International Grocery Stores in Switzerland: Asian, Indian, Middle Eastern & More (2026)

For everyday Asian basics (soy sauce, basmati rice, miso, kimchi), Migros and Coop's international shelves cover roughly 80 percent of what most home cooks need. For fresh curry leaves, gochujang in larger jars, fish sauce by the litre, halal lamb, kosher meat or specific Sri Lankan, Filipino, Korean or West African ingredients, you go to specialty stores. The biggest concentrations are in Zurich, Geneva and Basel. Verify current operating hours before visiting.

Sources checked: May 2026. Aggarwal AG (aggarwal.ch) + 2017 NZZ profile; Yumi Hana (yumihana-zuerich.ch) + 2023 Gault & Millau; Asia Store chain (asia-store.ch); Tages-Anzeiger 2024 New Asia Market profile; baogeneve.ch Geneva Asian grocery directory (February 2026); Sila AG (silaag.ch); turkishmarket.ch; Koscher City (koschercity.ch) + 2018 NZZ feature; SIG (swissjews.ch) + IGfKL kosher list; Swiss Kosher app; HALALSUISSE; HCS Halal Control Switzerland; SGS HaPI; Migros migros.ch "Aus aller Welt"; Coop kosher section at coop.ch. Verified May 2026.

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The Swiss international grocery map by region

Switzerland's international grocery landscape has three layers. The top layer is the supermarket chains: Migros runs an "Aus aller Welt" section across most larger stores, covering Asian, Indian, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Balkan, Turkish, Portuguese and African basics. Coop carries comparable international shelves, though without a single dedicated line name (note that Coop's "Karma" brand is the chain's vegetarian and vegan line, not an international-cuisine line). Aldi Suisse and Lidl Schweiz carry rotating international ranges. Denner, Aligro and Otto's have smaller and more variable international assortments.

The second layer is the specialty importer-retailer. The most established Swiss player here is Aggarwal AG, founded by Ghansham Aggarwal in 1986, with four flagship stores in Basel, Bern, Zurich and Baden plus a major wholesale business that supplies Globus, Gate Gourmet and occasionally Migros and Coop. Aggarwal specialises in Indian products but also stocks Sri Lankan, Thai, Vietnamese, South African and Latin American imports.

The third layer is the small neighbourhood specialty grocer, which is where the most authentic and specific ingredients live. These are usually family-run, with limited or no website presence, and turnover happens. The general rule: in Zurich, Kreis 4 (Langstrasse) and Kreis 5 are the densest international-grocery districts; in Geneva, the Pâquis and Plainpalais; in Basel, around the train station and Kleinbasel; in Lausanne, around the station and Place de la Riponne; in Bern, less concentrated but spread across the centre.

Asian grocery: Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai

Three Zurich anchors:

• Yumi Hana (Schützengasse 4 area, Zurich) is the established Korean and Japanese specialty store. It moved into a new flagship store near the Hauptbahnhof in roughly 2021 after 22 years at its previous Zurich location. Direct importer; large assortment of kimchi, gochujang, ssamjang, bulgogi sauce, Japanese sake, soba, ramen, plus Korean / Japanese ceramics and rice cookers. Verify at yumihana-zuerich.ch.
• Asia Store is a small chain with Zurich Hauptbahnhof, Zurich Oerlikon, Dietikon, Gretzenbach and Solothurn locations. Broad pan-Asian range (Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Filipino, Thai, Vietnamese, Indian) plus fresh Asian vegetables. Verify at asia-store.ch.
• New Asia Market (Kreis 4, near Kalkbreite, Zurich) was profiled by the Tages-Anzeiger in 2024 for its deep assortment and is the locals' choice for under-the-radar finds (Schnittknoblauch, dried chilli mangoes, multiple soy-sauce varieties).
• Lian Hua (Förrlibuckstrasse, Zurich) combines a Chinese-focused supermarket with an in-house canteen.

In Geneva, the locals' references include New Asian Spices, Thu Hang (Vietnamese), Mabuhay Store (Filipino and Asian) and Asia Maison (also online at asiamaison.ch). The Geneva Asian grocery scene is documented in food magazine baogeneve.ch.

For online ordering Switzerland-wide, Hello Asia (helloasia.ch) and Asia Markt (asia-markt.ch) both ship country-wide.

Indian and South Asian grocery

Aggarwal AG (Basel, Bern, Zurich, Baden) is the anchor. Founded by Ghansham Aggarwal in 1986 after he emigrated from India to Switzerland, the company grew from a small Muri-bei-Bern shop into Switzerland's largest importer of Indian and South Asian groceries, with around CHF 15 million in annual revenue. The flagship stores carry fresh Indian vegetables and fruit, basmati rice, lentils, the full Indian spice cabinet, frozen parathas and idli batter, plus Indian sweets, festival items, household and cosmetic products. Own-brand names: Paras and Seaqueen. Brand portfolio: East End, TRS, MDH Masalas, MTR, Idhayam, India Gate, Haldirams, Priya Pickles.

For online Indian groceries Switzerland-wide, indiasupermarkt.ch and salpers.ch both stock the major Indian brands plus fresh items (curry leaves, drumsticks, fresh coriander). Several Tamil-Sri Lankan grocers operate in Zurich, Bern and Geneva — search "indischer Laden" or "Sri Lanka shop" on Google Maps for your city.

Middle Eastern, Turkish and North African grocery

The Turkish and Balkan grocery network is the densest international-grocery network in German-speaking Switzerland. Most mid-size and larger Swiss cities have at least one Turkish supermarket combining halal butcher counter, fresh produce, bakery and Mediterranean / Balkan / Middle Eastern groceries.

Established anchors: Halk Pazari Oerlikon (Tramstrasse 10, Zurich Oerlikon) combines halal butcher, Turkish groceries, bakery and a Turkish restaurant. turkishmarket.ch ships Turkish groceries and halal meat Switzerland-wide. Sila AG specialises in ritually slaughtered halal meat produced under Swiss animal-welfare law (Swiss origin, reversible stunning) and has been producing for 11+ years.

For everyday Middle Eastern pantry items (tahini, sumac, za'atar, pomegranate molasses, freekeh, halloumi, rose water, pistachios, dates), Migros's "Aus aller Welt" section and Coop's international shelf carry the common 60 to 70 percent. The remaining 30 to 40 percent is where the Turkish supermarkets and a small set of Lebanese and North African specialty grocers in Geneva, Lausanne and Basel come in. For North African groceries specifically (Moroccan, Tunisian, Algerian, Libyan), the established concentrations are in Geneva and Lausanne.

African (Sub-Saharan), Latin American, Eastern European

The Sub-Saharan African grocery segment is small but exists in Geneva, Lausanne, Zurich and Basel, stocking fonio, fufu flour, palm oil, dried fish, scotch bonnet chilies, plantains, yam, cassava, egusi seeds, injera teff flour, berbere, mitmita. These shops are mostly family-run; search Google Maps for "African grocery" or "épicerie africaine" plus your city and check recent reviews.

Latin American specialty (Mexican, Brazilian, Peruvian, Argentinian) is comparatively under-served at chain level. For masa harina, fresh tomatillo, dried chilies (guajillo, ancho, pasilla), Brazilian cassava flour, Argentine yerba mate or Peruvian aji amarillo paste, the specialty stores carry it. Concentration in Zurich, Geneva and Basel.

The Balkan grocery network (Croatian, Serbian, Bosnian, Albanian, North Macedonian, Slovenian) is the largest Eastern-European-adjacent segment in Switzerland, with shops in almost every German-speaking Swiss city. Metzgerei Refik (multiple locations) is one of the established examples, combining Balkan and Turkish assortments with butcher services.

Halal and kosher: where to actually shop

Switzerland has banned slaughter without prior stunning since the constitutional Schächtverbot of 1893. This means:

• Kosher meat sold in Switzerland is overwhelmingly imported, mostly from France. The established kosher butcher is Kol Tuv Metzgerei Basel (Friedrichstrasse 26, supervised by the IGB and IRG rabbinates). The largest kosher supermarket is Koscher City in Zurich Wiedikon (Weststrasse 115), operated by the family-owned importer Bloch-Erlanger. Smart Savers in Basel is a newer non-profit self-checkout kosher shop. Lehayim (lehayim.ch) ships kosher products Switzerland-wide online.
• Halal meat in Switzerland is either imported or produced by Swiss operations using reversible stunning that some Muslim authorities accept. Major Swiss halal certifying bodies: HCS (Halal Control Switzerland) since 1987, HALALSUISSE, SGS HaPI. Sila AG is a notable Swiss producer. FIDS (Föderation Islamischer Dachorganisationen Schweiz) is the umbrella organisation.

Coop carries roughly 150 kosher products across 22 stores; Migros Basel cooperative carries over 100 kosher products in selected stores. The official Jewish-community infrastructure is maintained by the SIG (Schweizerischer Israelitischer Gemeindebund) via the IGfKL (Interessengemeinschaft für Koschere Lebensmittel). The Swiss Kosher app lets you scan barcodes in any Swiss supermarket to check whether a regular product is kosher.

How big chains fill some of the gap

Migros's "Aus aller Welt" covers the majority of Swiss home cooks' international needs: Asian (sweet-and-sour sauce, coconut milk, Thai curry pastes, fish sauce, sushi rice, Korean kimchi, rice noodles, fresh wok vegetables), Indian (naan, tikka masala sauce, mango chutney, Palak Paneer ready meals, basmati rice), Mexican (tortillas, fajitas, salsa, jalapeños, guacamole), Middle Eastern (couscous, tabbouleh, falafel, harissa, hummus), plus dedicated Balkan / Turkish / Portuguese shelves.

Coop's international shelves carry comparable depth across the same categories, plus a small kosher range. Coop does not run a single dedicated "world cuisine" line name. What the chains do NOT consistently carry: fresh curry leaves, large jars of gochujang, Burmese fish paste, Eritrean berbere, Mexican masa harina, Peruvian aji amarillo, fresh young coconuts, Korean banchan in large pack sizes, halal lamb cuts beyond basic mince, kosher fresh meat. For these, the specialty stores above are essential. See also the grocery guide for expats and Manor Food vs Globus for the premium import angle.

Specialty grocery stores open and close, change hours, and relocate. Verify the address, opening hours and current status of any named store via its own website or Google Maps before visiting. Religious certification details for halal and kosher products vary by authority.