Shopping at the supermarket

People buy foodstuffs at the food stores, at the markets and at the supermarkets. It is more convenient to do shopping at the supermarket: you can find there everything you need. More and more people nowadays prefer to provide themselves with foodstuffs for a long period. As they buy in quantities, they go to the supermarket by car and after having done shopping they load their bags and packets into the luggage compartment.

A supermarket is a one-storied building, spacious and light, with large shop windows. Inside one can see some signs: Dairy produce, Dry groceries, Vegetables and Fruit, Meat and Fowl, Fish, Bakery Goods, Confectionery and Pastry, Wine.

The dairy produce counter is well stocked with fresh milk foodstuffs. What is there for sale? Butter, cheese, processed cheese, cottage cheese, cream, sour cream, milk, fruit yogurt, eggs, margarine, mayonnaise. Everything is sold ready packed. Next to this is the bakery counter where everybody can choose whatever he or she likes: white and brown bread, rye and sliced bread, French loaves, buns, rolls, rings, rusks, pies, cheese cakes, doughnuts and so on.

In the dry groceries counter there is also a great choice of produce. You can buy flour, groats (millet, buckwheat, semolina, rice), spices (cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, coriander, cloves, nutmeg, vanilla, pepper), mustard, vinegar, horse radish, tea, salt, lump sugar and granulated sugar there. Besides, customers can find there various packets filled with dry soup, noodles and uncooked food. They are easy to cook within some minutes that is why they are called instant.

The meat and fowl counter looks very attractive too. Chicken, duck, goose, turkey, bacon, ham, pork, beef, veal, mutton are at your disposal there. You will find a variety of sausages in this section too. A special counter handles frozen and fresh fish, smoked and dry fish, saltwater fish. Sturgeon, trout, salmon, Siberian salmon, humpback salmon, sole, cod, plaice, mackerel is also offered to the customers. Besides, the counter is full of sea products, quite exotic and unseen before. There are crabs, shrimps, crawfish, squids, lobsters, oysters, mussels. A large space is occupied with tinned fish, sprat, herring, and caviar.

The section where fruit and vegetables are for sale is called a greengrocery. It always attracts a lot of customers because irrespective of the season the counters are full of fresh fruit and vegetables grown in Russia or brought from other countries. Apples, pears, plums, pineapples, apricots, peaches, bananas, grapes, oranges, lemons, tangerines, grapefruit, pomegranate, persimmon are practically available all the year round.

For those who like berries there are strawberries, raspberries, cherries, cranberries, cowberries, bilberries, blackberries, blueberries, gooseberries, currant, melon, water-melon nicely packed in small baskets.

If you want to buy vegetables, you will find everything you need: potatoes, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, egg plant, marrow, cabbage, beetroot, onion, garlic, sweet pepper, turnip, radish, pumpkin, green peas, asparagus, dill, parsley, basil, celery, leek, lettuce and mushrooms.

When doing shopping at the supermarket don't forget to look at the expiry date printed on the packet. You are recommended to use the foodstuff before it. Choosing products customers put them into a special basket and with the basket full go to the cashier. The cashier calls the price and gives them a check. Visiting a supermarket you considerably save your time.