A trip to Carrefour in Taiwan might not be high on everyone’s to-do list, but it is a good place for cheap food and drink plus tasty Taiwan souvenirs like pineapple cake and Taiwanese tea.
We first discovered about people’s love for Taiwan Carrefour from various posts in our Taiwan Travel Tips (TTT) Facebook group – from where to get suitcases to 24 hour shopping requests, Carrefour Taiwan was a common answer.
As Europeans, we knew Carrefour as being a massive supermarket chain but were surprised to discover there are hundreds of Carrefour supermarkets in Taiwan, since it launched in 1987.
In-store you find a mix of local Taiwan goods plus groceries from all over the world including British and Australian snacks.
From the best things to buy at Carrefour TW 家樂福 to the biggest shops and longest opening hours, here is our guide to Taiwan Carrefour + photos.
You might like – Our first timers guide to visiting Taipei and Taiwan >
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How many Carrefours are there in Taiwan?
As of March 2025, there are 311 Carrefour Taiwan stores – some of these are smaller express style stores whilst some are huge 24 hour hypermarkets, like Carrefour Ximending.
Amazingly, almost half of the Taiwan Carrefours are open 24 hours a day. There are 149 Carrefour TW stores that are open 24 hours, making it a great place for late night bites for last minute souvenir shopping on the way to the airport!
Around the world, there are over 14,000 Carrefour stores in over 40 countries.
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Why is Carrefour Taiwan so Popular?
Other than the huge selection and long opening hours, Carrefour Taiwan 家樂福 is popular with tourists and locals alike.
Many of the Taiwan products are cheaper here than convenience stores like 7-Eleven and FamilyMart – for instance, we found Taiwan’s famous whisky brand Kavalan much cheaper here than anywhere else.
Also for local Taiwan shoppers, Carrefour offers a cross section of local products and a fine foray of international food – plus the hypermarkets are a one-stop shop selling everything from pillows to pharmaceuticals.
Another big plus is that the larger stores have in store bakeries and delicatessens that offer fresh foods plus there is a Carrefour Taiwan loyalty scheme and fortnightly sales and offer catalogues – time to get shopping!
And it isn’t just Carrefour in Taiwan in Asia; it is popular in Indonesia and China too.
You might like – Our guide to NET clothing stores, Taiwan’s affordable fashion chain >
What can you buy in Carrefour Taiwan / Carrefour Ximending?
During our latest trip to Taiwan in early 2025, we decided to visit the Ximending Carrefour Hypermarket as we’d heard it was one of the biggest Carrefours in Taiwan.
It is spread over several levels, open 24 hours and just a short walk from the main Ximending entertainment district.
And yes, there are lots of things to do in Ximending at night and Carrefour is one of many 24 hour Taipei stores like 7-Eleven and Don Don Donki in Ximending.
We visited several Carrefours in Taiwan but Ximending was the biggest we encountered – you can find it on Google Maps here >
Here are some of the things you can buy in Carrefour Taiwan Ximending (and likely most of the bigger Carrefour Taiwan hypermarkets).
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Toiletries and Pharmaceuticals
There were several aisles of toiletries from face wash to foot-cream; we also spotted international skincare products like Simple, Cetaphil, Biore, Senka Simple. Perfect Whip from Japan plus K-beauty products.
Taiwanese Teas
There was a huge selection of Taiwan teas (including loose leaf) available from all over the island – plus international tea if you want a taste of home. We also spotted Ten Ren’s Tea which is a famous Taiwan tea company.
Taiwan crisps and snacks
A popular topic of conversation in our Taiwan Travel Tips (TTT) Facebook group is Taiwanese potato chips and these can be found in abundance from shrimp crisps to the famous green bags of coconut corn crisps.
Taiwanderers Tip – if you want to try lots of Taiwan snacks, we found Carrefour had loads of inexpensive selection bags of Taiwan chips, where you could get 8 mini packets of different flavours for around only NT$50.
International Snacks and Sweets
Firm favourites like Calbee, Hersheys and Haribo are common-place in Carrefour TW – and much cheaper than 7-Eleven too!
You might like – Our guide to Eslite, Taiwan’s most beautiful bookstore chain >
Pineapple Cakes
Everyone loves pineapple cakes and it is one of the most popular Taiwan souvenirs to take home – so you’ll be glad to hear pineapple cakes are widely available in the larger branches (we also looked in smaller branches but to no avail).
Please note we didn’t spot ChiaTe, Sunny Hills or Pan’s Cake pineapple cakes in Carrefour, which were voted the three favourites in our Taiwan Facebook group.
Toys
You can find lots of children’s toys including TOMICA cars, Barbie, Sanrio and Disney.
You might like – Our guide to Pop Mart in Ximending, Taiwan’s flagship Pop Mart store >
Luggage
A common question we get is where can you buy luggage in Ximending – at Carrefour, there are two whole aisles of suitcases and carry-on bags (mainly American Tourister) plus some children’s satchels like Pokemon.
P.S. If your children are Pokemon fans, be sure to take them to the Taipei Pokémon Center in Xinyi.
Taiwan Caramel Pudding
We couldn’t go into a Taiwan supermarket without checking whether they sell the Uni-President Taiwan caramel pudding. And they only cost NT$10 for a small pudding.
Did you know the Taiwan caramel pudding is so iconic there is even a 3D cool Taiwan EasyCard in the shape of a miniature pudding?
Instant Noodles
There are literally oodles of instant noodles at Carrefour to choose from, from local brands to famous Korean and Japanese noodles like Nissin.
You might like – our Taiwanderers guide to the best souvenirs to buy in Taiwan >
Regional Taiwan Snacks
This is likely to only be in the larger hypermarkets like Carrefour Ximending but there was a whole area across two aisles dedicated to food and drink from Taiwan’s regions.
We spotted snacks and supplies from Jiufen, Yehliu, Yilan, Chiayi and Taichung like Fu Yuan peanut butter egg rolls and blissful bubble tea.
Taiwan Beer & Whiskey
Cheers to Carrefour – it was one of the cheapest places we found to buy Taiwan beers plus they even have chiller cabinets / fridges with cold beers to takeaway.
We even saw a huge fridge stacked with big bottles of Taiwan Beer 18 days which is our hoppy heaven.
Kavalan Whiskey, Taiwan’s most famous whiskey brand from Yilan, is also available by the checkouts with a wonderful whiskey cabinet display – please drink responsibly
You might like – our Taipei craft beer and brewery guide >
Our final thing to buy in Carrefour Taiwan
Lunar New Year / Seasonal Souvenirs
We were lucky enough to start 2025 with Lunar New Year in Taipei so we spotted a couple of aisles of Lunar New Year goods like cards, decorations and gifts. We expect you can get seasonal goods throughout the year.
Incidentally, we haven’t gone too much into detail about this as we suspect most Taiwan travellers just want snacks and light souvenirs to take home but Carrefour hypermarkets also stock bedding, electronics, homeware, kitchen equipment and much (MUCH) more.
And yes, you can buy the iconic Tatung rice cookers at big Carrefour Taiwan stores.
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