Wine, coffee and foodstuffs in NL
We leave for NL via 5 nights in France early June. NL is new to us, but not France where we usually stock up on wine [I know we can now only have 9L] and good branded coffee [40+ packs usually or Lavazza]. I've found it's not really worth bringing anything else back now compared to the good old days.
Are wine and coffee more expensive in NL than France or is it much the same?
Colin
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Colin
Albeit a few years ago we came to the conclusion that it wasn't really worth all the bother of bringing wine back from France. The exception might have been some expensive wines that would be even more in the UK. Nearly all UK supermarkets now have regular discounts on wine so the advantage is lessened. We now prefer New World wines which are not so readily available in France but could be in the Netherlands? As to the price difference I would have thought that it would be cheaper in France for wine. If you like sherry the Netherlands seem to also have taste for that and its quite good value. Don't know about coffee but we came to the conclusion that in the last 10 years many prices have equalised between the UK and Europe, whether that is the same post Brexit I don't know.
David
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Thanks David. I must confess our consumption of the decent stuff, mainly Italian and Spanish is sourced through Waitrose. With 25% off 6 offer and my lovely wife's 20% partners discount it is a no brainer. I do however like a couple of the cheap French plonk wine boxes and tend to drink a bit too much of this when we are away. To lighten things up whilst cooking a Rose with fizzy mineral water hits the mark.
Colin
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Colin, Your 9 litre figure is wrong. You can bring back 18 litres of still wine per person - so 36 litres for a couple. Sparkling wine, fortified wine, spirits and beer are extra. It might be worth coming home from Netherlands via Auchan at Calais after all!
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We will also be in NL in the next few months and we were last there 3 years ago on the way back from Germany and were in France just a few months ago, albeit for only a couple of days to attend a funeral.
We found that Coffee and other staples were no dearer than France, in fact we think that prices in France have now increased significantly and would have to increase our budget for shopping there if gong for some time. The one thing I did find, and appreciate that it won't apply to most who read this, is that I am better catered for in Germany than the NL for Gluten Free products. In fact Germany is cheaper than NL for shopping as we found when stopping on a site in NL near the border with Germany. I didn't notice any significant difference to prices over here but that was pre Brexit and Covid and I have no idea how inflation and obtaining goods is affecting the people in the Netherlands.
As for wine, whilst we do indeed enjoy a glass or two we mostly stick to beer in NL. I think DKs comments about France being cheaper to be right, plus the choice is much wider.
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Colin
It was the boxes that we used to bring back in the main but we did have a few disappointments which sometimes meant a 3 or even 5 litre box of wine went down the drain. We also noticed that in France the boxes were increasing in price whereas previously they had been quite cheap. Waitrose do a nice Italian and Chilean red for £14.95 a box, 2.25lts. So even without the wine offer if you were to purchase 6 boxes your would get an extra 5% off reducing the price to £14.20 a box and with your wife's staff discount that would reduce it further to £11.36 a box. With the 25% offer they go down to a ridiculous £8.52 a box!!!!! Probably not as romantic as browsing through the racks of a large French supermarket!
David
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Eurotraveller, that's good news on the allowance I thought it was only 9L each, plus sparkling.
David, unfortunately the discount scheme does not work well with the boxes. The partners scheme is at times difficult to follow and a calculator is often required.
I'm a bit embarrassed to admit I like the JP Cheney, either Cab/Sav or Merlot. The Rochet Mazet is also a decent plonk. Their Cinsault/Grenache Rose also hits the spot on a hot summer evening.
I think I'll get my red wine box quota in France along with any coffee if it heavily undercuts UK. I'll top up on Macon Villages in Aldi, 2019 price was sub Euro5 a bottle. Oh memories.
Colin
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36L is four full cases. Better check your payload, people.
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We will be in Holland in early July and will be bringing back some Goudband Coffed Melk.
As DK says prices here much better than they used to be and, whilst browsing the wine choices in a French supermarket is enjoyable, we rarely buy French wine at home unless it’s on offer and a cracking buy this week was an £11 Bordeaux, which we tried earlier this year when on offer, at 4 bottles for £20 in Morrisons!
Might have some with the whole salmon we bought at the same time.
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With just the two of us and a high caravan payload we used to bring back enough for the year. Another good reason for buying an Eriba and caravanning without children.
And before anybody has a hissy fit, do the maths. The overall weight of the ballast is the weight of two adults in the back of the car. Wine boxes weigh half the comparable bottle volume.
Our current Eriba has an even higher payload, but unfortunately allowances are down.
Colin
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I must admit we swapped the diesel Yeti in the photo for a petrol Audi A3, which tows the newer and heavier Eriba even better, and still gets 34-40 mpg. The only thing the van does not have is a shower. We even have a large permanent double bed that is very comfortable.
Colin
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An impressive haul Colin
David
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Colin, “Same, same, but different”, as they always said to us in Thailand. But we cheated and towed with a 2.2 litre diesel Freelander
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Colin, we have been in NL for about 2 weeks now and haven't noticed any shortfall of basic food items here, even my GF stuff is available. We've shopped at 2 National Supermarkets in different places and one village Co-Op and found nothing wanting.
Even bought a bottle of red to try at a "Jumbo" for about £5 and it's decent enough for glass or two at night so prices not extortionate.
Mrs WN highly delighted as she ran out of her favourite Chocolate Eclair sweets and found some made in the UK and exported here.
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The one thing I would mention for anyone coming over to the Netherlands is that Supermarkets very rarely accept Visa cards, credit or debit, and even my Mastercard credit card isn't accepted so always have some money on you to avoid embarassement.
We've even had to pay a couple of campsites using cash. Major petrol stations accept the cards no problem and I was surprised when a bike ferry across a canal had a state of the art machine that accepted my CC. Good job really as he didn't accept cash. We couldn't park in a small town as the machine wouldn't accept a card payment and there was no cash alternative available.
One site we stayed at said that he had only just started with Visa this year after they relented about costs for smaller operators.
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David, can you please speak to my wife. I've expressed a desire to go to Spain next year for the first time, May and a week either side, but I'm not having much joy.
If I book a 45 days multi trip Red Pennant this year we will still be covered next year, so another reason to go.
Colin
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