Retro Products Return to Lidl

Monday saw the return of supermarket chain Lidl’s Retro Week (Retro Týden) promotion, offering shoppers some 70 limited-edition products straight out of babička’s cupboards, refrigerator, and medicine cabinet.

The first Retro Week, debuting in June 2015, was such a success (if crowds and queues are any indicator) that the most recent edition promises Socalist nostalgia in an expanded range of flavors, says Lidl spokeswoman Jitka Vrbová:

“In addition to attractions like milk in a bag, lunchmeat, Májka, and Metro dessert, newly included are cream cheese Apetito, Granko, Vitacit, Lybar hairspray, aftershave Diplomat.”

The products are manufactured by the original suppliers and while the packaging is authentic, sure to conjure visual nostalgia aplenty, the recipe formulas are not, with the exception of the packaged meats. Wondering what Vysočina and Gothaj cold cuts tasted like in the 60s and 70s, respectively? You’re in luck. 

I stopped by to pick up a few things yesterday and found the whole experience to be somewhat of a treasure hunt, with retro labels popping up alongside their modern versions. Sell-out items? Rum-filled pralines (rumové pralinky) and aftershave that smells like paint thinner.