grocery

Saraga is rooted in everywhere and nowhere at once. The international market is, in some ways, like traveling through a foreign airport. People are constantly in transit, briskly walking or leisurely browsing. One can hear snippets of conversations in French or Burmese or any number of other languages as they walk through the long aisles. 

Indianapolis groceries specializing in Asian, African, South American or other international products often carry more niche items and create an atmosphere that reminds shoppers of home, but Saraga has evolved to be a hub where culture is both preserved and mixed. Today, the 62,000-square-foot international market on the west side of Indianapolis is a one-stop shop for people of different backgrounds. 

“The strongest selling point for Saraga is that Saraga has the most variety of types of products,” said Brad Nam, Saraga’s marketing manager.

Over the years, the international market has expanded to include locations in the southside and Columbus, Ohio. Today, each of the three Saragas is a place where kids shop for snacks, couples buy new foods to try and factory workers drive hours to buy crates of vegetables to freeze.

Saraga carries food from nearly every continent that are sorted into aisles based on country or region of origin, so almost everyone will encounter something they’ve never seen before. There’s a whole aisle dedicated to Asian noodles, the seafood counter carries about 100 different varieties of fish and seafood and a meat counter in the back of the store serves halal cuts.