Exploring Norway’s Food Prices and Norway’s Supermarkets.
When we planned our road trip around Norway, we had plenty of people gasping and telling us that it’s going to cost a fortune and that we’d probably need to re-mortgage a house to go. However, we’ve spent over a month in Norway now and we’ve managed to do it on a budget!
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It goes without saying we didn’t splurge on the finest seafood or buy copious amounts of alcohol. We did a bulk buy of £175 in Germany as you can’t take dairy and other produce over to Norway from the UK. This helped tremendously and lasted around 3 weeks (with little top up shops.) We did then end up doing a bigger shop in Norway and this blog post shares the costs of common food items from Coop Extra one of the supermarkets in Norway.
There are a few common supermarkets in Norway, Kiwi, Coop, Rema 1000 and BunnPris were the ones we saw most regularly. We often opted for Rema1000 which is marketed as a budget supermarket, however, we did notice the choice of meats and fresh produce were less here than other supermarkets.
Food Prices In Norway
| Protein | Dairy & Eggs | Fruit & Veg | Carbs | Drinks | Treats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beef Mince 81.50NOK (£6.12) | Milk 18.90NOK (£1.42) | Banana 19.90NOK (£1.42) | 500g Pasta 21.90NOK (£1.64) | 1.5L Coke 13.31NOK (£1.00) | 200g Chocolate 39.90 NOK (£2.99) |
| 430g Chicken 80.80NOK (£6.06) | Cheese 43,90NOK (£3.29) | Tomatoes 28.70NOK (£2,15) | Rice 41.20NOK (£3,09) | 2L Squash 37.20NOK (£2.79) | 8 Chocolate Chip Cookies 13.90NOK (£1.04) |
| Ham 31.80NOK (£2.39) | 250g Butter 29.90NOK (£2,42) | Potatoes 30.80NOK (£2.31) | Bread 51.90NOK (£3.89) | 1 0.5L can Beer 32.90NOK (£2.47) | 300g Crisps 26.90NOK (£2.02) |
| ​ | 12 Eggs 32.60NOK (£2.44) | Tinned Tomatoes 10.00NOK (£0.75) | Noodles 12.90NOK (£0.97) | ​ | ​ |
Why Is Norwegian Food So Expensive?
As you can see the price of fresh produce is high but you have to remember Norway imports a lot of its food from Sweden, Denmark, Germany and France. However by looking for First price or supermarket own brands such as Coop Extra items you can save costs. You might be interested to know we found English Breakfast tea and the cost was 59.90NOK £4.49 (25 tea bags). However some items such as Marmite, Bisto gravy, Cadbury’s Chocolate and, Colman’s Mustard aren’t found here.
The Cost Of Meals
Now, you know the cost of different items I’m going to work out the cost of different meals that we made in our campervan to keep costs low. We often cook from scratch (after listening to ultra-processed people) so we always keep some essentials in the van such as our spices. These we bought over from the UK but all the other ingredients are included in the price.
- Casa rice – £6.53 (£2.30pp)
- Pork and potatoes – £4.88 (£2.44pp)
- Mushroom pasta (vegetarian) – £3,56 (£1.78pp)
Comparing Norway Food Prices To The UK
Lets compare prices to the UK. Norway has always been seen as an expensive country that you can only go to if you have a lot of money. But lets see what is the real difference in food price?
| Item | Cost Norway (£) | Cost UK (£) |
| 500g Pasta | £1.64 | £0.41 |
| 430g Chicken | £6.06 | £3.35 |
| Pack of Vine Tomatoes | £2.15 | £1.20 |
| Banana per kg | £1.49 | £1.01 |
Tips To Keeping Costs Low
1. Fishing – we managed to catch a few mackerel, pollock and seas trout which then turned into delicious free meals for our lunch.
2. Bulk buy before you go – I mentioned earlier we did a £175 shop in Germany before we entered Norway meaning we had stocked up on staples such as rice, pasta, oil and toilet roll so we didn’t have to buy them in Norway.
3. Eat vegetarian meals – It goes without saying meat is expensive in Norway so eating some vegetarian meals will save you money along the way.
4. Look for First Price – First Price or Coop Extra own brand is Norway’s budget options and will save you costs.
5. Choose Rema1000 over other supermarkets
6. Pay with Revolut for low or no transaction fees and a good exchange rate. (Read more about Revolut here)
Discover more with our full Norway travel guide with costs, itineraries and everything you need to know
