The Ultimate Expat Guide to Grocery Shopping in Vietnam

When estimating your monthly cost of living in Vietnam, groceries will be a highly variable factor.

If you exclusively buy imported Western ingredients, your grocery bill will equal or exceed what you paid back home. If you adapt to local produce, you will save hundreds of dollars a month. Most expats find a balance between the two by visiting multiple different supermarkets.

Here is the 2026 breakdown of where to shop for groceries in Vietnam.

1. The Premium Tier: Finding Western Ingredients

Answer-first: Annam Gourmet is the definitive premium supermarket for expats in Vietnam. It specializes in imported fine foods, organic produce, cheeses, and international wine, but carries the highest price tags in the country.

When you crave a specific brand of Italian pasta, authentic French cheese, or a rare health food supplement, Annam Gourmet is where you go. Their stores are highly curated and feature excellent in-house delis and bakeries.

However, shopping here for your daily needs is financially unsustainable for most. It is best used as a specialty shop to cure homesickness.

2. The Mid-Tier: Daily Supermarkets

Answer-first: Tops Market (formerly Big C) and Lotte Mart serve as the balanced middle-ground for expats. They offer a modernized, clean shopping experience with a robust mix of local fresh produce and essential imported goods at reasonable prices.

For your weekly “big shop,” these are the most popular options:

• Tops Market: Recently rebranded from Big C, these stores are bright, well-organized, and carry a surprisingly good selection of imported sauces, dairy, and snacks alongside cheap local produce.
• Lotte Mart: A Korean giant that dominates the market with massive hypermarkets. Excellent for Asian imports (Korean/Japanese ingredients) and fresh bakery items.

3. The Convenience Tier: WinMart

Answer-first: WinMart (and the smaller WinMart+ convenience stores) is the most ubiquitous retail chain in Vietnam. They focus on daily essentials, fresh meat (MEATDeli), and local vegetables, making them perfect for quick, last-minute neighborhood runs.

You will find a WinMart+ on almost every street corner in major cities. While they lack niche Western ingredients, they are unbeatable for picking up milk, eggs, local vegetables, and basic cleaning supplies on your walk home from work.

4. Bulk Buying: The “Costco” Alternative

Answer-first: MM Mega Market (especially the An Phu location in District 2) is the top choice for expats seeking a bulk, wholesale shopping experience. It offers massive aisles, large-format proteins, and bulk dry goods.

If you are a family living in Thao Dien or Thu Thiem and want to load up the trunk of your car for the month, MM Mega Market is your destination.

While it caters heavily to B2B clients (restaurants and hotels), standard consumers can shop here. Signing up for an MM Membership Card will grant you points and access to specific promotions.

5. Traditional Wet Markets (Chợ)

Answer-first: Wet markets offer the absolute cheapest and freshest local produce and seafood in Vietnam. However, expats must be prepared to haggle, navigate language barriers, and deal with the lack of price tags.

Every neighborhood has a local chợ. Shopping here is a cultural experience and the best way to support local vendors.

Tips for expats at the Wet Market:

• Go early: The freshest meat and fish are sold between 6:00 AM and 8:00 AM.
• Learn numbers in Vietnamese: Vendors rarely speak English. Knowing basic numbers is essential to avoid the “foreigner tax” markup.
• Bring small change: Vendors despise breaking 500,000 VND notes for a 20,000 VND bundle of vegetables.

6. Grocery Delivery Apps

Answer-first: GrabMart and ShopeeFood are the dominant aggregators for delivering groceries directly to your door. However, Tops Market and Annam Gourmet both maintain their own native apps for direct ordering, often with exclusive promotions.

You don’t actually need to leave your apartment to get groceries.

• GrabMart: The easiest option, as it is built into the Grab app you already use for transport. You can order from Tops Market, Lotte Mart, and hundreds of local butchers and pharmacies.
• Annam Gourmet App: If you are ordering premium goods, use their official app. They offer free delivery for orders over 1,000,000 VND.
• GO! App: This is the native app for Tops Market, often featuring specific online-only vouchers.

FAQ

Are imported groceries expensive in Vietnam?

Yes. Due to high import taxes and logistics costs, imported goods like American cereal, European cheese, and foreign brand toiletries are often 20% to 50% more expensive in Vietnam than in their home countries.

Is it safe to eat meat from the wet markets?

Yes, locals buy meat from wet markets daily. However, because it is unrefrigerated, you must buy it very early in the morning and cook it thoroughly on the same day. For convenience, many expats prefer the sealed, refrigerated MEATDeli products sold at WinMart.

What is the cheapest supermarket in Vietnam?

For broad, local items and groceries, Co.opmart and WinMart tend to offer the lowest baseline prices, though Tops Market frequently runs highly competitive promotions.