Cost of food and drink In Turkey

Yes, it is relative to each individual and varies from one person to another or from one family to another. But it is a burden when you make your decision while traveling to Turkey and you are puzzled, how much will be the cost of my food and drink.

So we have to overcome these difficulties or at least help you calculate your expenses from A to Z.

Let's start dividing it into two parts:

1. What is the cost of my food and drink if I decide to make them at home?
2. And what is the cost if I decide to eat outside the house?

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Before discussing these two points, let us convey to you our experience in the form of points on the direct effects on the prices of food, vegetables, and fruits in Turkey:

1. The first issue Is that Turkey has seasonal weather as far as imaginable, for example, you can see the four seasons in one day in a volatile weather city like Ankara. But why this beginning? The answer is: To be aware that the weather factors have a direct and strong impact on the prices of vegetables and fruits, for example in winter and during the fall of snow you will find that prices are on the rise, on the contrary, summer days and the more heat the atmosphere, the lower the prices.
2. The second issue Also important, most vegetables and fruits are associated with their season (which is normal) at the beginning and end of the season, you will notice the price rises due to the low supply.
3. The third issue Where do you live? This has an impact in terms of the social level of your region and this is normal in trade, the more the consumer has a relatively high purchasing power, the higher the prices of products and also in terms of the shortage of supermarkets or markets close to these areas and if they exist, the prices of their operation are high compared to other neighborhoods.
4. The fourth issue and more importantly, where to buy?

In Turkey, there is a wide variety of prices depending on the place of the purchase; Turkey is subject to free-market policy, meaning that there is no law that compels the manufacturer or the producer to a certain price or fixed price.

Let's separate it according to the most important food, vegetables, and fruits:

1. Bread: The Turkish government competes with bakeries in a just way, so the government bakeries do not receive any advantages or difference in the price of the basic ingredients of the bread, so you will find the difference in prices is not big but on the contrary, you will find the government bread outlets cheaper than private outlets. Those who do this are the municipalities; each municipality has its own outlets operating throughout the day from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
2. These outlets have white and brown bread, full flour bread, and some types of pastries.

For example, the price of white bread at the Municipal (Ankara) outlets is 65 piasters, while in private outlets the price ranges from 1 lira to 1.25 liras.

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Here is the illustrative table:

1. Meat: Meat is sold in two places, either in the supermarket or at the butcher.
2. Each type of meat has its price and each place also has its own price.
3. For example, in Ankara there is a supermarket (GIMSA) which is considered the cheapest in the price of meat, where the price of the kilo between 37 and 49 TL According to the quality of meat, while the price of the kilo at (MIGROS) market or at the butcher ranges between 45 – 56 TL.
4. Chicken: Chickens are also sold in two places, either in supermarkets or in stores specializing in the sale of chickens and eggs of their kind.
5. These stores are characterized by low prices and the availability of some species that may not be available in the supermarket such as Turkeys.
6. The price of chickens ranges from one company to another and from one place to another, but approximate starting from 6 lira to 7.75 lira per kilo
7. You can also buy separate chicken parts: 1/2 or 1/4 chicken-breasts-wings-etc.
8. Fish: The Turkish people are not fond of eating fish because of their culture, so you will find the availability of very few fish species in Turkey, they have four or five famous types and the rest are on seasons.

The Turkish people rarely eat fish in their home so as to preserve the smell of the house (as they say) and also because fish prices are not cheap.

Below is a list of the most popular types and the approximate prices

Food Products: 

1. They are available in supermarkets and regular shops and many companies compete in the quality and volume of food items.
2. Diary and Cheese: The most famous of Turkey is its livestock, and therefore the types of dairy are available and relatively cheap, and for Cheese, it is more than count, there are more than 22 different types of cheeses in Turkey, which has added to more than 10 varieties of olives.

Vegetables and fruits:

1. Vegetables and fruits are sold in two places, one of them of course is the supermarket and the other (which is always cheaper) is the bazaar as it is called in Turkish, which is a spacious place allocated by the municipality of every city in Turkey in every residential area or neighborhood. This market is held once on a specific day of each week in each district or area. Sellers are farmers or traders directly dealing with farmers, so it is characterized by the quality of the supply and the low prices. But it is difficult to buy in grams as it is recognized in the supermarket.

 As mentioned earlier, the prices of fruits and vegetables vary from one season to another.

Food and drink outside the house

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We will not be exaggerating if we consider Turkey to be one of the best countries in the world in terms of delicious and halal food at the same time. Turkish cuisine is filled with types of food that need several books, not lines to be explained. But in the coming lines, we will try as much as possible to show what is famous and popular among the tourist category and the student category in Turkey.

If we divide the day into two parts; the morning (breakfast) and the rest of the day (lunch or dinner), you will find many choices:

For breakfast, you can buy Simit for 1 lira or Poğaça ranging from 0.75 piasters and 2 liras with a cup of tea for 1 lira also.

The culture of good breakfast is one of the most important features of the Turkish people, so you will find many restaurants that offer different types of pastries, sandwiches and pizzas even there are some restaurants that offer an open buffet breakfast service with free tea and coffee at prices ranging from 20 to 40 lira per person in some cities and 10 liras in other cities.