I was surprised when I went for an extended visit to Colombia - outside of beef cuts (an entire rack of ribs, bit butcher cuts, not a single steak or a dozen hamburger patties) frozen foods are virtually non-existant. If you wander into any American supermarket or costco roughly 20% of the floor space is reserved for frozen foods. Something as ubiquitous as the bachelor frozen pizza just doesn't exist in their super markets, despite being the same size and ~roughly the same dry goods/shelf goods.
10 years ago, 80% of columbian homes had refrigerators and almost every home suffers from at least one blackout a year. this can be hours or days, during certain seasons.
and lastly, cultural reasons inform appliance design, which loops back around: columbian freezers are really small.
The Russia example with canned fish is spot on. American supermarkets rarely have canned fish in tomato sauce but it's one of my favorite ways to eat it.
And written in the first person, about the author's trip to Japan and Greece...? Maybe there's some licensing issue with using their own photos but it's very funny to pair the sentence:
> in a Tokyo 7-Eleven, and I am standing shoulder to shoulder with a dozen tourists, all clutching baskets loaded with the same things: fluffy egg mayo sandwiches, katsu curry buns, matcha Kit Kats and warm cans of Boss coffee pulled from heated shelves.
with a photo of someone standing in an empty supermarket, with no basket, buying tofu from a chilled shelf.
I thought I was alone in doing that and the writer felt the said. I love going to markets in places i travel to and seeing the different types of snacks they have. Often times I do walk in for toothpaste but then wander all around the store.
Oh I totally love sampling all the new-to-me snacks. And they make great gifts for back home too. (Just mind what your country does and does not allow across its borders.)
and lastly, cultural reasons inform appliance design, which loops back around: columbian freezers are really small.
https://www.alkosto.com/nevecon-electrolux-side-by-side-423-...
An instagrammer visiting a konbini in Kyoto would be far more interesting.
(If you want that experience in coastal California, visit a Nijiya Market.)
And written in the first person, about the author's trip to Japan and Greece...? Maybe there's some licensing issue with using their own photos but it's very funny to pair the sentence:
with a photo of someone standing in an empty supermarket, with no basket, buying tofu from a chilled shelf.Back in the day it would just be called a "slow news day"