We all know that food is life. It’s also one of the biggest expenses in most people’s monthly budget, and recent years’ inflation has only made that worse. The good news is that it’s more than possible to bring those costs down. Over the years I’ve found many different ways to cut my own grocery bill, and I’ve put them all into this guide on how to save money on groceries in Germany.
This first part covers grocery shopping: my tips for saving money at supermarkets and building good shopping habits, where to find affordable organic food (spoiler alert: not in the bio-supermarkets), the food rescue app I keep recommending, and a few ways to make your coffee habit cheaper. Part two (out next month) covers food and grocery delivery, meal kits and discounts on eating out.
Note: this article contains affiliate links, which are marked with *.
🛒 How to Save Money at Supermarkets in Germany
The supermarket is the first place to look if you want to save money on groceries in Germany – it’s where most of our food budget goes, so it’s also where small changes pay off the fastest. You don’t need to adopt all of these tips: picking even a few can make a difference to your final grocery bill.
Pick a Cheaper Store
The most obvious move is also the most effective: switch part of your shopping to a cheaper supermarket. Here it helps to know the German supermarket hierarchy, from cheapest to most expensive:
Discounters (Aldi, Lidl, Netto, Penny): the cheapest places to shop, with no-frills stores and ranges built mostly around their own labels. You won’t find much variety or many branded products, but for everyday staples the prices are hard to beat and the quality is good enough.
Kaufland: a category of its own, a hypermarket rather than a discounter, with huge stores carrying 20,000+ products vs. the few thousand at Aldi or Lidl. In terms of price, it tends to sit a notch above the discounters on branded goods while matching them on its own labels, so you get discounter prices on basics with far more choice.
Full-service supermarkets (Rewe, Edeka): the “easy” option a lot of people default to, with the widest everyday range, fresh counters and more pleasant stores. The prices are higher than at the discounters, but the convenience and selection make up for it. I’m personally very much loyal to Rewe (you can find my full guide to saving money at Rewe here).
Premium and organic supermarkets (Denn’s Biomarkt, Alnatura, Bio Company): dedicated organic chains carrying an all-bio range, from produce and dairy to household goods. The quality and selection are excellent, but you definitely pay for it – these stores tend to be quite expensive.
You don’t have to move your entire shopping to a discounter to feel the benefit: for example, you can buy staples at a discounter or do bulk shopping at a hypermarket, and go to Rewe or Edeka for your smaller shopping trips during the week.
Try Turkish and International Supermarkets
If there’s a Turkish, Arabic, Asian or other international supermarket near you, it’s worth paying a visit to compare the prices with the supermarket you usually shop at. Often you will find that many things (like grains, nuts, legumes, meat and spices) are more affordable, and the fruit and veg are frequently better too. Indian and Turkish stores tend to have particularly appealing value for money. If you’re in Berlin, check out Eurogida, a Turkish supermarket chain: not only is the meat cheaper, but you can also find cuts that are not available in most supermarkets (for instance, lamb shank).
I also enjoy shopping at GoAsia – this is a more premium supermarket experience, so it’s less about saving money and more about discovering cool products you wouldn’t have found otherwise. Smaller Asian stores often sell rice in bulk – if you eat a lot of rice and have space to store it, that’s a good way to save money.
Buy Private Labels
Private labels (also called own brands) are products a supermarket sells under its own name rather than a manufacturer’s brand. Almost every chain has its own budget range – Ja! at Rewe, Gut & Günstig at Edeka, K-Classic at Kaufland, plus the various private labels at Aldi and Lidl. For most staples (pasta, rice, tinned tomatoes, cheese, salami, canned fish) the own-label version costs noticeably less than the branded one and is usually made to a perfectly good standard – sometimes in the exact same factory. This is the easiest single change on this list, and the one I’d start with if you want to save money on groceries in Germany.
Rewe’s private labels offer vastly different price points in the same product category – stick to Ja! and Rewe Beste Wahl to save money
Use the Supermarket Apps
Supermarket apps are the best way to keep on top of discounts, and one of the simplest ways to save money on groceries in Germany: they throw in coupons, loyalty points and even the occasional free product. Install the apps for whichever stores you shop at most, activate the coupons before you shop, and scan your loyalty card at checkout.
I shop at Rewe, and I use the Rewe app* every time: before I go (or while I’m in the aisles), I browse the offers and activate any bonus coupons I want, then scan my loyalty card QR code in the app at the checkout to apply them. Coupons come in a few forms: small product-specific coupons that knock €0.40–0.80 off certain items (often something you bought before, which is nice because you’d likely buy it again anyway), 10% coupons on certain private labels (like Rewe Bio) or categories like fruit and veg, and Bonus-Booster coupons that reward your spending – €100 in a month earns 3% off a future shop, €250 gets you 5%, and €500 unlocks 10%, usable on any shopping trip the following month (so it’s worth saving for a big one).
If you don’t mind going to different supermarkets to get the best prices, Marktguru is the app to have: it gathers the current discount leaflets from most major chains, plus some special promotions, so you can see what’s on offer in the stores near you.
Keep an Eye Out for Free Product Tests
Brands constantly run “try it for free” promotions: you buy a qualifying product, upload your receipt (sometimes with a photo of the product), and get your money back. New promos pop up every week, and they cover everything from groceries to household basics, so there’s almost always one worth grabbing. Certain product categories are on offer more than others: these include snacks, chocolate, soft drinks, vegan yogurt alternatives, beer and pre-mixed cocktails.
I add the newest money-back promos to every deal digest I send, so it’s easy to keep an eye on them. To see what’s currently on offer, you can scroll through the most recent issues here.
Rewe product tests are another good source of freebies: you can apply to test selected products for free. There are usually 2–3 tests running at a time, and you can subscribe to their product-test newsletter in your account to get notified about new ones. You apply by answering a couple of quick questions about your shopping habits, and if you’re picked, you collect the product free at your local Rewe, try it, and leave a short review. You won’t be chosen every time, but the odds are decent – I get selected for 8–12 tests a year and I got to test some really nice things like wagyu burgers, dark chocolate, laundry pods and cleaning supplies.
Build Good Shopping and Cooking Habits
The tips below are simple and universal, and mostly just common sense – but I found they make a real difference once they become a habit, and together they’re one of the most reliable ways to save money on groceries in Germany over time. Here’s what I find useful:
Shop discounts: find promotional offers in supermarket apps or just by looking at labels when you’re at the store. Also, hunt for soon-expiring produce, which is often reduced by 30–50%. Pro tip: something reduced because it expires today doesn’t actually have to be eaten today – once it’s cooked, you’ve usually got a few more days. Plus, some groceries are good past their best-before date (use your common sense and always do a sniff test).
Check the unit price: when comparing products within a category (say, different brands of cheese or smoked salmon), always look at the Grundpreis (per kilo or liter) and not just the sticker price. German shops are legally required to show it, so you don’t have to do any math yourself, and spotting the better-value pack size only takes a few seconds.
Go for whole, less-processed foods: raw vegetables, raw meat, simple grains or dried lentils cost a fraction of their processed, seasoned, canned, pre-cut or ready-made versions. As a rule, the less processed a product is, the cheaper it is: snacks in beautiful packaging and soft drinks are the biggest budget offenders. If you want to save money on food, snack on bananas and peanut butter instead of protein bars, skip the iced tea and learn to like water (buy a filter if you need to).
Buy in season: seasonal produce is cheaper and tastes better, while out-of-season imports cost more.
Don’t shop hungry: everything looks delicious on an empty stomach. Eat first, or you’ll come home with three snacks you don’t need and some gourmet condiment you’ll never actually use.
Make a shopping list and stick to it: decide what you need before you go and don’t deviate. Paired with the previous one, this kills most impulse buys.
Buy what you’ll actually finish: food you throw away is money you threw away. The freezer is your best friend: freeze cooked food, bread, vegetables and whatnot. Also learn how to store things properly – especially herbs, since they tend to wilt within days.
Cook around shared ingredients: plan meals that reuse the same items so nothing gets bought for one recipe and ends up only half-used. Also, eating the same thing a few days in a row saves both time and money.
Return your bottles: take your Pfand deposits back instead of letting them pile up in a corner. Getting a few euros off your shopping bill + doing a good thing for the environment = win.
🥬 Organic Food in Drogeries? Yes, Really
Here’s something most people (including myself up until a couple of years ago) walk straight past: Germany’s drugstores sell food, and it’s excellent value for money. dm and Rossmann both carry a solid grocery range – pasta, grains, oats, muesli, snacks, plant milk, oils, tea, baby food and more. The product selection is mostly built around their own organic labels, dmBio at dm and EnerBio at Rossmann. Organic normally comes at a premium, but these own-brand bio products are priced so well that they often undercut even discounters. They also carry some cool healthy products that you can’t find in regular supermarkets, and the vegan selection is very good.
The loyalty apps make it better still. Both the dm and Rossmann apps regularly drop coupons that you activate before you shop and scan at the checkout. Stack them on the already-low prices and you’re getting a great deal – it’s one of the most overlooked ways to save money on groceries in Germany. Dm often runs promos where you get a free product for your next purchase – I find these very fun.
🛍️ Too Good to Go App: Surplus Food Bags for €3–5
Too Good to Go* is an app I keep recommending to anyone who’ll listen. It lets you buy unsold food that shops, cafés, bakeries and supermarkets would otherwise throw out at the end of the day, usually for between €3 and €5. You reserve a Magic Bag in the app, pay online, and collect it within a set time slot – and you’ll often get far more than you’d expect for the price.
You can choose the kind of bag you’d like – baked goods, ready meals or groceries – and filter for vegetarian or vegan if you’d like. Most bags come from local bakeries and restaurants, but you’ll also see big names like Rewe To Go, Denn’s Biomarkt, Netto, Edeka and Bio Company, plus the occasional hotel breakfast bag from the likes of Hilton – a fun way to do brunch at home for about €4 for two. Each listing has a user rating to help you judge whether a bag’s any good, and it’s worth checking the spot on Google Maps too, where some people review their bags as well. You can mark places as favorites and get notified when they drop the new bags so that you can book one quickly – the good ones tend to sell out fast.
Too Good to Go bags are usually excellent value for money, which is why I keep recommending this app
I’ve had everything from fresh pasta to pastries to fruit and veg bags this way, and it’s been reliably good value. It’s one of the easiest ways to save money on groceries in Germany and add some variety to your routine by trying new things. Another cool thing about Too Good to Go is that they are active in many countries, so you can use the app when you travel too – I recently used it in a small town in Tenerife to pick up a giant bag of pastries for €3.
☕ Saving Money on Coffee Capsules
Coffee is one of those small recurring costs that adds up over time, so it earns its own section in any guide on how to save money on groceries in Germany. Buying ground coffee or beans is cheaper than capsules, and if that’s your setup there isn’t much to add to the general grocery shopping tips above. However, after many years of experimenting with different coffee brewing methods, I personally settled on the convenience of capsule machines. If you’re with me on that one, here are some tips I have been using to keep the costs down.
Go for Cheaper Capsules
Nespresso capsules are a premium product, sold at a premium price – but you have options beyond Nespresso’s own capsules. Plenty of brands make compatible ones that fit the same machines for noticeably less per cup. Sites like KaffeK and Tuttocialde have a wide selection and good prices across many brands, and they also have their own private labels which are even cheaper (from €0.11/capsule).
The catch is taste: I tried just about every cheaper brand going and never found one that matched Nespresso for me. The best ones were the Lavazza Espresso Maestro line (from €0.30 per capsule) and illy (€0.50, which is actually the same price as Nespresso). But that’s a personal call – plenty of people are perfectly happy with them, and if you’re one of them, this is the simplest way to keep your capsule habit cheap.
Nespresso Without Breaking the Bank
After a few years of buying cheaper capsules and never being fully satisfied with them, I decided to switch to Nespresso*. I never looked back (the taste is just so much better!), and it didn’t blow up my budget either. First, once I did the math on my two-coffees-a-day habit, the monthly difference was actually small: about €30 for Nespresso (at full price) against €18 for Lavazza. And second, you don’t actually have to pay the full price – since I switched two years ago, I haven’t done so even once. Here are some ways you can keep the cost down:
It’s a nice machine; also, did I already mention that it’s free?
New-customer machine deal: as a new customer, you can get a Nespresso Essenza Mini C machine free when you commit to buying 20 sleeves of capsules (~€100 total) – see the current offer here*. The machine alone is worth around €109, so you are getting a great deal. When I switched to Nespresso and used that deal, I already had a machine, so I just resold the new one on Kleinanzeigen, and still came out way ahead, so I highly recommend that deal.
New-customer capsule discount: if you’re not ready to commit to a machine deal, as a new customer you can also get 20% off your first capsule order (minimum 5 sleeves). Use promo code WELCOME2026 (advertisement) or check the offer page*.
Ongoing promos: sign up for the Nespresso newsletter and keep an eye on promos. Sales aren’t frequent, but every few months they offer 10–15% off or, say, €15 off a bigger order, which is when I stock up. Capsules last for a long time, so if you time your purchases well, you will never have to pay the full price.
Capsule subscription*: a subscription gets you a standing 10% discount in exchange for committing to deliveries. The minimum order quantity is 5 sleeves, delivered every 3 months – really easy, even if you don’t drink a lot of coffee.
Machine subscription*: you pick a machine for €1 and commit to a fixed monthly fee for a year – but that fee isn’t really a cost, because it lands in your account as credit you can spend on coffee (or accessories like cups, milk frothers, etc.) whenever you like. So as long as you’d be buying the coffee for a year anyway, you’re effectively getting the machine for €1. The key is to match the machine to your coffee habit: calculate what you spend on coffee in a month, then pick one whose monthly fee comes in under that. The cheapest subscription is the Essenza Mini at €20/month; if you drink two coffees a day (roughly €30 of coffee a month), you can step up to a Pixie, Vertuo Next Basic or Vertuo Pop at €30/month and so on. The more you plan to spend per month, the better machine you can get: you can see all the options here*.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s that eating well and spending less aren’t at odds – the cheaper option is often the fresher and more interesting one, whether that’s produce from the Turkish supermarket, organic food from dm, or a €5 surprise bag from a place you wouldn’t have tried otherwise. Pick a few of these ideas, see how they fit into your routine, and you’ll be able to save money on groceries in Germany without it ever feeling like you’re depriving yourself.
And that’s only half of the tips I’ve got for you! Part two of this guide, out next month, has more money-saving ideas – grocery and food delivery, meal kits, discounts on restaurants and takeout, and more. If you’d like it delivered straight to your inbox, along with my weekly roundup of the best deals, cashback offers and money-saving tips for life in Germany, you can subscribe to the Smart Living newsletter here.
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