Grocery Shopping in Jerusalem: What to Buy, Kashrut Symbols and Ordering Online

This guide is about the goods and the ordering; for the shops themselves (the chains, the shuk, the Friday rhythm and the checkout) read supermarkets in Jerusalem. Two things shape a Jerusalem grocery basket: almost everything is kosher-certified at one level or another, and a handful of basics are price-controlled by law, so the same bag of milk costs the same in the discount warehouse and the corner makolet.

Reading the kashrut labels

Packaged food carries the certificate of a rabbinate or a private kashrut agency; the local Rabbanut is the baseline, the Badatz and other mehadrin agencies are stricter, and imports often carry the OU or similar. Beyond the certificate, labels tell you whether dairy is chalav Yisrael, whether bread is pas Yisrael, and around Pesach whether something is kosher for Passover; the shuk and the bakeries display their certificates on the wall. If you keep a particular standard, learn its symbol in the first week and you will stop reading labels by the second.

Price-controlled basics

A short list of staples, including standard milk, some cheeses, eggs, plain bread and a few others, has a maximum price set by the government. It is why the makolet is a fair place to buy milk and a poor place to buy cereal; the rest of the basket is where the chains compete.

What replaces what

• Cheese: white cheese (gvina levana) and cottage are the everyday dairy; yellow cheese is sold by the slice at the deli counter, with Emek as the mild all-rounder. Feta and mozzarella are close to what you know; Tzfatit and Bulgarit are their own thing.
• Yogurt: Israeli plain yogurt is thinner and tangier; the high-protein and "Greek" pots are closest to a thick yogurt at home.
• Tomato sauce: tomato paste in tubes and cans is everywhere; ready pasta sauces exist but are pricier. Most people make it.
• Foil, wrap and bags: the thin standard foil tears; look for the thicker grade. Zip bags and parchment are sold in the same aisle.
• Bread: the bakery counter beats the packaged shelf; pita, laffa and challah on Thursday and Friday are the rhythm.
• Meat and chicken: the butcher counter or the supermarket's own; cuts are numbered rather than named, and the vocabulary guide has the numbers.
• Imports you miss: Osher Ad and the Anglo delis stock American and British brands at import prices; iHerb covers the pantry items.

Produce and the seasons

Israeli produce is seasonal and cheap in season: citrus and avocados in winter, strawberries in late winter, stone fruit and melons in summer, pomegranates and dates around the holidays. Out-of-season imports cost several times more. The shuk is best for produce; the discount chains are fine; the makolet is for the emergency onion.

Ordering online

The chains deliver from their own sites and apps: pick a delivery slot, shop by category, and expect substitutions when something is out of stock; you can mark items as no-substitute. Delivery is by the chain's own drivers, up the stairs, for a fee that drops above a minimum basket. Shufersal Online and Rami Levy Online cover the weekly shop; Wolt covers the same-hour top-up. The interfaces are Hebrew; the vocabulary is the same as the shelf labels. The online shopping guide has the rest of the sites.

Hebrew you will meet

• kasher / kashrut — kosher / the system of certification
• mehadrin — the stricter standard
• chalav Yisrael — milk supervised from milking
• gvina levana — white cheese
• basar / of — meat / chicken
• yerakot / perot — vegetables / fruit
• mishloach — delivery

More everyday words, with the situations they turn up in, are in our Hebrew vocabulary guide.

Common questions

Is all food in Jerusalem supermarkets kosher?

Nearly all packaged food in the mainstream chains is certified, at varying standards; a few chains and shops in the city centre sell non-kosher items in a separate section. Check the symbol if your standard is specific.

Why is the makolet the same price for milk?

Because standard milk is one of the price-controlled basics with a legal maximum price. Cereal, snacks and everything else are not controlled, which is where the small shops cost more.

Can I order groceries online in English?

The chains' sites are Hebrew, and browser translation makes them usable; Wolt's app is in English. Most people learn the twenty words they need within a few orders.

A product or a chain we should add? Tell us and we will fix it.