Supermarkets, statiegeld and opening hours

Albert Heijn, Jumbo, Lidl and Aldi are the supermarkets you will see everywhere, and each works slightly differently: one rewards a loyalty card, none give you a free bag, and most close earlier than you expect on a Sunday. Ask your host family which one they use before you shop for the first time.

Which supermarket, whose card and whose money

Which supermarket your host family shops at, whether you pay with their card or their cash when you shop for the household, and what the weekly food budget actually is are all household decisions this article cannot make for you. Ask directly, and write the answer down somewhere you will find it again.

Getting the price on the shelf

At Albert Heijn, the yellow BONUS price only applies once you scan a Bonuskaart at the till, which you pick up in the store or add digitally in the AH app. Lidl and Aldi run no loyalty card at all, and push their offers through their own apps instead. Self-scan with a handheld scanner or the app is normal in most stores, and a random check at the exit afterwards is routine, not an accusation. Plastic and paper bags usually cost money at the till, so bring your own if you can.

Why the shop might already be closed

Dutch law lets shops open early and stay open into the evening on weekdays and on Saturdays, and it assumes shops are closed on Sundays and on public holidays by default. Each municipality can decide otherwise for itself, so a big city often has shops open on Sunday afternoon while a small town has almost nothing open at all. Many towns also have one late shopping evening a week, koopavond, but which day it falls on and how late shops stay open is set locally too. Check the hours posted on the shop itself or in a maps app rather than assuming a national rule, and ask your host family what is normal where you live.

Getting your statiegeld back

Large plastic bottles carry a deposit. The current amount is published by statiegeldnederland.nl. Small bottles and cans carry their own, smaller deposits under the same system, and beer bottles and crates have a separate deposit again, returned to a shop that sells them. It only works for packaging that carries the Dutch statiegeld logo and a readable barcode, and the bottle or can has to be empty and not crushed or torn, which is why the machine refuses a damaged one. The machine prints a receipt you hand in at the till, or scan at self-checkout, for cash or money off your shopping, though some collection points only let you donate the deposit to charity instead. Ask your host family whether the statiegeld from the family's shopping is yours to keep or goes back into the household budget.