“A dream”: Dutch-South African woman compares meat sections in SA and the Netherlands

• A Dutch-South African woman living in the Netherlands filmed a side-by-side comparison of meat sections in both countries
• South Africa's supermarket aisles packed with cuts, braai meat, biltong and marinated options dwarfed what she found back in the Netherlands
• South Africans online flooded the comments to share their own pride and a few honest home truths about the country's food culture

A Dutch-South African woman living in the Netherlands gave her followers something to cheer about on 19 October when she posted a comparison video of supermarket meat sections in the two countries. Joyce, who runs a Facebook page for her Dutch and South African family content and has around 95,000 followers on TikTok, filmed refrigerated display cases in a Netherlands store and then in a South African supermarket.

The contrast was stark. The Netherlands shelves showed neatly packaged portions, modest in variety. What came next was a different story entirely.

SA meat aisles stop the scroll

South Africa's meat section filled the screen with row after row of options: different cuts of beef, pork and chicken, marinated meats, mince, sausages, biltong, droëwors and braai packs. Joyce captioned the clip with the words that summed it all up:

"Life will never be the same after you've been in SA," adding that the meat section in South Africa is simply "a dream."

The video tapped into something many South Africans living abroad feel deeply. While the Netherlands benefits from strict EU food safety standards and highly efficient greenhouse farming, South Africa's reputation for affordable, flavourful and abundantly varied fresh produce, particularly meat, is hard to match. Shorter supply chains and a strong braai culture mean supermarket butchery counters carry a range that surprises most visitors.

Watch the full comparison clip here.

Mzansi reacts to the meat section pride

South Africans and expats in the comments section on the Facebook page had plenty to say:

@Ann Benjamin DeWaal said:

"I live in Australia, and it's good, but the visits to South Africa, and seeing the supermarkets there, are on another level completely. Superb."

@Tayla Boshoff wrote:

"I love your videos that include the South African things. I show them to the Dutchies at work that don't believe me."

@Thabang Ngubane added:

"Don't forget to mention it's real animal meat, not lab meat."

@WesMon Gerber shared:

"Thank you to the farmers; this bounty does not grow in the shops!"

@Liteboho Benjamin Sitholê noted:

"We say we don't have food in South Africa if there is no meat!"

@Pat Bull said:

"We are a country of meat lovers."

@Wynand Visagie offered a reality check:

"Just too bad people can't afford it in South Africa! And in the Netherlands they can! That's why our fridges are full!"

The divide between pride and the cost-of-living reality hit a nerve with many, but the overall mood was one of celebration. For South Africans at home and abroad, the video was a reminder that when it comes to meat, few countries can compete.

More on life in different countries

• Briefly News recently reported on an American living in Harare who shared an honest look at daily life in Zimbabwe, from solar panels to prepaid electricity tokens.
• A Japanese woman moved to Cape Town without knowing anyone, and South Africans welcomed her warmly online.
• An SA woman tried KFC in America for the first time, and South Africans rallied behind the local version in the comments.

Source: Briefly News

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