Review #879
2025-052
ICA Kvantum (pronounced ick-ah quan-toom) is a Swedish supermarket chain that's part of the ICA Gruppen family of grocery stores; it's the 2nd largest store format within the ICA family with less non-food merchandise than the hypermarket-sized MAXI ICA Stormarknad stores. The medium-sized market is food & groceries focused, offering a wide selection of fresh produce & proteins, organic options, & everyday & special occasion foods than general merchandise.
Some markets have a small cafe, hot food section, or deli & cured meat counter, providing services for both weekend treats & everyday needs. I love the bakery here... oh the delicious spices & baking scents wafting throughout if you timed your shopping right.
Prices are comparable to other grocery stores. My MIL likes ICA because of the weekly senior discount offer on Tuesdays (couldn't remember if it's a 5% or 10% discount), so we would provide her with our grocery list when we're in town. We typically don't join her because it gets really crowded on the senior day, in addition to long lines.
As mentioned in my other supermarket review (refer to Review #870), every time I'm back in Sweden, I'm like a kid in the candy store at the market; my husband often shakes his head & rolls his eyes every first visit back that I'm over excited over a Ralphs (supermarket brand in the U.S.). Yes, I know it's essentially the same... meat, seafood, produce, dairy, cereals, snacks, sodas, etc., but the brands are different & tastes different too. I'm not a fan of yogurt at home, but I love the pourable yogurt, Arla Yogurt Jordgubb (strawberry), over a bowl of mixed berry muesli. I love fresh baked breads at prices equivalent to the preserved bagged breads, spread a little Becel butter or add some ham & cheese, & it's a simple delish breakfast! We also enjoy picking out bulk candy, a common trait in Sweden's supermarkets. My favs are the sweet & sours belts, & sweet peach gummies, my husband's is the licorices, & my kids just love all the sweets! LOL
The aisles are spacious & well-stocked. Staff seem friendly enough. At check-out, there's 2 conveyor belts with a divider to split the customers' purchases; the cashier places the divider to allocate your items before ringing up the groceries, & you bag your items. If you're still not done, the divider will push the next customer's groceries to the other side & s/he will load their groceries opposite from you... a sort of efficient way to handle more customers quickly, but also dependent upon how fast one bags the groceries, which is fairly fast since this is common practice here. The supermarket requires a coin to "borrow" the shopping cart & you get back your krona when you return the shopping cart. This procedure has been eliminated in some supermarkets, I didn't make any trip here recently because my MIL handled more of our grocery needs so I'm not sure if this coin-borrowed cart policy is still effective.
Yes, it's just a grocery store except it's in Sweden. But I love the experience & yummy food available at ICA Kvantum! read more