A man who visited 1,000 supermarkets in 150 countries has revealed that two British products were consistently found in almost every store around the world.
The Journey Begins
Dan Kelly, 38, started his global supermarket exploration in 2014 while searching for a job. A languages and humanities graduate, he secured a role with a company that collected cost-of-living data for businesses relocating employees internationally.
His task was to visit a new major city every two days, armed with a list of 164 items, and record their prices. This data was then sent to an office in London for processing.
Ubiquitous British Products
Over 11 years, Dan visited 1,000 supermarkets in 150 countries, often traveling alone with a daily accommodation budget of £70. He noted that some items were surprisingly common worldwide, including coffee, tea, and certain biscuits.
He stated: "You'd always be able to find them, even at the back of a dusty shelf. Tea and coffee as well. I would see the 100g red box of Twining's English Breakfast Tea everywhere. And 100g jars of Nescafé Gold."
Reflections on the Role
Although Dan has since left the job, a role he admits most people do not hold for as long, he looks back fondly. He has even written a comedy show about his experiences.
Reflecting on his job, he said: "One fun thing about the job was that you always had to talk to people, even if just to say 'hi' or ask for a price. Walking in with a big smile and saying hello would open everything up. That bit of human connection will go a long way. It's hard not to be cheesy, but that would be my grand learning."
Cheapest Supermarket in the UK
While Dan knows much about global supermarket prices, UK shoppers have recently learned which supermarket is the cheapest. According to Which?, Aldi was the cheapest supermarket in the UK in May, with a total of £168.30 for 95 items.
Which? explained: "We check the prices of hundreds of grocery items at eight major supermarkets, using an independent price comparison website. For each supermarket, we calculate the average price of each item across the month, then add those up to get each supermarket's average total price."
