Shopping

In Jena, you have the opportunity to shop in small stores and larger supermarkets during customer-friendly opening hours. These vary between 6 am and midnight. You can find out more details from the local providers.

The offerings are geared towards the needs of city dwellers, so you will also find many foods that are halal, vegan, organic or regional, for example. You can find out more about the specific contents of food products from the supermarket's listings and packaging. In Germany, food manufacturers are obliged to label their products truthfully and in detail. There are also inspection bodies that ensure compliance with this rule.

You can buy fresh food from the region not only in supermarkets, but also at the weekly market in Jena. Here you usually only have to pay in cash, while the supermarkets also accept EC cards or Visa payments.

Food prices can fluctuate greatly depending on supply and demand.

Deposit system

For many drinks and food in PET or glass bottles and cans, you have to pay a deposit of between 8 and 25 cents on top of the price. You can tell whether a container is subject to a deposit by the deposit symbol. The one-way deposit symbol is the most common.

In principle, all sellers of goods subject to deposit must take back the empty containers. Many retailers have set up machines for returning empties.

This means that you will be refunded the deposit if you return empty bottles, jars and cans marked accordingly to the point of sale.

Containers without a deposit symbol can be disposed of in waste garbage cans for paper or packaging waste or sorted by color in containers for glass.