There’s a high chance you’re grocery shopping at a terrible supermarket in Florence. Those convenient, central locations sandwiched between a monument and your apartment are overpriced and understocked. We compared the available selection and prices of popular name-brand goods at our favorite supermarket chain in Florence’s historic city center (Conad), and our top choice just outside the city walls (Coop), to show the impact a little walking can have on your weekly grocery shopping. And if saving money isn’t your main concern, we also threw Florence’s new Eataly gourmet superstore into the mix.
Supermarket in Florence Italy: the list
Let’s start with a brief introduction of each supermarket chain:
1. Coop
If you can carry a grocery bag long distances, a trip to Coop will make you laugh at “choices” offered in downtown supermarkets. Coop’s in Florence are located just outside the historic city center (the closet is about a 20-minute walk from the duomo), where they have the space for 25 aisles, a bakery, and an enormous assortment of everything from fresh fish, meat, and cheeses to wine glasses, socks, and power adapters. For high quality, a big selection, and the cheapest prices, this is the number one place to do your grocery shopping.

2. Conad
If you can’t make it outside Florence’s city center, this is your best bet. Like all other centrally located supermarkets, downtown Conad’s are small and offer few choices; however, compared to Meta, Centro Supermercato, Sissa, and Despar, they’re cheaper and noticeably higher quality. And with six locations (4 regular Conad’s and 2 fancier “Sapori & Dintorni” Conad’s) inside Florence’s historic walls, chances are you won’t have to walk far to get there.

3. Eataly
If you’re a student and plan on doing your weekly grocery run here, think again. The prices will be way out of your range. Although Eataly is a nice place to splurge every now and then, and perfect for picking up edible gifts to smuggle back home for your friends and family. This international chain of Italian gourmet grocery stores has locations in New York, Chicago, Japan, and Italy; and the newly opened Florence location has the entire city wandering in and pushing you out of the way to get their hands on the country’s most delicious premium products. Besides shopping, you can order a meal from counters divided by food category (meat, fish, vegetarian, sandwiches, pizza) and eat it at a table inside or on the outdoor terrace. The only downside is you will be paying the same as if you ate at a real restaurant, without getting waited on.

Now that you’ve gotten to know all three stores, it’s time to look into our price comparisons between them:

(**): Eataly does not carry these brands so we went with the cheapest alternative.
Mozzarella is a necessity in your Italian fridge, and you will get the best value when purchasing it at the Coop. It’s not a drastic difference, only €.07, but hey! Every cent counts, right?
*This is not a promotional article for Coop. We really just love them and that’s all. 🙂
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