BY
Martina Pagano
Yes, I know museums are cute. But have you ever stood in a foreign snak aisle at 7 pm and understood a whole country through a €1.69 snack?
Maybe it’s because I come from Uruguay.
A tiny country with one official Red Bull flavour and the same 5 chips brands since the dawn of time. So when I travel and walk into a new supermarket Globalisation suddenly makes sense. You see products from everywhere.
And then the real dopamine hits when: finding something related to your country abroad. That moment when you see a dulce de leche jar in Portugal or a random “Uruguayan-style alfajor” in a Tesco and your soul leaves your body and you instantly become the proudest Uruguayan the world has ever seen.
I realised supermarkets are basically the Museum of Branding but with fluorescent lighting.
Every aisle is a story about how the country sees food, money, convenience, and pleasure.
The packaging. The prices. The new flavours. The portion sizes.
It tells you more about the local culture than half the tours in the city.
You learn what people eat after work. You learn what kids put in their lunchboxes. You learn if the economy is doing well by how much cheese costs. (Real economists will hate this.)
You also start imagining your life there, like a simulation.
“Ok if I lived in Amsterdam I'd probably buy this yogurt every day.”; “Lisbon Martina would absolutely be a girl-who-eats-pre-packed-salads-for-lunch.”; “Paris me drinks 3 different kombuchas.”
It’s like trying on lifestyles without committing to rent.
And it’s the closest thing to rediscovering the 3 P’s of marketing in real life. Product. Price. Place. I turn into a professional shopper.
