Expat living in London highlights five surprising differences between US and UK supermarkets

The first challenge people face when moving to a new country is adapting to cultural differences. From food and environment to interacting with people or shopping for essentials, an expat can encounter a variety of surprises. One American man named Jordan—who goes by @kjordyyy on TikTok—focuses on posting content about being an American living in London and exploring the differences between the two nations. In one of his videos that caught the attention of TikTok viewers, Jordan visited a grocery store in London and highlighted five key differences in how they operate compared to those in the US.

The video starts with him pointing out the unrefrigerated eggs. "One of the first things that threw me off: the eggs are not refrigerated," Jordan says to the camera. "Funny enough, I found the eggs last way longer than when I used to refrigerate them. For me, I put them on top of the microwave." He also noticed that people in the UK shop more frequently than in the US. "In the UK, you shop way more often, but you buy in smaller quantities. You can't really buy things in bulk. Here, you can't buy ketchup the size of compact cars," he revealed.

Jordan also highlighted how smaller grocery stores in the UK sell fresh produce with a shorter expiration date compared to the US, where fresh produce is "pumped with preservatives." "Our apples could survive a whole nuclear holocaust and still come out looking shiny as hell. You can't really buy things in bulk like back home. There's BJs, there's Costco here. But of course, the bean section had no shortages and was ironically the item that had the most stock," Jordan joked.

Jordan pointed out that people in the UK aren’t into buying in bulk, and the shelves and containers for food are smaller. He also highlighted one of the best aspects of grocery shopping in the UK: there are no hidden taxes on food items. "What you see is what you buy," Jordan remarked. "So if something is $2.75, you're gonna leave out paying $2.75. Back home, there's nothing worse than doing your whole shop and then realizing they add a 6% tax to anything you buy." Viewers from different countries expressed their surprise at how UK supermarkets operate, with those living in the UK offering additional insights into the local lifestyle and shopping habits in London.

@nataliecl83 joked, "Things no one tells you about being a grown-up- the many times you go to the supermarket." @sunflowerenergy shared, "Americans wash the membrane off the egg that requires them to be refrigerated. We do backward with everything." @fascicinate commented, "Our produce doesn't travel as far and we don't strangle it by storing it in plastic bags in the grocery store. So it lasts longer." @gamerguymatt argued, "32 states in the US do not charge sales tax on grocery items. It's not preservatives on vegetables. It's the years of food science cross-breeding varieties that last longer on shelves." @kaittmp added, "I just need to say for people in the comments shocked about apples lasting. Apples can last six to eight weeks in the fridge. In the US and Europe."

You can follow Jordan (@kjordyyy) on TikTok for more videos on the differences between the UK and the US.