Grocery Delivery Gets Competitive in Prague

Tesco

Delivery zone: Throughout Prague and beyond;seedetailed map coverage here.

Delivery fees: 49-99 CZK; Fridays and evenings are the most expensive (79-99 CZK), while Wednesday afternoons are 49 CZK. Orders can be placed up to 3 weeks in advance. New customers can get free delivery now until the end of August when spending over 500 CZK.

Fun features: Click & Collect is available with pick up at the Praha Letňany branch for 39 CZK, with a current summer special of1 CZK until August 31.The “Favourites” feature remembers all of your previous online purchases so you don’t have to search through thousands of products to find your most beloved brand of peanut butter.

Tips: The “náhrada”category means substitution. If you aren’t happy with blueberry yogurt when you originally asked for blackberry send it back. You can also send back any produce that doesn’t look fresh!

Overall: Suprisingly polite and friendly delivery drivers with English-speaking customer service operators and delivery straight to your door occasionally with a free gift (chocolate bar!). Typically had the best prices and promos and largest selection. No cash accepted.

Rohlik.cz

Delivery zone: Prague only; company plans on expanding to Brno, Hradec Králové, Pardubice.

Delivery price: 79-99 CZK per delivery; spend over 600 CZK for 49-99 CZK delivery, spend over 1,500 CZK for free delivery. Current promo offers registered users one month free delivery anda new premium member features gives you delivery for one year for 1,000 CZK.

Fun feature: Handwrite your grocery list, snap a pic, and send and they will do the shopping for you. Also has a unique “last-minute” category. Click and buy items that are close to the expiry date (usually produce or meat) for half price.

Overall: Due to the higher cost and smaller selection it is best used occasionally or in a pinch for its immediate, same-day delivery service. (We recently purchased excellent organnic turkey as a last-minute option!). The site is not English friendly; accepts cash at the door.

Kolonial.cz

Delivery zone: Throughout Prague and beyond including Roztoky, Jeneč, Černošice, and Říčany.

Delivery price: The service is so new that delivery prices have not yet been fixed; so far they have been running specials: currently if you spend over 500 CZKdelivery is free.

Fun feature: They are the only delivery service that will take away your empty bottles – and give you the deposit back in credit for next order.

Overall: No cash option, card only. Website in Czech only. Unlike the above mentioned services they will SMS you in advance of their delivery instead of just buzzing and waking up your baby (I’m looking at you Tesco!).

Košík.cz

Delivery zone: Currently still within Prague only; if you live in Zbraslav, Říčany or Roztoky then you’re out of luck.

Delivery fee:Minimal order 500 CZK, free delivery for first order and orders over 1,500 CZK and for orders placed a day in advance. Same day delivery is available for 45 CZK. Currently when you order 1,000 CZK you get 200 CZK back.

Fun feature: Košík.cz is party friendly selling ice (you read it right, ICE)in 3 kg or 5 kg bags.

Overall: This is our favorite lately with melon and drinks arriving ice cold and the produce so fresh that paying more than Tesco was acceptable. For expat staples (we bought La Costenablack beans and authentic Thai coconut milk), they have the cheapest prices in town and a great selection of “exotic foods” that beats Bila and Albert.

In all fairness there were two we didn’t try:Z-Market, which was one of the first grocery delivery services in Prague (est. 1997) and offers 24-hour delivery. (Order minimum for free delivery is 500 CZK). The newerPotraviny Domu debuted its on-line delivery service in 2010. Minimal purchase for free delivery is 990 CZK. Also has an iTunes app that lets, you “tell” your iPhone what to buy.

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