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Food & Daily Rhythm
Which stores actually carry American brands, why Panama's status as a trade hub matters for your grocery cart, and what changes outside the capital.
Where to shop, and what it costs
- Riba Smith: the go-to for expats and Panamanians alike, with a genuinely wide selection of American brands (breakfast cereals, baking staples, dressings, deli and prepared foods) alongside international goods.
- PriceSmart: a Costco-style warehouse club with three locations in the Panama City area (five nationwide), good for bulk-buying imported and local goods at a discount.
- Why the selection is this good: Panama is a major transshipment hub for goods moving through the region, including the Colón Free Zone, one of the largest free-trade zones in the world; that infrastructure is a real structural reason US products flow into Panama more easily than into many other retirement destinations.
Outside Panama City, it's a different cart
- Boquete, Coronado, Bocas: smaller local supermarkets and public markets cover the staples, but the deep bench of specific American brands available at Riba Smith or PriceSmart thins out noticeably; a specialty run into Panama City or David becomes a periodic habit for some retirees.
- Volcán & Cerro Punta, the exception: this highland region grows roughly 80% of the country's produce, so fresh vegetables are unusually cheap and good at the local public markets, even though imported/American-brand pantry items are the hardest to find of any area on this list.
Eating out
- The set lunch: a plato del día (or "corriente") at a local fonda typically runs well under $10, a meaningfully different economics than eating the same lunch out in the US.
- The trade-off: because eating out this cheaply is genuinely accessible, some retirees eat out more often than they did in the US without their overall food budget actually dropping the way they expected; worth checking your own habits against the number, not just assuming the savings.