The Ivorian Supermarket Socofrais was the shopping experience I didn’t think I needed when I visited Côte d’Ivoire last December. Shopping at Socofrais brought me back to the days I grew up in Côte d’Ivoire going to the traditional open market in our neighborhood.
After 30 years away, I am glad a lot has changed from what I remember and for the better. One change that is prevalent is the rise of supermarkets in Abidjan. There was no supermarkets in my childhood and coming back to see it being the norm is quite refreshing.
Visiting the the Ivorian Supermarket Socofrais reminds me so much of a farm to store format that is definitely a match made in a continent that prides itself with rich tradition and now embraces and welcomes a modern side to appeal to the next generation and visiting tourists from around the world.
Supermarkets like Socofrais provide a shopping experience that gave me a sense of familiarity from my time in the United States and felt like I was walking into American grocery store I am used to. My sister makes fun of my childish excitement whenever I run errands with her because it’s something to feel like a tourist in my own country but to my defense, I have been abroad longer than I was in Côte d’Ivoire.
We grabbed a shopping cart when we arrived at the Ivorian Supermarket Socofrais and proceeded to the fruit and vegetable stand to my delight. I felt like I was back in the traditional open market of my childhood including the happy noisy chatter of the customers all around but in a controlled and air-conditioned environment.
There was a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables to choose from and with the signage in French, it is a great opportunity to practice as you shop. You have plenty of choice from passion fruit (passion in french), watermelon (pasteque), banana (banane douce), pineapple (ananas), various types of apples (pommes), papaya (papaye), tangerine (mandarine), eggplant (aubergine), lettuce (laitue) to fresh herbs all listed and weighed at your convenience.
I was going very slow and rightly so as I was not about to let this experience go undocumented with pictures and ideas for a blog post. We walked past fresh seafood, rice, kola nuts, plantains, cassava and the best part is that most of those products are sources from farms in the near regions.
The Ivorian Supermarket Socofrais easily took the traditional open market concept which is authentically African and set it in an environment that is a winning formula to be emulated all over the African continent. I appreciate how far we have come from the infrastructures to resources and technology that rival with any other country around the world.
We left with 2 cart full of of fruit and vegetables to bring home and I realized at that moment how wonderful it was to be back to my beautiful home of Côte d’Ivoire. I am proud to see the progress and how far we have come over the years. I am proud to hold on to the rich traditions that make us Africans so unique but thankful to see that modern times can never outweigh our love for traditions.
