Hello All

Just a little bit of advice please. we have recently arrived and we are still trying to locate all of our basic groceries in Canada. I have had a lot of feedback to a previous thread which helped a lot with finding things, however I have another puzzler.

My wife has noticed that kelloggs cereals are different over here and also uncle bens packet rices are very different. If we were to attempt to have some of those things sent over from the UK, firstly are we allowed to do that or will customs confiscate them and secondly what are the costs involved?

We may even look to send over ryvita if we can not find them here so the same questions apply to those as well.

Cheers All

Would it not be easier to just go to a British shop?

yes it probably would...where might I find them? Are they just called that or do they have a specific name?

Ok, I get that you have just arrived and there is some culture shock. It took me a long while to settle in here but seriously, get over it. Try to get used to the differences otherwise you will drive yourselves bonkers. Breads, cakes, cereals will be sweeter, other prepared stuff probably saltier. Different spices and herbs are preferred here, especially cinnamon. I remember all to well those first trips to the supermarkets. I used to weep everytime, especially as we had little money and had to shop in No Frills.

Anyway, my advice, meant kindly, is suck it up. Cook from scratch to get the flavours you are used to. Try a few of the funny foreign goods. You're here and you have to makethe most of it.

There's three near my house in Ajax. Brock Road, westney plaza and baily street plaza.

All sell the stuff u said, and more, Robinsons barley water dilute stuff is what we buy.

They have different names, whereabouts are you?

(I disagree with Bats' advice to "suck it up", btw, I haven't switched to local products.)

Hello Bats

Thank you for the sound advice, and as much as we are trying to "suck it up", my wife has unfortunately some very specific dietry issues. In UK she could eat Bran Flakes or All Bran with no problem however in Canada they are slightly different and as such she swells up to look nine months pregnant. We stupidly thought that All Bran would be the same over here but we were wrong.

while she adjusts we are just trying to smooth our the ripples, as it where. so if there are British type shops any ideas on where they are and what they are called would be most appreciated.

Kind Regards

Gingerman

I am currently in etobicoke but I am looking to settle in the burlington area if possible, however I am prepared to travel to find these shops.

Or just accept that its a foreign country and things are going to be different.


I imagine you can spend a fortune trying to replace all those little things that are different, but really, whats the point of moving overseas if you are going to do that?

Theres quite a good brit store sprung up near me (Shoutout to the Stirling General Mercantile Store!) and nice as it is to get Hobnobs and Robinsons Squash and Walkers crisps, frankly they are not that special, its just the familiarity you crave I guess. Real Atora suet was a winner though, finaly decent dumplings again

IF there are specific dietary issues then the health stores can probably help to address them. What exactly is different thats triggering these effects? Maybe someone here has gone through this and can help, rather than reinveinting the wheel.

Here you go

http://www.burlingtonbritishgrocer.com/

http://thewanderingscott.ca/

I just checked and the ingredients are the same. However the gluten in Canadian flour is much stronger so it may be this she is reacting to, esp with bloating.

I know there is a good British shop in Dundas, and Oakville, Bulk barn may hVe what you need but call a few places before you travel.

Thank you for that magnumpi

Fnding British food ships / shops that sell British food is one thing, but more practically, if you are here for the long haul, relying on food parcels, particularly of such low cost but bulky staples is going to be murderously expensive. You need to source local alternatives that meet your dietry requirements. Otherwise life is going to be pretty tough.

Ryvita is available at all the grocery stores I have been to. As I mentioned in your other thread, it's a case of knowing where to look in the shop.

It is normally kept very near to the bread section, often on a shelf above, together with 'french toast' type of stuff. If you can't find it I would suggest you just ask one of the employees to show you where it is.

They also sell Ryvita in Walmart. http://www.walmart.ca/canada-estore/...edListing=true

Bulk Barn sell Bran flakes, but I don't know if it's the UK version or local.

http://www.bulkbarn.ca/en-ca/page/healthy_cereals.html

Yes you can have most non meat foodstuffs sent over but it will be EXPENSIVE.
Bulk Barn, Canadian Superstore, Walmart, Safeway, London Drugs all have
a small selection of UK foods but check the labelling as to if imported from the UK or made under licence here. Cadburys chocolate bars are an example of different but packaged the same.
Shop around for speciality stores who also carry items.