Karmiel (כרמיאל) Supermarket Sweep
A Roundup of the best and the worst supermarkets in the town.
I didn’t realise how much knowledge I had on British supermarkets ’til I left. I mean, you live somewhere for 30+ years and you know where to get this, where to get that, where to get parking, where to get petrol points, discounts and where is the most fun experience if you have a baby in tow. You collate the information and file it somewhere without even thinking about it.
So when you move country, you have to totally start again.
When we got here, Supersol (Shufersal) seemed the most like what we were used to, plus we had no car and they were easy to get to, fairly user friendly and plied us with a credit card. The place also resembles Tesco, and us women are creatures of habit when it comes to shopping… so we were loyal to them. For a bit.
Then it dawned on us that perhaps there are better deals to be had [and the fruit and veg there is pretty miserable for an “upmarket” supermarket] so we decided to do 30 years of research in a few months. Since then we have been to EVERY supermarket in Karmiel [we think] and now we can safely say we have local knowledge 🙂 We hope you find this useful, and if you are reading this in the UK, just be grateful you know the system.
Supersol (Shufersal) – שופרסל
The dodgy thing about this place is that the prices are not fixed, i.e. the one in the Dromit is pricier than the one in the Big. No idea why. Maybe because its smaller. Whatever. The meat counter looks really clean [huge bonus], the aisles are clearly labelled and you can get petrol reductions. But they don’t sell much in bulk and you don’t see too many bargains. Probably the best selection of specialist ingredients for e.g. baking or asian cooking. Bloke at the fish counter is very friendly if you can handle an alive fish being waved at you enthusiastically. Checkout staff not particuarly friendly and the place massively lacks character. I think they are trying to be American. But if you like bog-standard supermarkets then this is for you.
Shivuk – שיווק
This feels like an old-fashioned Israeli supermarket. Randomly stocked shelves with frequent repeats of things they obviously feel every Israeli home shouldn’t be without [canned chickpeas, packet soups, ptitim]. You can get some good deals especially if you buy in bulk. Bakery looks appealing and you can get really cheap bags of rolls, ciabbata etc. Little cafe instore which helps if you have a toddler in tow but you need to have change handy. I have a soft spot for the place. 5% discount if you pay cash which actually adds up to a lot if you shop there regularly. Meat counter looks minging but it is kosher. Good deals on bottled drinks and beer. Variable quality on fruit and veg – depends on the day. Very friendly women on cheese counter who hand out squares of cheese freely to anyone under 5 who looks like they haven’t eaten in the last 2 minutes. The pickles look fresh in there. Very appealing spice counter. Seems to be the cheapest place to buy organic milk. Has a definite Israeli feel.
Mazon Yehuda – מזון יהודה
Adorable mini-supermarket located in the Maaravit. Random selection of stuff. Bakery looks very appealing though we haven’t bought anything there other than an organic brown loaf so far. They sell what looks like organic chicken but it’s not cheap. Clean looking though. Prices not especially competitive but you can get good deals on certain random items and I noticed they had a lot of sushi ingredients.
The fruit and veg there is pretty dire but there is a cute little greengrocers practically nextdoor, which is pretty good and because it’s small I get the impression they give good deals to loyal customers. I offered to pay for the apple Jojo had eaten and the guy just wished me a “labriut”. Makes a change fromt he supermarkets!
Yesh – יש
This is the little [poorer] sister to Supersol, apparantly owned by the same people. Its much smaller and located inside the old mall. For some reason reminds me of Iceland though its not a frozen food specialist. My neighbour told me about it and I didnt think it was very good the first time I went but I now realise that they have regular very good deals – most likely loss-leaders – on useful stuff. You need to read the papers though to know about it. They recently had a deal where most of their fruit and veg was 2 shekel a kilo. Pretty amazing to be buying avocados and fruit for the price of cheap onions. Its also completely kosher and has a butcher, bakery and small cheese counter. Their own-brand packaging is pretty miserable though [think Tesco Value] so don’t shop there if your larder has an image to upkeep 😉
Mega – מגה
I haven’t made it in there yet. Its inside the BIG centre. Husband says its ok, but some debate as to whether its kosher or not. Further research to be carried out or perhaps someone else can enlighten us.
UPDATE
Since time of writing we have visited Mega and found it to be very clean, quite well stocked ad nicely laid out. Fruit and veg is nicer than supersol, though not organic. They have no meat hechsher, although it does look like all the same stuff as supersol. I wanted my chicken quartered so I didn’t buy there. Not sure why they don’t go the whole hog and pay a mashgiach, possibly not enough people to make it worthwhile. Prices were competitive, they seem to price match supersol on most things. We got a good deal on some imported pasta and they had some cheapy clothes. They have an own brand on toiletries that was fairly reasonable.
Dahan – דהן
Not really a supermarket, more of an irresistably well stocked and good value warehouse designed to appeal to Israelis and Arabs alike. Owned by Arabs and found in the industrial zone. I imagine all the local small cafes and large families shop here. Clean and very well stocked butcher with quite friendly service, apparently cheaper on Wednesdays. Amazing fruit and veg selection [quality varies and doubtfully ever organic but prices are market value], there is a fish counter and cheap cheap bread, spices and dried stuff. Healthy juices also seem to be cheaper there than the supermarkets. Its the closest thing Karmiel has to Costco.
[Fridays the place is a zoo so avoid avoid avoid.]
Happy shopping!
4 Replies to “Karmiel (כרמיאל) Supermarket Sweep”
Ok, so a couple of comments to clear things up.
The reason that the Supersol used to be differently priced in the mall as opposed by BIG is because, up until a few weeks ago, they used to be different franchises of Supersol. Supersol has different stores; Supersol Deal, Supersol Big, and one other I can’t remember. I think they’re named based on size. The one in the mall was a Supersol Big, and they were higher priced but had better and more frequent sales than Supersol Deal, which is the one by BIG. However, Supersol discontinued the Big branch, and now The Supersol in the mall is the same Supersol Deal as the one by BIG, so the prices should be the same.
I shop there when I only need a couple of items since it’s so much smaller than the one by BIG. I also find their vegetable and fruit selection to be appalling, and it takes forever to get through the check-out lines even if there’s only one or two people in front of you. It’s like those old Russian ladies were trained to move like molasses. They’ve obviously never heard about expediency, and the managers don’t seem to really care about customer satisfaction.
Also, if they’re trying to be like an American super market, then they’ve never actually been to America.
I think Mega sometimes has a better fruit and vegetable selection than Supersol, but, on the whole, their prices are a bit higher than Supersol. I go there to buy my sushi stuff because I like the brand they carry better than the one at Supersol, but that’s about it. They also don’t have a Hechsher anymore at the bread counter. The meat is Kosher, though. Mega also doesn’t have as good a soy selection as Supersol.
Yesh is basically the store for the Hareidi community. Like you said, they do have good sales, but they don’t have much in the selection department.
Hi, I am on gap year program after high school and currently living in Karmiel for a few months volunteering. I was wondering if you could tell me where Shivuk and Dahan are located specifically as I would like to check them out myself.
They are both in the Aizor Hataasiah [industrial area]. Dahan is quite far down, you down the main road and its near the end. Shivuk – nearer the entrance to the area, “Hayotzrim Street” – but ask any bus driver or taxi driver and they will know.
Hi, Been to the Supercell supermarket in the square/roundabout in Karmiel. Not sure if it is the centre, (would I be able to tell the difference anyway?). The fruit/veg is marked in weight per kilo but there is no way to work out the cost of say a melon or bunch of oranges. Perhaps they expect you to be psychic or Israelis have some innate ability to weigh items in their hands!!!