One of the first surprises for many people travelling through Panama is that groceries are not necessarily as cheap as they expected. Panama is affordable in many ways, but the supermarket can be a different story. If you shop intelligently, eat local food and avoid filling your cart with imported products, you can eat very well without spending a fortune. Start buying European cheese, imported cereal, fancy sauces, wine and foreign snacks, however, and the bill can climb surprisingly quickly.
As of 2026, the official and semi official numbers give a pretty good idea of where things stand. Panama's consumer protection agency Acodeco tracks a basket of 59 basic food products. In the first half of August 2026, that basket cost about $304.85 for a family of four for a month when purchased at supermarkets, compared with about $358 through minisúpers and small grocery stores. That's an important distinction: where you shop can make a substantial difference.
And those figures are for a defined basket of basic foods. They aren't necessarily what an expat couple eating imported salmon, European chocolate and expensive wine will spend!
What does a typical grocery item cost?
Prices vary considerably by supermarket, brand and location, but current price databases give a useful indication. Around Panama, you can expect roughly $1.80 to $2 for a litre of milk, $2.40 to $2.90 for a kilogram of rice, around $2.50 to $3 for a dozen eggs, about $6 to $8 for a kilogram of chicken fillets and roughly $9 to $10 for a kilogram of beef. Bananas are among the bargains, often around $1.40 to $1.50 per kilogram.
Vegetables can be quite reasonable, particularly when you buy what is being produced locally. Potatoes, tomatoes, onions and lettuce are commonly available for a few dollars per kilogram or per unit, although prices can vary enormously depending on the supermarket and whether you are buying ordinary local produce or something more specialized.
Fruit is where Panama can feel particularly good value if you stick to tropical produce. Bananas, plantains, papaya, pineapple and other locally available fruits generally make much more sense for the budget than importing your usual supermarket diet from North America or Europe.
Panama is cheap if you eat like Panama
This is probably the biggest grocery-shopping secret.
Rice, beans, lentils, plantains, eggs, chicken, local vegetables and seasonal fruit can form the basis of an inexpensive diet.
The moment you decide you need exactly the same groceries you would buy back home, the economics change.
Want Canadian style breakfast cereal? Imported.
Want a particular European cheese? Imported.
Want an expensive bottle of olive oil? Imported.
Want specialty crackers, sauces, protein products or a particular brand of peanut butter? Possibly imported.
Want berries in the middle of the wrong season? You may be paying for their entire journey to Panama.
Panama is a tropical agricultural country, but it is also a small market that imports a significant amount of food. That means local food and imported food can have dramatically different economics.
Supermarket versus the little shop
One of the easiest ways to accidentally spend more money is to do all your shopping at the little store around the corner.
The convenience is fantastic. You're hiking through a village, run out of milk and there is a little mini súper 50 metres away. Perfect.
But convenience usually comes with a price.
Acodeco's August 2026 comparison illustrates the difference particularly well. Its 59 item basket cost approximately $305 in supermarkets versus $358 through minisúpers and abarroterías. That's about $53 more for the same broad basket.
The little shop is therefore excellent for the emergency onion, beer, milk or packet of cookies.
It isn't necessarily where you want to do your entire month's shopping.
Which supermarkets are cheapest?
There isn't one supermarket that wins on every product. Promotions change, individual products vary and prices can differ substantially between locations.
Panamanians themselves frequently compare Super 99, Super Carnes, El Fuerte, Xtra and other supermarkets when trying to keep grocery costs down. Recent local discussions also show people buying different categories from different stores rather than expecting one supermarket to be cheapest for everything.
That's actually one of the best strategies in Panama.
You might buy meat somewhere that specializes in it, vegetables at a market, bulk items at PriceSmart and your ordinary weekly groceries at a supermarket near your house.
If you're staying for only two weeks, don't waste half your holiday travelling around Panama City to save 50 cents on a bag of rice.
If you're living in Panama for years, however, learning where things are cheapest can add up to real money.
The farmers' market can change the equation
One of the great things about shopping in Panama is that you don't necessarily have to buy everything from a supermarket.
Local markets can be excellent places to buy fruit, vegetables, plantains, herbs and other locally produced food.
This is particularly useful outside Panama City, where you're more likely to encounter agricultural communities and local produce.
And there is another advantage: you're eating according to what Panama actually grows.
Instead of looking for expensive imported apples, why not buy pineapple?
Instead of imported berries, try papaya.
Instead of expensive packaged snacks, buy bananas or plantains.
Instead of imported vegetables that travelled halfway around the world, look for what farmers in the region are producing.
That is when grocery shopping in Panama starts becoming genuinely interesting.
Panama City versus the countryside
Where you live matters.
Panama City has enormous supermarkets with huge selections of imported food. That's fantastic if you want it, but it also means there are endless opportunities to spend money.
In smaller towns, your selection may be narrower, but you can sometimes find very good prices on basic local foods.
The downside is that remote areas can actually become more expensive, especially when transportation and limited competition enter the equation.
This is something backpackers discover quickly. The tiny shop beside a remote bus stop isn't necessarily going to offer Panama City's supermarket prices.
You're paying for the fact that somebody had to get that product there.
How much should a backpacker budget?
A backpacker who cooks basic meals and shops carefully can eat considerably more cheaply than someone eating every meal in restaurants.
For a very budget conscious traveller, something like $8 to $12 per day for groceries can be possible if you cook simple meals, buy local products and avoid expensive imported foods.
A more comfortable grocery budget might be $12 to $20 per person per day, particularly if you're buying meat, snacks, coffee and better quality ingredients.
And of course, the moment you start buying alcohol, imported products, restaurant food or specialty health foods, the budget changes.
These aren't official government budget figures; they're practical planning ranges based on current grocery prices and the huge variation in what people actually buy.
The $200 grocery budget question
You will occasionally hear people say they can feed themselves in Panama for $200 a month.
Yes, it can be possible.
But there's a huge difference between $200 of basic food and $200 of everything you might consider groceries.
A person eating rice, beans, eggs, chicken, vegetables, fruit and drinking water can do very different things with $200 than someone buying imported cheese, wine, breakfast cereal, protein powder, chocolate, coffee and snacks.
Recent discussions among people living in Panama show exactly this variation. Some households report grocery spending of only a few hundred dollars, while others spend $500, $600 or considerably more depending on household size and what they eat.
So don't believe anyone who gives you a single magic number for "the cost of groceries in Panama."
Your diet matters more than the country.
One of the best ways to save money
The simplest rule is:
Buy local when you can and imported when you really want it.
Panama has rice, beans, chicken, fish, eggs, plantains, bananas, pineapples, papayas, vegetables, coffee and an enormous variety of other locally available foods.
Build your diet around those products and Panama can be quite manageable.
Try to recreate the exact supermarket you had back home and you may wonder why Panama suddenly doesn't feel cheap anymore.
And always compare prices. Acodeco specifically recommends comparing stores because the same products can have meaningful price differences between supermarkets, minisúpers and different locations.
The real cost of eating in Panama
The interesting thing about grocery shopping in Panama is that there isn't really one answer to whether food is cheap or expensive.
Basic local food can be remarkably affordable.
Imported food can be surprisingly expensive.
Fresh tropical fruit can be a bargain.
Some dairy products can make you wonder what happened to your wallet.
A supermarket can save you money compared with the little shop.
A local market can beat the supermarket for certain produce.
And a backpacker who cooks can spend dramatically less than one who eats every meal out.
In other words, Panama rewards people who shop like locals.
You don't need to live on rice and beans to travel cheaply here. But if you're willing to discover what Panamanians actually eat, shop where they shop and take advantage of local produce, your grocery budget can go a surprisingly long way.
And perhaps that's one of the nicest things about travelling in Panama: sometimes the cheapest food is also the food that makes the trip more interesting.