Grand Frais is heaven for French foodies, and this is what you want to buy there
It’s wonderful, isn’t it, wandering around French markets on a scorching hot day, making your way through the sweating crowd to that one cheese seller for that beautiful little goat’s cheese. But if this holiday romance isn’t quite your thing, yet you do want to treat yourself to the juiciest peaches, the tastiest tomatoes, the crispest fennel or a piece of brilliant cheese – the attitude to life of the average Frenchwoman and her discerning husband, so to speak – then there’s Grand Frais.
Wonderful quality
Grand Frais is a supermarket chain where you’ll find a world of fresh products. Vegetables, fruit, fish, meat, dairy, bread; it’s all there, and it’s all of wonderful quality. Denis Dumont, a fruit and vegetable trader, started a shop near Lyon in 1992 where he managed to combine the charm and craftsmanship of traditional village markets with the convenience of a modern supermarket. The concept caught on, and by now there are more than three hundred stores across France, Italy and Belgium.
Enormous selection
What makes Grand Frais so special, and therefore so appealing to every foodie, is the enormous range and freshness of the products. You don’t just get to choose from three or four different varieties of perfectly fresh tomatoes; sometimes there are as many as twelve. Aubergines? You didn’t even know there were so many varieties. Butter? Crème fraîche? You lose your bearings. Not to mention the insane selection of cheeses that, in my case, someone has to drag me away from before I put everything in my trolley.
And yes, there are also pre-packaged products, jars, tins and goodness knows what else. But everything is about food; you won’t find a drop of washing-up liquid or a single bin bag.
This is what you want to buy at Grand Frais
Grand Frais’s fresher-than-fresh approach has clearly paid off. The French greatly appreciate the fresh produce and aren’t afraid to pay for it either; in 2023, turnover came to approximately €3.3 billion.
So, the next time you’re in France, check the Grand Frais website to see where the nearest store is, then go wild with a large shopping trolley and a payment card full of anticipation. These are the things you’ll definitely take home:
- Tomate ananas; a juicy tomato with a mild, sweet flavour. Cut it into thick slices, put it on the grill for a moment, crumble feta over it, and add olive oil and aged balsamic vinegar.
- Crème fraîche de brebis; crème fraîche, but made from sheep’s milk. Slightly lower in calories and a little milder in flavour than the usual cow’s-milk crème fraîche.
- Aubergine de Nice; also known as aubergine ronde violette. Perfect for the BBQ, but also delicious grilled or baked.
- Beurre de barate; butter the way butter is meant to be, the classic among classics. Unsalted, salted or lightly salted. Delicious on, with, in and over everything.
- Fromage; it doesn’t matter which one, and even if you don’t like cheese, you’ll take some home anyway. There are always friends, family members or neighbours who’ll be happy with it.
- Laitue Batavia frisée; lettuce, but the kind you really have to chew. A sort of working lettuce, then. Shallot, a little vinaigrette, done.
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