An Introduction To The Main Supermarkets of Lithuania

Arriving in a new country can come with a lot of new challenges: The cars might drive on the other side of the road, the type of money you use might be different, and where you get your groceries will also change.
In this video, let’s look at the main supermarket chains of Lithuania and explain how they work and which store might be the best for you!
Follow the channel through Instagram to find out what's new and what future videos are planned! / lithuaniaexplained
Video and photo sources:
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[@LithuaniaExplained]

Hi friends! For those who have been with the channel since its early days, this is a "re-post." I had to take it down since it was one of two videos under attack from a view bot. But the subscriber base has more than quadrupled since then so I'm sure this piece is new to a lot of people. Enjoy!

[@arundev.s]

🇮🇳🇱🇹

[@pepeilgakojine2585]

Hii! It is really interesting to watch your videos as a Lithuanian and see things from a foreigners point of view. Just a little addition to your video... Norfa also is clear that they sell cheaper items as their slogan says "Praktiški žmonės renkasi Norfa" (practical people choose Norfa). And while Maxima and Rimi don't have this distinction they also have their priorities. "Maxima - apie viską pagalvota" (maxima thinks of everything) indicates that they have a large variety of products and options. Rimi's slogan "Kiekvieną dieną geriau" (Better every day) means that the store concentrates on ecology and the green patch overall.

[@d3iviz600]

O maximos sloganas ne "Maxima, tai ko reikia"

[@kristinyt]

@@d3iviz600 They changed it a few years back, but I think the meaning behind it is still the same. Maxima aims to offer *everything* while Rimi is more expensive and does it *better*.

[@d3iviz600]

@@kristinyt Yeah Rimi is arguably the most premium out of them all, Maxima in second place on this front, and next are the more or less cheap stores fighting it out with each other like Lidl, Norfa, or Iki

[@aleksandrassmolinas70]

Maxima is the biggerst chain of supermarkets found by lithuanian dude in 90s, which is the wealthies man in the country atm. Rimi is Swedish chain, often referred as more expensive (which in fact isn't) along side with IKI found by some dudes from Belgium also in the 90s. Those two companies planned to emerge into one chain, but failed. Lidl is Lidl and Norfa found by other Lithaunian is more popular around suburban people. We usually chose Maxima, for it's diversity in selection but in all chains there are exclusives that we go to buy and can only be found there. IKI for it's bakery, specific cakes and their hotdog's in buns etc. Lidl usually have best fruits. Rimi, well it works till 23:00 when others closes 22:00 in my city and norfa is for raw meat and fish for our dog :)

[@kristinyt]

Rimi is definitely more expensive shop but it also has more variety of seafood, exotic fruits, plant-based options and other stuff that would be considered "luxury". Iki has a very strong bakery section and good fresh fruits. Maxima has a lot of variety but the quality is 50/50, sometimes you are lucky, sometimes not...

[@ugneguze]

As a Lithuanian and from my father's experience I can say that even if Norfa is cheap their warehouses are unkept and there's this weird smell in them. When you walk through there you will hear your shoes sticking to the ground, Lidl has great prices and their warehouses are pretty decent, the same with Maxima, but maxima would hire almost anyone, from young people to homeless ones. Iki is mostly worth shopping if you have their discount card, discount cards are also helpful in maxima. I don't have any experience with Rimi but it is pretty well-known. I really enjoy your videos popping up in my recommendations, I love seeing Lithuania through your perspective!

[@LithuaniaExplained]

Thanks for sharing your experiences and for the words of encouragement!

[@Actual_Achilles]

True, I have been to Norfa 10 times in my whole life, and it was always unpleasant.

[@antasosam8486]

Not true. It depends on local personell. I used to find it in Maxima and Rimi too.

[@ohbedi1429]

This is a reupload but still MAXIMA NUMBER 1

[@modestasurbelis]

'Aibė' is missing from this list. Although it mostly offers small convenience type of shops it has nearly ~900 venues in Lithuania while the biggest shop centre on this list is 'Maxima' with ~250 venues nationwide. Although you will mostly see 'Aibė' in small towns. Anyways it still makes 'Aibė' bigger in the venue amount than probably top 3-4 from this list combined!

[@shemica16]

That's right, if I ever go to the smaller towns, I always keep an eye out for Aibė. Though I do love the local convenience stores too, have you noticed in those obscure covenience stores they have some interesting snacks or ice cream flavors? I love discovering them.

[@modestasurbelis]

@@shemica16 oh yes, that sounds classic!

[@pepeilgakojine2585]

@shooshella Aibe is like a franchise, so buying there you mostly support small and family businesses too 😊

[@sek0ne01]

AIBE mostly in villages.

[@UtamagUta]

And the one in Kaunas, Šilas

[@markust7709]

Pretty accurate about those 5 major chains but there are more of them. Aibė - is a massive chain of small supermarkets (SPAR-size) but they already have large size stores as well. Grūstė - another chain missing from the list. Its not fancy but still a significant chain operating in around 20 cities and towns and having tens of stores. Šilas - rapidly expanding chain from Kaunas Region. Express Market - one more chain in multiple areas of Lithuania. Other wise thank you for the video! P. S. Did you know, before world financial crisis 2008 Tesco was about to step into Lithuanian market as a large operator. LIDL wasn't there yet. It was nearly done deal but recession crisis changed the plans😆

[@maybeeyeman]

1:17 The reason for that is that I'm pretty sure that this is overall the biggest supermarket in all of the baltics.

[@budthechud9795]

Maxima and Rimi are my favourites but my particular favourite store is the Maxima in Akropolis.

[@rminelee]

labai aciu uz vaizdo! your channel makes me less nervous moving to Lithuania

[@theend7296]

I'd love to hear why you moved to Lithuania it would be an interesting story

[@LithuaniaExplained]

Maybe I’ll save that for a special 5000 or 10000-sub video 🤷🏻‍♂️😃

[@martynasbalasevicius1319]

Love it's always love

[@COLLIE1972]

@@martynasbalasevicius1319 I agree with you, Martynas. 👍😁 My now ex girlfriend was from Vilnius and I was thinking of moving to Lithuania at the time, but then things changed between us. But I will say... Lithuanian ladies are the prettiest in Europe! That's my opinion. And they always look stunning whenever they are in public. 😍 Compared to the women in my country anyway! 🙈

[@blueeyedbaer]

Rimi is a sub branch of Swedish ICA. You can find many Scandinavian goods there. Like you can find lots of German goods at Lidl.

[@gfrewqpoiu]

Also, iki is owned by the REWE Group, so by Germans.

[@shemica16]

I have all of these around my home, so I end up going to 3-4 different ones and only buy what's on sale 😅 Like, go get some coffee, sausages and cat food in norfa, cross the street and get bread, butter and cookies in rimi, then walk 5 min to maxima to get vegetables, milk and sour cream, then go to lidl next door to get fruits, curd, canned pineapples and ice cream 🤣 I never buy anything that's not on sale 😅 Though if I didn't employ my mom to make these routes and to buy lists, I probably wouldn't bother 😂

[@modestasurbelis]

Let me guess. Do you live in Pilaitė?

[@shemica16]

​@@modestasurbelis Nah I live next to Ukmergės str. between Benedikto turgus and Big. I can reach Maxima and Lidl in one direction, or Mandarinas and Norfa in the other, or Big, Norfa, Rimi and Lidl in the third. I pass by Senukai every day on the way home, so I usually go to Iki (nd combine with Rimi if needed) there, bc the bus stop is so conveniently placed in font of Iki it doesn't feel like I'm going out of my way.

[@PopsicL_]

IKI used to have an "IKI Cento" shop in Lithuania. I've never been to one, but there are no "IKI Cento" shops anymore.

[@drixcel2741]

Cento was a separate chain back in the day. They had the best vanilla ice cream for just 10ct (or 20ct?) when we had Litas:) Then IKI bought them

[@juliusmickevicius5975]

im lithuanian and i still found something like maxima with the big and small stores iki and rimi size and how to know and norfa size

[@itsonepixel]

If you visit any village in Lithuania, there is a big chance that you will find a KOOP'S. Like, seriously, these stores are everywhere outside of cities.

[@Agent851]

Norfa is hit or miss type of deal. One store can be well maintained and organized, while other might have stickers covering "Best before:" date with slogan that looslely translates "your'e good fam".

[@axse996]

Some people jokingly call Maxima stores "mama Maxima" and in my expirience it's not far from the truth. Although the quality, pricing and selection is sort of similar in all of these chains, Maxima just hits different ya know?

[@Tar1ff]

Hey! Pretty accurate. You could have mentioned the deposit system

[@Timz1212]

When i was in Lithuania the closest store was an iki express. So iki is my favorite

[@only1jones2]

Hi, thank you for taking the time to make this video... I was wondering which supermarkets / hypermarkets are the highest end. Like, if someone asked that question about the UK, I could answer M&S and Waitrose (and now Wholefoods). Also wondering where we can buy baby / toddler food such as Ella's Kitchen, Hipp Organic, Organix, Kiddylicious, (as well as other baby meals that other brands, like Tilda, do). Do you have these brands in Lithuania or do you have your own good quality ones. We'll be heading to Lithuania in less than a week and I'm struggling to find this info. Thank you again!

[@only1jones2]

Forgot to say... we'll be staying on the west side of Kaunas for the first week, then the west side of Vilnius for the second week. We'll have a rental car so getting to the supermarket will be easy. Also, I was wondering... would Kyrbatai be worth staying for a few days? Is it pretty? Anything for a 3-year-old to do? Thanks again!

[@spursnetic4883]

my favourite place is IKI because they is an IKI very very close to my grandmas house/flat and i know all the worker there even though i haven't been back since 2018

[@TheLexy31]

Rimi and maxima are most expensive, Iki is like a convenience store but the card makes it competitive, Lidi was the cheapest, but personally Norfa is the best value. and Promo is like a cash and carry but you dont need a membership, they are pretty good too.

[@iceFate666]

I like other smaller shop called "Aibė" they have best brewery beer there called "dundulis" ofc price is closer to 2€ but they are soooo good. :)

[@travelvideos]

I also like shopping any day of the week 7 to 23. I really don't understand why some of our European friends ban Sunday shopping.

[@fidenemini111]

Because they also care about the rights of employees of shopping centers as well (may be)? The question obviously is rhetoric.

[@OddElephantLTU]

In my opinion the top 3 stores are 1. Norfa 2. Lidl 3. Maxima

[@ciberzombiegaming8207]

bit of correction : maxima loyalty card (aciu card) is one euro *cent* now . i got my own card yesterday .

[@CrollexTMOfficial]

I worked at norfa, I like the prices and the selection there sometimes, but honestly had one of the worst experiences imaginable, couldn't last even half a year in there.

[@yevgeniyvalstion7467]

There is also Aibe and Koops

[@martynas3448]

LIDL squad 🥑

[@fidenemini111]

Lidl by lidl.

[@Lego_astronaut.]

In my opinion maxima is the best but if you need something quick than lidl is better.

[@ASilverMess]

From my side, when we were going ot the supermarket in Lithuania we often decided to use either Maxima or iki because they were close by and often had everything we needed. There was a Lidl close by too but somehow we never really used it to buy groceries. Not sure why though as Lidl exists in my country too and we normally use it a lot when buying groceries.

[@MrAidaslit]

Maxima is my personal favourite. It's mostly because i rarely have problems there when trying to do anything. In Iki, I can forget about discounts if I don't have a card, which has an expiration date and needs to be refreshed. So one day I went to the store to buy a couple things and suddenly I don't get a discount, as my card expired with no warning. In Maxima, I've never been caught off guard like this and when I did need to do any sort of updates on my card, I was notified. In a small Norfa that's the closest store to my house, sometimes the card reader just doesnt work, so I can't buy with my card. This was a rare thing, but in Maxima this never happened so I just go there instead. Another thing that I noticed when I was younger, if I want to buy a soft drink or potato chips, I can always find at least one discount there in Maxima. So if I want something of anything, I can always expect at least one discount to help me choose. This was not the case in Norfa. One day I come in, half the stuff on the shelf is discounted. Come in a week later, zero items discounted. It just wasn't consistent. Lidl has cheap stuff and is an international company, so the products are very different to the other stores. If I want to try something new, I go to Lidl. Generally have a good experience with it, but due to the store sizes, the queue lines are nearly always massive and the wait time is longer. I would definitelly go there more if it was in a better location for me. Rimi is probably my second most visited one. Where I live, it's right next to Lidl and has a SEB terminal where I can withdraw and deposit money on the spot, so it ends up being a better choice than Lidl. I also noticed it has a bit more foreign products than Maxima or Iki, so more products for Asian or Mexican food. This might be down to the specific stores near me though. Overall, much like Maxima, I have little issues with Rimi, it just works. So yeah, in total Maxima is the best experience for me. I can come there, get what I want and walk out without issues. Maxima = Rimi > Lidl > Iki = Norfa

[@Corgis175]

Seem a lot like supermarkets here in the USA.

[@evaldasbutvilas]

Maxima is the best

[@UtamagUta]

Rimi discount cards WORK in Latvia and Estonia while Maxima's, despite being literally the same company, do not!

[@bazinga-tt9pj]

Maxima for da win 💪🏿🇲🇲

[@simonassukackas1312]

Šilas?

[@MrArturiukas123]

you probably won't reply but i have a question. what country do you live in? Just asking.

[@LithuaniaExplained]

I live in Lithuania 😁

[@LithuaniaExplained]

I live in Lithuania 😁

[@galateiyakg]

Waste management in Lithuania could be also explained :) please

[@LithuaniaExplained]

I’ve been thinking about that too. I’ll see if I can get in touch with some companies or government departments that manage waste.

[@RUBIACECOFFEE]

♦️

[@nojusxd]

Aibe is the best

[@Pretendentas]

1 maxima 2 rimi 3 lidl 4 iki 5 norfa

[@politicsinanutshell8267]

Rimi usually has the quality and hygiene, some Maxima stores are just plain disgusting

[@Mr.Junkers]

All my homies hate Norfa😈

[@gameplaydaily2]

Why?

[@yesand1]

Bet visur rasit aibe

[@COLLIE1972]

Just to add... Lidl in Lithuania does not have the same products as other Lidl supermarkets in another European country. (LIDL has supermarkets all over Europe, to explain better). I usually buy stuff in Lidl here in Ireland, like fresh meat, for example. But when I tried a Lidl supermarket in Vilnius once, they had no fresh meat on the shelves at all! 😕 The nearest and only thing I could find was a chicken that was wrapped in plastic and cooked already, and I didn't like the taste of it. ☹️ So if you plan on cooking your meat yourself for a meal, don't go to Lidl... because they don't sell uncooked meat.

[@LithuaniaExplained]

I think maybe you just had bad luck on the day you went shopping? LIDL shops in Lithuania do sell packaged, uncooked meat.

[@yahoryermakou5143]

If to count concretely lithuanian brands IKI is number one... But principally Lidl in all the world is the best!

[@amorpheus-_-3563]

Thank you very much for your hard work! Your channel appeared in my recommendations and its been super useful - I am moving in Lithuania in August. I’ve binge-watched all your videos and it helped me a lot to answer all those questions that bothered me for a quite some time. It also helped me to reduce my moving-to-another-country anxiety.

[@LithuaniaExplained]

Thanks for the kind words and I’m so happy to hear the videos are helpful! Good luck with the move!

[@alexzuma2024.]

if i would travel to lithuania, i would ask for a translation to english if i could

[@evanpaju8500]

In Estonia there are express, mini, super and hyper Rimis. Btw nice video!

[@cheft6984]

I live nearbay "IKI", that store sucks a**. number one is Rimi, you pay few euros more, but you get best quality of those 5. There is PROMO cash&carry, its more for guys like me who owns small kitchen as a buisness, but you can find some stuff there like nowhere. For example whole frozen baby pig and so on....

[@budthechud9795]

You need to do a vid on Cilli pizza as I love that chain. In the Akropolis one you can watch people ice skate from upstairs whilst enjoying a nice Svytury baltas🍺

[@eimantas314-rblx]

Also, IKI has an app too. Fun fact: The XXXX size Maxima in Akropolis has a feature called Scan & Go, you get a barcode scanner and scan while you go! Bank card only, and needs a Maxima app or AČIŪ card.

[@MrAidaslit]

We have this in the Hyper Maxima in Kaunas too. Quite a new addition, but seems like it's not exclusive to either of these locations.

[@eimantas314-rblx]

@@MrAidaslit oh ok

[@rolluk4523]

in another EU countries that funkcion exists many years lol

[@ORIA_1125]

I love maxima personally, because i can find more different foods from other countries like asia and etc which I love

[@aurered6387]

Norfa probably because they have best selection of stuff at least for me and Lidl i like but is good only buy food nothing more

[@suevialania]

IKi, Maxima,Rimi, Norfa 🇵🇹👍🏻🇱🇹 Greetings from Portugal

[@rimaspranevicius8587]

I am lithuanian, and i want to poit out, that norfa food quality is the worst

[@Actual_Achilles]

Iki and Rimi Solos for me tbh, me and my friends always go there after school and Iki is actually pretty cheap. While Rimi feels more prestige for some reason, the other stores I visit feel a little unsafe like Norfa or Iki but Rimi feels like home for some reason, probably because of nostalgia because me and my parents would go to the same Rimi I go to now, we also have a really small maxima near us, 2 x's. Its almost always not safe at nights so it really depends where the stores are. Amazing vid btw

[@pauliussimkus190]

Norfa has the best meet selection

[@svt36]

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍🇱🇹🇱🇹🇱🇹🇱🇹🇱🇹🇱🇹

[@itsjunchen]

Thanks for the detailed info and comparison. I’m moving to Vilnius and this is really helpful!!

[@aspecialday001]

There is a less popular store chain in Lithuania (mostly in neighbourhoods), which is Aibė. Recognizable by blue, green and red branding.

[@SophhAM]

Students know LIDL and iki are a clutch

[@Vhisper]

Fun real life story: My ex-gf starred in a Maxima commercial and they told that they chose Maxima all the time, but when I asked her about that in person, she told me that Lidl is actually the best 😄😄😄

[@LithuaniaExplained]

😆

[@HenriCore]

I honestly thought that Lithuania also had Selver as a major chain but guess not

[@b6983832]

@@ralfis1234 Selver is one of the big chains in Estonia. They don´t exist in other countries.