When I visited Cyprus back in 2022, I came across an incredible hypermarket chain known as Alphamega. After my visit, I concluded that it was more than just a grocery store, but a landmark in itself. You can find Alphamega stores across Cyprus in all the major cities: Limassol, Nicosia, Larnaca & Paphos.
It’s no secret that the Cypriots are blessed with a warm climate and fertile soil. So naturally, their hypermarkets will stock mouth-watering produce like juicy watermelons 🍉 to delectable seafood like the Aegean sea-bass. In this article, we will explore what sets Alphamega apart from other grocery stores on the island.
What makes Alphamega so special? It’s just a grocery store 🤨
If you’re a health-conscious person, then you’ll quickly realize that it’s not your average grocery store. They sell A LOT of affordable gluten-free food, in addition to reasonably healthy ready meals and a never-ending frozen foods section. Their high-quality food is a game-changer for meal prep and you’ll fall in love with cooking again if you struggled to find good produce in the past.
I was very surprised to see so many gluten-free foods at the grocery store. If you ask most people in Cyprus about gluten-free, you’ll often be met with a confused look: “Gluten? What is that?!“
A Greek-Cypriot comedian Cypriot Smurf captures this quite well in one of his skits:
Gluten-free bread | Product Reviews
I had never seen Nutri Free bread before visiting Cyprus so I put it in my basket to try out for breakfast the following day. A few large slices of Wholemeal Buckwheat Flour bread cost 2.45 EUR, which seemed reasonable compared to similar options. Nutri Free is an Italian brand that sells gluten-free and lactose free products. I was surprised that the bread held well although buckwheat is an acquired taste.
I also purchased the Schar Soft Slices of Bread with 7 Seeds & Grains Gluten Free 300g which cost 3.98 EUR. It has smaller bread slices (half the size of regular bread) and less of a strong taste than buckwheat although I preferred the Nutri Free slices due to being more similar consitency to ‘normal’ bread.
I didn’t get to try Schar Chicken Fingers Gluten Free 375 g – it’s not available in the UK and seems to be a new product from Schar. It costs 7.55 EUR for 15 pieces. Sure, it’s expensive for chicken fingers, and a gluten-inclusive pack would probably cost half the price or less but it’s nice that there is an option for those on the gluten-free diet and I’m sure it’s a welcome addition to families with young children.
They sell a lot of gluten-free products that are available in the UK such as one of my favourite cupboard staples: Old El Paso 6 Gluten Free Tortillas (6 pack). I’ve mentioned these tortillas before on the blog, and I use them for my breakfast burritos, you can find the recipe here. In Alphamega, these tortilla cost only 3.83 EUR. With currency conversion as of October 2024, that’s a similar price to the UK (3 GBP).
Yes, you can buy British food here too.
This hypermarket also stocks a wide range of imported goods from the UK, especially the well-known brand Tesco.
If you’re an expatriate from the UK living in Cyprus, then you have probably already heard of this store, if not, and you’ve just moved to the island, get yourself to an Alphamega near you. You’ll definitely be stocking up on things like breakfast cereals (coco-pops) to Tesco-branded pasta and baked beans (yum).
The imported food section is not like your typical world foods section. The dedicated aisle that I visited at Alphamega’s Paphos store is big enough for little ones to run up and down for a good 15 minutes. Yes, it really is that big.
I’m trying to lose weight. Can I buy low-calorie foods at Alphamega?
Yes, you can. Another pleasant surprise during my visit to Alphamega Aphrodite store in Paphos was the sheer abundance of low-calorie health snacks and sugar-free table condiments (ketchup, mayo…)
Until that point, I had to buy branded sugar-free condiments directly from the brand. Alphamega has managed to house an entire inventory of healthy food so you don’t need to make separate trips to a health food store. It’s truly a one-stop grocery store, which is so convenient if you are pressed on time (aren’t we all?)
This earned major brownie points for me and if I was a resident in Cyprus, you can bet that I would do my entire grocery shop from this store alone.
Fresh fish? Yes please!
The quality of fish was unparalleled, partly due to the indigenousness of the seafood around the island.
You see, the sea-bass which I speak so fondly of, was probably farmed from a place very close by, and after going through rigorous health-checks and packaging, it ends up (perhaps in a sad twist of fate) very close to its place of origin: on a Cypriot grocery shelf. The remainder of its family is unfortunately shipped across Europe and the rest of the world, losing most of its flavour in the process.
The unparalleled customer service at Alphamega Hypermarkets
It would be a disservice to my first ever grocery trip in Cyprus if I left out an encounter with the staff in the fruit section. This was from my visit around 10pm during the COVID restrictions epoch:
I was welcomed by an expansive but empty fruit section to my left. The sheer size of the store was quite mind-boggling and I hadn’t expected such a big grocery store for an island.
As I perused the fruit shelves, trying to take in the variety and understand what to put in my basket, a tall middle-aged Cypriot worker approached me in his aproned Alphamega uniform. I asked him if I could break apart the grapes, as I usually bought them pre-packaged, and he answered “it’s ok, you can taste it” and followed up with “I am the manager, it’s ok” as he proceeded to pick a grape and eat it, offering another to me, which I politely declined.
This endearing encounter embodies the Cypriot hospitality and customer service quite well. I was touched by the worker’s act of generosity in such a bleak time as COVID, and at a place as mundane as the grocery store.
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