Ovomaltine, sausages and the like – products that divide Switzerland and Germany
8.8.2024
Translation: Elicia Payne
Same, but different – there’s no better expression for these neighbouring countries. That’s been made clear in the two years I’ve been at Galaxus. Here are some funny highlights.
Look at the image above: is that a German cow or a Swiss cow? No idea! Never mind, a cow is a cow... right?
Yep, that’s how I felt when I joined Galaxus two years ago. I thought to myself: «Zurich looks like Munich. Everyone speaks German and I can navigate the supermarket there just fine. What could possibly go wrong?» Spoiler alert: a lot. And I’m not talking about obvious things like three-pin plugs. Rather, everyday things that make me scratch my head when I visit the Zurich office. They show me that Switzerland and Germany are superficially similar – the devil is in the details.
Chocolate
Let’s start with my favourite topic: food. Ovomaltine, to be precise. This sinfully delicious crunchy stuff available in Switzerland in all possible forms. After a few visits to Switzerland, I have a clear favourite: Ovo Rocks! At first, I flew them in by the bagful from Zurich to Hamburg until I realised I could also get them in Germany via detours. The only big difference is that the bags here aren’t even half the size! Yeah, rolls eyes. In Zurich, I can get 120 gramme packs of Ovo-Rocks in every supermarket. Ok, sometimes they also have small 70 gramme bags. But my imported rocks, on the other hand, are only 60 grammes. Sixty grammes! That’s less than the small Swiss bags.
Source: Ovomaltine
Source: Ovomaltine
Dear Ovo-manufacturer: WHY?! Why are you torturing me like this? Why do I have to die a chocolate death here and stare into little empty bags after a mere three bites? I don’t want to live like this.
Rumour has it that the imported chocolate is also worse quality than the original. Personally, I can’t taste the difference.
Confectionery + biscuits
Quantity discount
CHF6.05 per piece for 3 units CHF26.80/1kg
Ovomaltine Crunchy Biscuit
1 pcs., 250 g
Sausages
One of those «same but different» things that I’d never have thought of myself is the natural habitat of bockwurst. It was my Swiss colleague Simon who came out of the supermarket in a state of complete disarray on our team leader trip to Constance and shouted: «They’ve got sausages in jars here! They’re swimming in a strange liquid. Hahahaha.» I responded: «How do you store sausages?» Simon: «Vacuum-packed, of course.» I’ve learnt something new! We both laughed.
By the way, in Germany we call the liquid in the jars «sausage water». When I was young, it was considered a test of courage amongst male teens to drink the sausage water. Yuck. Simon was so fascinated by the bockwurst story that he even brought it up in his podcast (in Swiss German). He admits he’s not tried the sausage water.
Drugstores
This is how it works in Hamburg: deodorant empty? Go to the drugstore! Mascara empty? Go to the drugstore! Running low on detergent? Go to the drugstore! It feels like there’s a DM, a Rossmann or a Budni on every corner. In Hamburg and the surrounding area there are 59 DM stores, 38 Rossmann stores and over 190 Budni stores.
Source: Anika Schulz
In Switzerland, on the other hand, this is – with a few exceptions – rather complicated. I learnt a painful lesson when I forgot my shampoo once. The drugstore scene is much smaller there, as my colleague and beauty expert Natalie explains to me: «Germany has a distinct drugstore culture. I can only dream of the number of shops you have. It’s only just starting to take off here. We now have Müller and more and more stores. But there was nothing like it before.»
Still, galaxus.ch sells many drugstore labels such as Catrice, Essence and also DM’s own brand Balea.
Throat lozenges
Here’s a bit of crude humour for you. It’s about the common cold remedy products from Vicks. In German, if someone mumbles the word «Vicks» they might get some strange looks; it sounds very similar to the word for wanking («wichsen»). That’s probably why the brand was renamed to «Wick». In Switzerland, throat sweets, menthol sticks and the like are still called Vicks.
Source: Anika Schulz
Source: Claudio Candinas
That’s fine with me. Except I’ll probably think of Vicks and giggle to myself every time I buy Wick sweets in the future. In the DM store round the corner, of course!
Sweets + chewing gum
Quantity discount
CHF3.60 per piece for 4 units CHF62.50/1kg
Vicks IceTea Peach
1 pcs., 72 g
Sweets + chewing gum
Quantity discount
CHF2.10 per piece for 4 units CHF75.–/1kg
Vicks Blue without sugar
1 pcs., 40 g
Bed linen
At first I thought it was a hotel thing with the unusual pillow and comforter sizes until I looked at the bed linen in our Swiss shop. Surprise, surprise... bedding in Switzerland has different measurements to Germany. While my Hamburg self sleeps on an 80 × 80 centimetre pillow, my Zurich self slumbers on 65 × 100 centimetres. My duvet at home is oversized at 155 × 220 centimetres. In Zurich, 160 × 210 centimetres is standard. Why is that? I. don’t. know. And I don’t care. I’m just happy to get good sleep. And I do, (almost) everywhere.
Source: Galaxus
Either way, I like Switzerland and I’m just as happy every time I come back to Hamburg. It has almost become a running gag to ask, «Do you have that too?» – in both directions. My colleagues in Zurich are just as curious as I am. And that’s the special thing about neighbouring countries.
Can you think of an ordinary object you use in your everyday life which differs from country to country? Or do you miss something in Switzerland that’s available in Germany? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
Anika Schulz
Teamleader Editorial
Anika.Schulz@galaxus.deAs a child, I was socialised with Mario Kart on SNES before ending up in journalism after graduating from high school. As a team leader at Galaxus, I'm responsible for news. I'm also a trekkie and an engineer.
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