A Canadian man living in the UK showed how supermarkets in Canada are different to those in the UK as he visited a Freshco store during his trip back home, and there were some big differences
A Canadian man living in the UK has compared British supermarkets to one in Canada and shown all the ways they are different. Matt Giffen moved from Canada to London and has been sharing his experiences on social media, where he has amassed 21.2 million likes on TikTok.
It’s expected that he had some culture shocks when moving to the UK as several factors make it different from his home country, including the weather and climate and economy as the average income in Canada is higher than the UK and it also has a lower unemployment rate. With this in mind, Matt found that groceries in Canada tend to be more expensive than in the UK.
He shared a video on TikTok exploring Fresho, which is a Canadian chain of discount supermarkets.
Walking into the store, the first thing he noticed was that the produce section was “literally shining”, such as apples that were “glistening.”
The Canadian expat claimed it is “so expensive” in Canadian grocery stores. He found a pack of boneless chicken bites for $16 (£11.90) plus tax but he said in Tesco they’re around £2.
Continuing to explore the Freshco store he added: “This is the section where the ready meals and meal deals would be in the UK but sadly, we ain’t got those in Canada. I hope you guys know how lucky you are to have those.”
Matt revealed that he is a “sucker for a meal deal”. He then moved onto what he thinks is the biggest difference between supermarkets in Canada and the UK – the “famous bagged milk.”
WARNING: The video below contains explicit language. Viewer discretion is advised.
The Canadian showed that the store even had bagged chocolate flavoured milk. In supermarkets in the UK milk is packaged in plastic bottles and cartons.
Matt continued: “I’ve come to the British international section. This is what we think of you guys.”
In this aisle he found chocolate bars, including Yorkie, Cadbury Flake, Cadbury Dairy Milk, as well as Tunnocks Milk Chocolate tea cakes.
There were also packs of Fox’s Golden Crunch Creams, Heinz Beans and tea from a range of brands, including Barry’s and Typhoo.
Matt laughed and remarked: “It’s actually pretty accurate, I’m not gonna lie. One thing I can confidently say that you Brits have over us is your crisps but we do have some crazy flavours.”
He showed a pack of Ruffles All Dressed and Hickory Sticks as examples of crisps found in Canadian supermarkets.
Next he had a look at the chocolate aisle and showed some that he hasn’t seen in the UK, such as Nestle Coffee Crisp Pops and Reese’s Oh Henry.
Matt continued to look at the confectionary products on offer and found three choices of Haribo – Starmix, Happy Cola and Goldbears.
After this he picked up a box of KP Original Macaroni and Cheese and shared: “Probably one of the biggest things I miss since moving to the UK is this right here.
“It is like the best, cheapest meal of all time.”
He further claimed that Canadian supermarkets are “objectively cleaner” and offer a “more enjoyable experience”, admitting that when he goes grocery shopping in the UK sometimes it “can be a bit mental.”