Coral Hipermercado in Cuenca
Groceries Are Just One Reason To Shop There

Coral Hipermercados (pronounced "CorRAL Eeper-mare-COD-os") in Cuenca is the only one-stop shopping location for just about everything you need for your home, including groceries. We discuss the food (or "supermercado") section on this page.

The Coral logo

The Food Selection

Each of the Coral Hipermercados in Cuenca carries a wide range of food products. You won't as many imported products because Coral's demographic is looking for lower cost foods. But you'll find just about any food made or produced in Ecuador.

You'll find lots of meats and meat products. Unlike the Supermaxi stores, you won't find fresh meats already packaged. Coral meats are served from a butcher counter.

There's also a pretty good produce department, although it's not as extensive as what you'll find at the indigenous mercados.

One thing you'll need to get used to at Coral is having your bag of produce weighed in the department, where they price it for you. It seems that Coral's fundamental belief is that everyone who comes to the store will steal from them if given the chance, so they reduce the chances.

The bakery department is disappointing in the Coral stores. Consider it more of a prepackaged baked goods department. There's not much in the way of freshly baked items.

The rest of the store has all the usual items, including household cleaning products, grains and flours, pasta and sauces, canned goods, pet foods and treats, coffees and teas, and candies and snacks.

One thing you'll find at the Coral Hipermercados that you won't find at Supermaxi is a large selection of calorie-reduced and fat-reduced products.

Prices and Savings

Overall, the Coral prices are lower than at Supermaxi. However, we've found some products are more expensive than at Supermaxi, so if you're on a budget, it could save you some time to shop at both stores once or twice until you get a feel for which store is best for you.

You can apply for the Coralcard, which gives you discounts on everything in the store, plus four months interest-free on large purchases. Consider it an in-house credit card with a discount.

Coral Hipermercados Locations in Cuenca

There are four locations in Cuenca.

1. The smallest location is on Calle Sucre, almost to Huaynacápac. It's within walking distance of pretty much anywhere in El Centro.
2. Coral Centro is on Avenida de las Américas. If you're taking a taxi, tell the driver you want to go to Coral Centro. If you're downtown, you can take Bus 13. If you want a better layout or less claustrophobia, choose one of the other locations.
3. There's also one at Mall del Río, at the southern edge of the city, along the bypass highway. Tell a taxi driver you want to go to Mall del Río. There are several buses that will take you there as well, including Bus 13 in either direction (it runs in a loop).
4. The newest Coral Hipermercado is at Monay (pronounced "mo-neye") Shopping, a small mall that opened in the spring of 2010. Tell the taxi driver that you want to go to Monay Shopping. From downtown or the west end, grab Bus 50, Bus 3 or Bus 1 (#1 drops you off just past the mall, so you'll have to backtrack about 50 yards).

There's now also a location in Guayaquil.

Summary

If you're on a budget but still want a wide variety of foods to choose from, and you're willing to endure long lines at the checkouts, Coral Hipermercados will serve you well. The logo says it all—Everyyything, and cheaper!

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