Originally Posted by sadie33138

Well, I'm not British so this is probably not welcomed here. However, I am guessing that a lot of people who are not from the UK (like me) read the posts on this forum because they are interested in NZ and might be interested in finding out anything they can.

Anyhoo, I moved to Auckland from the US last year and yes there is Campbell's soup, I buy it at Foodtown. Watties is way too high in sugar & salt content if you are being careful of that kind of thing, which I am because of high BP. I don't care for the sausages too much here either, best I have had is the chorizo,most of it has the density of a hotdog, which aren't here btw. Have to keep a watch out for baby back ribs too as they are few and far between so when they show up, I buy em up & put in the freezer. Same deal for beef ribs. Not much turkey though and I used ground turkey as a replacement meat for beef in the US, there is chicken but not the same taste.

Meats are plentiful (except turkey) just different names of cuts that I had never seen before. Lot of fish but it is IMO very pricey for an island country. Produce is pricey too. I was used to paying $1USD for a huge avocado in the US, here you get the little haas ones for $4.99NZD each. BTW Foodtown has a online home shopping site, you can google for it and see products & prices for yourself. Haven't found dried black beans yet, closest was black soy beans at an asian market which is where I also found dried baby limas. My daughter sent me some from the US but MAF confiscated them, wanted to charge me $35 to treat a $1 package of dried beans, lol. Have found El Paso tortillas, salsa, refried beans, chili mix, etc so we can have chicken quesadillas, burritos, tacos,chili, etc. Also, have noticed that the color of cheese is different. Our sharp cheddar (US) would be the Tasty here, no extra sharp. Several type of Philadelphia cream cheese here, my favorite is the salmon.

Also no light wine but have found several light beers. I really like that they put the percentage of alcohol content on the bottle. The chips are pretty cool, weird taste combos but good. Never seen so many types of sauces, curries, etc. in my life. Lots of asian and indian spices too. A lot of things that I didn't think were here at first, I later found just packaged differently and sometimes with a different brand name.

One of the best things here for me is the coffee in the cafes. It is (I think) one of the favorite pasttimes, socializing or people watching while having a coffee. Flat white and cappuchino are my favorites. There is a cafe on Level one at the downtown mall where the guy makes the best cappuchino I've ever had, it is also pretty as he adds a leaf drawn in chocolate syrup on the top. Yum. All in all, the food here is an adventure. BTW I tried vegemite, OMG, only time I ever considered washing my mouth out with soap myself. :eek:

Originally Posted by Pinkie Pie

If I've made you smile Sky then my work here is done and I shall bog off out to the garden for a bit!!! :D p.s. love you too...;)

I have heard about the sugar content Sky - is there any particular reason why they put so much in??

I try to use as little processed food as I can really but it's not always easy when you're a working mum of three but when we get to NZ I hope to be able to stay at home instead of working for a while (lazy trout) so should be able to use even less processed stuff as I'll have more time to make my own!!

Oh, and my dear OH has bought me a bread maker too as he's horrified at the cost of bread in NZ (he's a true yorkshire lad through and through!!!) and says I'd best learn how to use it quick smart...LOL...only kidding, he's itching to get his hands on it... what is it with men and machinery!!! :D