Shopping at Oaxaca’s biggest market

We have a big inventory list and want to purchase local products. This is a great excuse for us to go shopping! What better place to start than Oaxaca’s biggest market, the Central de Abastos? This market is HUGE and sells EVERYTHING. So we wanted to check it out. Our plan was to get a good impression of the products offered and to have a chat with potential suppliers.

All products arrive from all over the region to the Central de Abastos (the ‘main place of supplies’) and from there on, will be distributed to the other markets. It is a huge complex with many different halls, all filled with a different type of product. It looks like a village on its own. There is a hall full of textile, from bedspreads to ponchos. Another hall is filled with fruits, vegetables, meat and fish. Some ladies are selling flavoured chapulines (grass hoppers, a Oaxacan delicacy), and others offer you fresh herbs. You can spend hours at this market, but we are here on a mission!

 

 

 


We arrive at the ceramics section. Only to find 10 different stands with similar products. We walk by the stands in search for plates, cups and bowls to our liking. 

At the furniture section, we are looking for wooden bed bases for our rooms. We don’t know where to start. On the photo you see a small selection of the products offered. And this is only a tiny part...

When we say they sell everything, we mean EVERYTHING! Anyone looking for a new sombrero?

Mission accomplished! And hopefully next time, we won’t get lost.