A Pfand (pronounced Fahn-d) is a deposit. It’s used as a monetary incentive for people to do something that a seller would like them to do. It’s found throughout German society and once you understand it, it makes total sense.
The Pfand is used to get you to manage your own shopping cart in a grocery or other store. It give you a place to pick up a shopping cart, as the person who used it before returned it to the cart corral. It gives you the monetary incentive to do the same.
At a Fest or local gathering, you’ll see the Pfand in play to help make sure that the venue is “self-cleaning.” Drinks sold in bottles will have much larger Pfands than you see in the stores. It’s typical to pay a 1.00€ Pfand for a bottle of beer, despite the store rate is only 0.08€. It’s a great motivator for you to return the bottle to the stand where you bought it and not leave it on a table for someone else to pick up.
At Christmas Markets, you’ll also encounter a Pfand when you decide to enjoy a warming cup of Glühwein (pronounce Glue-Vine). The warm spiced wine will come in an ornate ceramic cup often made in the shape that makes it feel like you’re drinking from a Christmas ornament. While it probably only costs a vendor 1€ to buy themselves, they’ll charge at least 2€ for a Pfand in either the hope of getting the cup back for re-use OR to double their investment. It cuts down on trash, recycling costs, and product loss. Seems like everyone wins, but always make sure to leave home with enough to cover a Pfand and not just drink or food.
The pfand isn’t restricted to just Christmas Markets and Fests though, you’ll also find it year-round as part of your normal shopping. Primarily, this is applied to both soft drinks and beer. If you’re picking up drinks, you’ll find them marked with a returnable (pfand applied) marking like this:
Cans and plastic bottles have a .25 cent (Euro) deposit required while the beer bottles are only .08 cents (Euro). If you’re picking up a case or “Kasten” you’ll also pay a deposit for this as well. So, to review:
You’ll normally see the price for drinks listed for a single bottle. If you pick up a rack, multiply that price by 12 or 20 (typical rack sizes) accordingly, plus 12 or 20 x .25 or .08 for the bottle pfand and then add in the deposit for the rack.
While it seems kind of complex at first blush, you might only have to do this once. When you return the empty bottles (along with the rack) you’ll receive a receipt that you can hand the cashier when you replace a rack of drinks. So, you really only pay the deposit once. More on this here: https://hackinggermany.com/grocery-store-shopping-in-germany/