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Grocery stores and markets in Tenerife - Kelionės su vaikais
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Home › Traveling › Canary Islands › Grocery stores and markets in Tenerife
Grocery stores and markets in Tenerife
Maisto prekių parduotuvės ir turgūs Tenerifėje
2023-11-25

Grocery stores and markets in Tenerife

Whether you are on vacation or wintering in Tenerife, you will surely find everything you need and even more. The food here is of high quality and sometimes even cheaper than in Lithuania. As I mentioned in the previous  article about shopping and shops in Tenerife, there is no VAT in the Canary Islands, but there is a local consumer tax known as IGIC (Impuesto General Indirecto de Canarias – Canary General Indirect Tax) at several different rates, which is in any case lower than our VAT and is usually 7%.

Grocery stores and markets in Tenerife – a comprehensive guide for your convenience. For your convenience, there are also shops in the “Travel with children ®” Tenerife attractions map.

Grocery stores

The main grocery stores on the island are LIDL, Mercadona, Dino (by size, hyper, super), Aldi, which recently entered the market. Smaller – Dialprix, Tu Trebol and others.

In the capital – Carrefour, Alcampo, and Corte Ingles.

Food markets in Tenerife

Temporary food markets in city squares

The temporary ones, as I call them, are mobile markets that usually take place in the city’s central squares at a scheduled time each week. The produce is from farmers, often the same ones are also in indoor markets on the weekend. The list is truly endless, we share the ones we visit:

  • Alcala on Mondays from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
  • Playa San Juan on Wednesdays from 9 am to 1 pm
  • El Medano Wednesdays 8:00-13:00
  • Guimar on Sundays from 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and on Thursdays from 16:00 to 20:00.

Farmers’ markets (mercado del agricultor)

These are what I call indoor markets in commercial hangars. They are usually held on weekends until lunch and there you can find the largest selection of fruits, vegetables, cheese, meat or even fish grown by local farmers. The list is not exhaustive, we share the ones we visit and have visited:

  • El Medano on Saturdays – Sundays, 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
  • Las Chafiras on Saturdays – Sundays, 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
  • In Adeje on Saturdays – Sundays, 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. and Wednesdays from 3 to 7 p.m.
  • Fasnia on Saturdays – Sundays, 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
  • La Guancha Saturdays – Sundays 8-1:30 p.m.
  • in Tacoronte on Saturdays – Sundays, 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
  • Tegueste on Saturdays – Sundays, 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
  • La Oratava on Saturdays from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

The old market of the capital, La Recova

The big old market of the capital is worth special attention: that’s the La Recova Market or Nuestra Señora de África Market, opened in 1944. It works every day from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m., Sunday until 2 p.m. This is an authentic food market in Santa Cruz. The market has over 200 stalls with food products – meat, fish, cheese, honey, vegetables and fruits, spices, confectionery. You will also find over 20 stalls offering other items such as handicrafts and local souvenirs. Be sure to enjoy fresh seafood prepared right here for you – in the fish section downstairs, you can choose whatever you want and it will be prepared and served for you right there. And be sure to go with the children to the ice cream parlor that makes homemade ice cream. The parlor is called Gelato del Mercato. Don’t be afraid to ask for a taste of everything, because you will find quite unusual flavors – cactus fruit, apple with ginger, fig, with saffron, red pepper and many other flavors of ice cream. We’ll let you in on the secret that you can buy them at the eponymous ice cream parlor in Los Cristianos.

We have already written about the market in the capital in an article What and where to eat in Tenerife.

Exact coordinates can be found on the “Traveling with Children ®” Tenerife attractions map.

Fish markets

We buy fish and local seafood in the Las Chafiras market.

Locals especially like to buy fresh fish in the Las Galletas fish market stalls, which are opposite the harbor. Fishermen sell their catch of the day here.

Fish stalls are located next to the port of Los Cristianos.

Tip: we always talk to the owner/seller about whether the catch is fresh, we always tell them how we will cook it and what dish we are buying it for – a very successful thing – if I say that I will make our family’s favorite tartar like this, they cut me off from the most suitable piece or even do not recommend buying it today and say they don’t have tartar suitable fish.

Fruit and vegetable specialized stores and a market

You can also buy fruits and vegetables in specialized shops called Fruteria in supermarkets (if you want to buy in supermarkets and eat local vegetables and fruits, pay attention to the country of origin). It offers the most choice and the best quality-price ratio in my eyes: Las Agaves fruteria.

You will also find a large selection at the Finca del Caldera – Tenerife’s Polish shop-market, where you can buy the produce grown by him and other farmers on the island. Convenience – the market is open every day, from 8 am. until 5:30 p.m.

What do we buy in the markets?

Fruits and vegetables – most of them sold here are grown in the Canary Islands.

  • Papayas, bananas (plantain), tomatoes, avocados, potatoes, pumpkins, carrots, corn, lemons and greens (salad, herbs) – there is no seasonality and you can buy them fresh at all times of the year.
  • Zucchini, aubergines, broccoli, cauliflower and other vegetables are grown in Tenerife, so you can enjoy delicious and fresh vegetables all year round. Here you can even get beets and radishes, which are common to us.
  • Around September/October we get the season of sweet juicy mangoes. For me personally, the mangoes that grow in the Canary Islands are the same as those I have tasted in Asia.
  • Figs and almonds – those bloom in February, and we taste the harvest in September. The grape season also starts in September.
  • The season of local watermelons, melons and strawberries begins in February/March.
  • Pineapples also grow in the Canary Islands (Gran Canaria and El Hierro).
  • Try unusual fruits – pear melon hybrid (peramelon), three-colored dragon fruit (white inside, red inside and yellow inside), cactus fruit, carambola (they are sweet here), anons (chirimoyo), nispers.

Homemade goat cheese – white, smoked, matured, in the form of a spread (almagrote).

Tip: if you are not sure, ask for a taste (probar). This way you can choose the one you like the most.

Where do we buy meat?

The best meat, in my opinion, is in specialized butcher shops (carniceria). They can certainly be found in almost every town.

Don’t be afraid to ask butchers to prepare the meat the way you want to cook it – cut fillet into pieces or small pieces, grind, cut rabbit or chicken.

High-quality meat is also available in supermarkets – Mercadona’s fresh meat line is especially appreciated by the locals.

One of the largest butchers in the southern part of the island – PASTO Y BELLOTA CHAFIRA.

Grocery stores and shops in Tenerife

Grocery stores and shops in Tenerife

Frozen produce stores

Looking for a larger than average selection of frozen produce? Frozen meat, fish, seafood, vegetables, fruits…

We recommend 5 Océano stores, some of them are in:

Also located together with Pasto y Bellota Chafiras is the Coimca – avenida 7 Islas Canarias 30, Las Chafiras Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

Specialized kitchen shops from other countries

Looking for handmade mozzarella? Homemade focaccia? Delicious marinated olives? Look for Italian boutiques.

Some of our recommendations:

Looking for Asian ingredients and spices?

Our favorite stores:

Specialized health food stores

I often get questions about where to buy healthy food, food for vegetarians, vegans, etc. I always recommend checking out regular grocery stores – there are plenty of whole grain, gluten-free, lactose-free products. There is a really big selection in the bigger Dino stores. There are also such shops as “herbarium”, “herbolario”, “organic food stores.

A few recommendations:

Lithuanian and similar products

You can definitely buy Lithuanian or similar Polish and Latvian products: buckwheat, sour cream, kefir, cottage cheese, Lithuanian curd cheese, sauerkraut, pickles and other products that are common to us.

There are even several shops on the island – Kalinka (to be fair, it should be said that this is a project of a German company) and several Polish shops such as Delicias de Polonia Playa San Juan and Delicias de Polonia Los Cristianos.

Kalinka shops:

A few observations that kefir can also be purchased in supermarkets (Mercadona, Lidl, Super Dino and others) and they are simply called KEFYR. You can find sour cream in the Mercadona store and look for the orange packaging with the inscription “fresca nata”.

And you can sometimes find buckwheat in a vegetable and fruit store (fruteria) in Las Agaves and Las Americas.

Grocery stores and shops in Tenerife

Grocery stores and shops in Tenerife

Preparation of the festive “Lithuanian table”.

Poppies, herring (and even herring with heads), horseradish, mushrooms, kiselius and other special products for the holidays – you can get everything in Delicias de Polonia stores and in Kalinka. Of course, everything is much more expensive than in Lithuania, so poppies, dry yeast, kisielius sometimes travel with the holiday wishes of loved ones as parcels from Lithuania.

By the way, you can also buy herring in jars at LIDL as a cheaper analogue. It’s true, everyone says that it’s not the same here and there’s nothing to compare, but there is such an option. You can also find fresh yeast in LIDL and Mercadona.

Do you want to celebrate comfortably with your family, but don’t want to cook yourself? Longing for Lithuanian Christmas and New Year dishes? Would you like a delicious homemade cake for the New Year? That is also possible. They will take care of your food and even according to your wishes – Food in Tenerife.

And if you want an exceptional healthy cake for the holidays – contact pastelverde.tenerife.

And if you want a special decorated cake that will surprise not only children – contact Anna Tartas.

So what to bring waiting list from Tenerife?

First of all, these are red and green mojo sauces – they are bought in small containers for waiting tables.

Honey – There are many unique flowers in Tenerife, which is why the honey here has a different and unique taste.

Palm syrup – similar to honey, but also valued for its similarity to maple syrup.

Spices – you can find them in shopping centers and they are most welcome by our friends from Lithuania. The selection is large, the packages are the most varied, and we will reveal the secret that “adobo canario” is the most popular in Lithuania.

Dried fruits – mangoes, figs, etc.

You can’t go wrong with olive oil, Serrano ham or goat cheese either. Tenerife produces high quality cheeses. The Canary Islands are the autonomous region that consumes the most cheese per person each year. Tenerife cheeses: predominantly goat cheese or mixed goat and sheep cheese. Smoked or cured cheeses will withstand the trip perfectly in your suitcase – it’s better to buy a laminated one or if you bought a homemade one at the market – pack it well so that the smell doesn’t get absorbed into other things.

What and where to eat in Tenerife,Shopping and shops in Tenerife.

This article is author’s work and was prepared by “Traveling with Children ®”. Copying and using without permission is strictly prohibited.
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