where most families shop. If you don't care about name brand items, you can get most groceries cheaply. But for paper goods- plates, napkins, plastic cutlery, paper towels, toilet paper, etc - you are much better off ordering through the DPO. The local options for paper goods are very poor quality. - Feb 2017
Several major grocery chains available, Carrefour (French chain) in Dighomi is the one we use. Goodwill (German chain) is also here, but a bit pricier. LaFamily is a chain I hear others using. Costs are lower than Washington DC, but product selection is lower.You get used to it. - May 2016
Groceries were reasonably priced. We went to Goodwill and Carefore for staples and the Guldani outdoor market for our vegetables. - Jul 2014
Groceries cost slightly more than in the U. S. at the major supermarkets (Goodwill and Populi). Goodwill has a good selection of foreign products, though most are Russian and German so it can sometimes be difficult to figure out what cleaning products, etc, are for. Shampoo, sunscreen, razors, and other toiletries tend to be expensive with poor selection; these are best brought from home. The bazroba [bazaar] has excellent-quality fruits and vegetables; the produce in Georgia is the best I've ever tasted, though it's very seasonal and winter offers little selection; many people freeze fruit and veggies during the summer for use in winter. - Oct 2011
You can find like American items from German and French stores here. - Sep 2011
Goodwill is a good supermarket and is quite reliable. Most products are German,Turkish or Russian. - Apr 2011
Groceries are widely available at Goodwill Hypermarket (think small Walmart) and Populi. In the city there are small markets along every street. Fruits and Vegetables are available all year long, but especially fresh and tasty from May-Sept. The US Embassy commisary has gotten much better and has improved morale! - Jun 2010
Groceries and household supplies are fairly easily available at the "Goodwill" store. (Think super-Walmart from Germany.) Fruits & vegetables in season are cheaper and better on the street: 2 bags of the best tomatoes I've ever had cost $3. - Oct 2009
We brought almost all our own household supplies--two year supply of TP (available but a little pricier), dishwasher (available but PRICEY) and laundry detergent (same), but didn't need to bring dish and hand soap (widely available and not pricey).We ate granola from Goodwill that wasn't too expensive and we made our own pancakes all the time. We brought most of our own pantry items in our consumables shipment. Cheese at Goodwill was pretty decent, too, but a bit pricey. We actually had someone send us Costco bulk pepper jack cheese and it made the trip just fine. - Jan 2009
