Dan Kelly, 38, spent 11 years traveling the world and visiting 1,000 supermarkets across 150 countries. He discovered that two British staples appeared in virtually every shop he entered.
A Global Supermarket Odyssey
Dan began his journey in 2014 while job hunting. A languages and humanities graduate, he secured a position with a firm that gathered cost of living data for companies relocating employees. His task was to record prices of about 164 items in supermarkets across different countries, sending the data to a London office.
Dan arrived in a new major city every two days, working solo with a daily accommodation budget of £70. Over 11 years, he gained extensive knowledge of the world's supermarkets and shopping centers.
Unexpected Discoveries
In an interview with the i newspaper, Dan shared surprising finds, including two items immensely popular in Britain. He noted that coffee, tea, and various biscuits were prevalent, often found even at the back of dusty shelves.
Dan said: "You'd always be able to find them, even at the back of a dusty shelf. Tea and coffee as well. I would see the 100g red box of Twining's English Breakfast Tea everywhere. And 100g jars of Nescafé Gold."
UK Supermarket Prices
While Dan is knowledgeable about global supermarket prices, UK shoppers recently learned the most affordable supermarket. According to Which?, ALDI was the cheapest in May, with a combined total of £168.30 for 95 items.
Which? explained their methodology: "We check the prices of hundreds of grocery items at eight major supermarkets, using an independent price comparison website. For each supermarket, we calculate the average price of each item across the month, then add those up to get each supermarket's average total price."
