For any kind of major grocery shopping, there are basically two places you can choose from in the Philippines. I am not talking about needing to buy a can of coke or a pack of gum at the convenience store. I am talking about making a major purchase of groceries for your household. Maybe it’s enough for a few days, for a week, or longer. When you purchase that kind of quantity, you are looking to get a good price, and a place where you can get most of what you need. So, where do you go? As I said, generally there are a couple of choices for such purchases: the grocery store or the wet market.
What are the advantages of shopping at the grocery store? Well, first of all, it is more modern. Just like a grocery store in the USA, Europe or wherever you are from, if you go to SM or another major Supermarket, you will find that is similar to what you experienced back home. Brightly lighten aisles full of all sorts of goods. You’ll find imported goods as well as local goods. Generally, big grocery stores are kept relatively clean and germ free (although this can vary). You can find basically every grocery item that you might need under one roof. Whether it is meat, fish, breakfast cereal or tea bags, they will have it at the grocery store. If language is an issue, you can easily get help in English at the grocery store.
What are the advantages of shopping at the wet market? Well, you can find all the basics at the wet market. If you need meat, fish, rice or any other staple product that is regularly needed to prepare meals at your home, they have it at the wet market. When it comes to fish, meat, chicken and such, if you go early in the morning, I believe that you will get a product that is fresher than you will find in th grocery store. I believe this to be particularly true for fish. All the non-necessary items that are generally impulse buys, which you don’t need, are not necessarily found at the wet market. This might mean that you will avoid purchasing things that you don’t need. Fruits and vegetables are available in more variety at the wet market than at the grocery store (and much fresher) in most cases. When you deal with the person at the stall at the wet market, you are generally dealing with the owner of the enterprise, or at least somebody in the family. Because of this, they go out of their way to be friendly, and to serve you. If you are trying to learn to speak the local language, or just get a taste of local culture, I believe that the wet market is the very best place where you can do this. There is no substitute!
What are the disadvantages of shopping at the grocery store? Well, in general, prices at a big grocery store are generally higher than what you will pay in the wet market. You might have to travel half way across town to get to a good supermarket. Selections of fruits and vegetables are generally limited, and also the freshness of such products is generally not that great at the supermarket, in my experience. Many times in a big grocery store, it can be difficult to find assistance as the employees are pretty busy, and sometimes have an unhelpful attitude. The employees are not the owners of the store, and thus they care less whether you buy or not.
What are the disadvantages of shopping at the wet market? Well, the first thing that comes to mind is cleanliness. It’s not that it is really dirty, but it is generally an outside market, and this tends to get all the auto exhaust, smoke, dirt and such. If you buy fruits and vegetables in such a place, be sure to wash the stuff before consuming it. When you are in a place like this, be ready for some unpleasant odors! If you can’t handle smelling some nasty things, better go to the supermarket. If you intend to buy meat, fish and such, it is much better to do it early in the morning when stocks are fresh. Most wet markets don’t have refrigeration, so by late on a hot afternoon, freshness can suffer. Also, when shopping at the wet market, you might not find everything you need, and thus may need to go to the supermarket to get those hard to find items.
So, my evaluation, overall is that you would be best to mix it up and shop in both places. Buy things like fresh fruits, vegetables and fish at the wet market. Shop for dry goods, prepared foods and such at the grocery store. Compare the items in your local area to determine where you can get the freshest items, the best prices, etc., and then decide what to buy at each location!
Here in the Philippines, there are multiple choices for things like this – take advantage of the fact that these places are here to serve you!
Here is an added bonus for you. In Luzon, the wet market is called the Palengke. If you are in the Visayas or Mindanao, the wet market is referred to locally as the Mercado, or in Davao it is most commonly called by it’s Tagalog name, Palengke, but Mercado can be used too.
I really enjoy a day at the palenke, but Venice doesn't let me go as often as I would like… mostly because she can't haggle over price with the stall owners if I'm standing there lol.
Hi Louis – Ha ha… I hear you, my friend! I go to the palengke on a semi-regular basis, but I never go with Feyma. It's a place that I enjoy going alone, and I like taking my camera and shooting photos there. It's also fun to interact with the vendors and such too. You can find some real interesting things at the palengke! 😆
Very good post! We do a combination of shopping at the store and the market.
Another thing to keep in mind is that when you shop in the local wet market, you are supporting the efforts of local farmers, and eating seasonal fruits and veggies that have not come from far away and are at their best. Shopping at Makro, the produce and meats can come from who knows where… by boat and refrigerated containers. Does it even come from the Philippines?
So, I encourage you to support local farmers whenever you can!
Good morning Bob! In some towns in Tarlac and Pangasinan, they call the wet market ILI. ILI is Ilocano for town. In some towns, they use the word BAYAN which is tagalog for town also. I think a trip to the grocery or to the public market is therapeutic!
Even before I read Cathy's comment … I was going to say you could make a whole blog post out of 'what do you call a market'? They sure have a lot of names. Actually the two most common, palengke and mercado are both Spanish in origin … mercado translates directly to market and palngke is derivded from place that sells pan de sal … fresh bread of the day .. some people even think pan de sal is a Filipino word. Both Tagalog abd Bisayan are just loaded with Spanish-derived words … Ilocano is a much different langaue to the other two, it's roots are very deep in Malay … my wife who lived in Malaysia several years can 'get by' in both Mayalsian and Illocano and is often struck by similarities.
The primary question .. where to shop? We go to the SM Hypermarket an average of once a week to buy both dry groceries and some meats … like lean ground beef and pork … they look at me strange but they will leave out the fat if you ask. We also buy hard to find veggies there. Most of our veggies and much of our meat comes to the door from two ladies with a cart … they've served the family for years … we buy what veggies and fruit that looks good and the rest we get next time … they also take orders for meat and fish items and then bring the next vist. For last minute items we send the helper to a 'heavy' sari-sari store about 200 meters around the corner ,,, tey have veggies, canned goods, etc, and across the street from them is the fresh bakery … there are three small palanke's in the 2 km drive to SM so there's an occasional stop for something the other places don't have … variety isthe spice of life, indeed.
need to add smellavision to your blog…first time american visitors to the wet market are often shocked at the health codes ! 😉
Hi Bob, Brian is right. After three years going every weekend to the market I adjusted the smell and "other things". And back to your topic, Bob: we do like American Lola… .
Hi AmericanLola – We are like you, we do a combination, although mostly at the supermarket. For me, personally, I enjoy just going to the palengke for the entertainment value, and a chance to practice my language learning.
Hi Cathy – It seems that there is a different name in every town! Ili, huh? That's a new one for me!
Hi Dave Starr – We have some of the vendors who come to the house too. There is a seafood guy who comes by every morning on a bicycle with an ice chest full of fish, shrimp, etc. He offers a good value and a fresh quality product too!
Hi brian – Hey, next time I upgrade the server, I'll see if I can add that smellavision option! Now, that is hi-tech!
Hi Klaus – Ha ha… it took you three years to adjust! I felt pretty adjusting in just a couple months! 😆
Hi Bob, When I Visited my friend in Luzon the first time he sent me to the wet market to get some pork to make Wiener Schnitzel, but he warned me "The cuts of meat won't be the same as in Austria!" Boy, I'll say! Finally found some pork – the vendor could speak a little English. How much, she said? One pound? Whack! There I was with a lump of pork flesh. Great fun, and the Schnitzel was good too! I love the wet market and would be a steady visitor if I was living in the Philippines.
Hello Bob!
How are you?
Another word for wet market is "tiangge", although I don't think it's widely used anymore. Nowadays, "tiangge" is more like a flea market or bazaar.
I love going to the "palengke" or "Public Market". I often wonder why they call it that, as opposed to "Private Market" perhaps? Is there such a thing? 😆 Anyway, silliness aside, I always make it a point to make a trip to the market when I go visit. I love walking around just admiring all the freshly- caught fish (the fish that we get in NY have already been frozen). I can do away with the smells, though, and the wet floors. You'll have to walk carefully on your flipflops or tsinelas or you'll end up with black mud spots on your legs. I guess that's why it's called the wet market. 😆
Till next post, take care… Pls. say hello to Feyma.
Hi Bob I enjoy the wet market iin san juan nearly of vigan
yes all fish and chicken fruit it's fresh. the year 2006
I am in san juan nearly of vigan I visit all wet market
and dry market for me first time I look same like this I take
some photographs I talk with philippino people it's different
stylle of Greece.
Bob – I could not have said it better myself. You really hit on all the points of comparison perfectly for me. The only thing I i wsh is the Grocery stores being more open minded to importing even more things from outside the country. It appears to be getting better in some stores. However, I still find myself buying stuff using other avenues. In Cebu for example if I want real Italian meats, Cheese, Sauces, whatever Italian… I find myself going to the Importers themselves that service the finer Italian restaurants in Cebu. And there prices are not too ridiculous like some gormet stores around the country. Is that an option in Davao. I would think if You like French, Italian or German food that there must be an importer of those products you can go to to buy the more esoteric stuff. Thanks
Hi John in Austria – Well, since I had this article today, I though I better do my duty – I just got home from a trip to the palengke! We bought some fish there, and generally browsed the market. It's been a while since I've gone down there, so it was an interesting trip. We won't be making any Wiener Schnitzel though! 😆
Hi Tina – When we just went to the market, Feyma wore her tsinelas. We were in the *real* wet section – isdahan, and her feet got a little wet, I'm sure! Good to see you comment! I've missed your presence here!
Hi zois – I bet you had a wonderful time at the market! It sounds great.
Hi Vicki – I don't know of any places where you can go in Davao for such products other than the gourmet places themselves. I will say, though, that Hola Espana and Gourmet Deli at Chimes have fairly realistic prices.
When I am visiting my wifes province, our house is waterfront, so to walk to the wet market, we pass all the fish drying on the beachfront, which makes you imune to most of the smells at the market. Also when we have fresh chicken it is usually the slowest one that ends up in the pot. 😆
i like going to the carbon market in cebu city all the time when i go home !!!!! lots of fresh fruits , sea foods and specially the chorizos , the cebuanos chorizos that hanging in the store and the dried boneless danggit fish. i enjoy people watchig too at the palengke. what an experience….. bob and feyma visit carbon market in cebu on you next visit when you have time.
my other favorite is the central market in houston texas. visit it in the internet. ilike the cold cuts and the cheese section…
hi Bob , did you change the entrance of your webside , before i always
came on your page , now when i klick it,s something else and i have to look further before i can read your messages ,
i liked it before.
HI Bob if you can you can find the grocery stores and
have imports foods or deli or other market from all philippines
and you have address and telephone I know it's very difficult.
Its an experience! visiting the markets in the Phil. I liked the big one in the centre of Baguio the best, nice strawberries i think fruits and veg grow better up there too. I guess in kidapawan has the same growing potential. Worse market i went to was Batangas just so big and i dont know it just had a bad atmosphere it seemed that day or maybe it was me! haha
I like seeing huge tuna's in the market freshly caught hanging up still blood dripping! makes a change from just seeing a "can of tuna" in the supermarket here in the UK haha you realise where it actually comes from! meat in the markets dont like the look of it much. Safer i think to buy from Liza's
Everyone should experience the market but i guess after you live there for awhile you get a bit lazy and send a helper as the smell , cockroaches and the odd black rat running in an out of the drains puts you off a bit 😯
Is there much organic produce available in Davao? I can't imagine they are that strict in the chemicals that they use in growing of fruit and veg? Not that im that picky i guess its ok washed
Hi Anthony – That dried fish (bulad) certainly has a unique fragrance, doesn't it? 😡
Hi TV – I've been to Carbon Market before – it's been a while, though. Regarding the market in Houston – I'm betting that it is a little different than Carbon!
Hi Anton – There is a big discussion in the comments of yesterday's post regarding the front page. I hope to change it back to something similar soon, but for now I am researching.
Hi Zois – I don't know of any such places that have imported products nationwide. Mostly these places are just local.
Hi Graham – There is starting to be some organic produce available in Davao. Mostly, though you won't find this at the Palengke. You have to go to more localized farmer's markets up in the hills and such.
beware of carpal tunnel syndrome klaus
My wife never let me go to the market with her because she
didn't want to pay the kano price. So one day I told her to let me go
by myself, look around and if I found anything I wanted she could go
back and haggle and get a better price then I was able to get. Well
as it turned out my price was lower. And to this day I normally get a better price then her on most things other then food (I just don't do
too well there)
Rick
HI Rick Austin – I have also found that I have been able to do as well as my wife in negotiating prices in the market. Most vendors deal fairly, is what I find.