Giantaxe

Usually, but not always, the disgusting knock-off that Hershey's manufactures under license. My local Indian store does have the real thing though - made for export to India.

becks_r

So I just had to click on the link and I am so glad I did. I now know there is such a thing as Exotic Newcastle Disease!!! Never thought I would see Newcastle and Exotic in the same phrase

becks_r

The thing I miss the most is Twiglets, I'm not sure if there is such a thing as homemade Twiglets, but nothing I have seen in the shops comes anywhere close to the delight of devouring a whole bag of Twiglets in one sitting!!

mrken30

I prefer Lindt chocolate to Dairy Milk , and that is really easy to find.

chawkins99

Publix Supermarkets carry a decent selection although most stuff tends to be 3-4 times the UK price:
Marmite ($6 for 125g jar)
Branston Pickle
Picalilli (occasionally)
Pickled onions
HP sauce
Mushy Peas
Chocolate Digestives
Jaffa Cakes
Birds Custard powder
Tinned custard
Tinned Rice Pudding
Yorkshire Pudding mix
Tea bags
Small selection of chocolate bars (Lion bar and Fry's Turkish Delight spring to mind)
Tunnocks caramel wafers
Ribena
Lucozade

Plus a bunch more...

Our local Walmart sells Tetley Tea Bags and Cadbury-branded Dairy Milk (read Hersheys). Cream Eggs are also available but made by Hershey.

I just returned from a UK trip and came back with 4 x 250g jars of Marmite, Seabrook Cheese & Onion crisps (wife's favourite), a big bag of Pick-n-Mix (for our daughter - she's 24) and a whole bunch of Cadbury chocolate and cream eggs. The Marmite alone probably saved me $40 over US prices.

If you have a friend or relative prepared to send the occasional Red Cross parcel, I found you can get a 5kg package shipped from UK to US via UPS for around £25.

Pulaski

Not even close. You can buy 2×500g Marmite on Amazon for $26, with free shipping which is about £21 at today's exchange rate. The same 2×500g jars would cost you £9 at Sainsbury's., so saving about £12/$15.

I certainly wouldn't ship or carry stuff like Marmite which is heavy and already available in the US at a not-tooo-bad price.

chawkins99

Maybe should have said Publix prices. Have never bought food from Amazon.

250g jars were £2.30 at Asda. £9.20 for 4. About $11.50.

125g jars at Publix = $6. x 8 = $48. $36.50 saving.

I had spare baggage capacity, so why not? The crisps were more annoying due to being mostly air. I punctured the bags, squeezed the air out and resealed with sellotape.

AlienInVA

Thank you for the Publix tip, there is one opening near me soon!
A lot of the supermarkets near me don't have much in the way of British items. I guess it's a case of your mileage may vary.

And the multi-vitamins/antihistamines recommendation was due to them costing about 5 times as much over here. ASDA/Tesco value vitamins are a fraction of the price.

Edit: Oh, and blackcurrants are of questionable legal status in North America so no Ribena, at least none that I've seen in Virginia :/

Pulaski

Whereabouts in Virginia are you? Don't you have a Kroger nearby?

You should bear in mind that groceries vary their stock based on local demand, so if you live in a small town or backwater then there will be different products stocked - in other words, don't expect all Publix locations to stock the same range of products. We shop in several different groceries that are part of a chain that belongs to Kroger - some have a British groceries section, others do not.

chawkins99

Definitely seen Ribena at Publix.

I have been told that Publix will try to source other items on request. Haven't tested that personally.

AlienInVA

Richmond area. We do, but I tend not to shop there unless I'm fully loaded with coupons as the standard pricing for everything there is insane!

I will definitely check them out again this week then, thank you

This is also awesome. Publix is replacing an old MARTINs that we used to go to regularly and it'll be opening soon. I'll be sure to check it out, thank you

Pulaski

Publix is a high-end grocery that goes head to head with the Kroger-owned chain that we often shop at for fresh fruit and vegetables and meat. ... For canned and packet goods it doesn't make much sense to shop there, and Publix is exactly the same - high quality, high prices.

becks_r

Soon after I moved to NYS I looked into the whole blackcurrant ban, which seemed to be based on very dodgy science. Anyway, NYS have lifted the ban and I found this website: Buy Black Currants, Currant Juice, Antioxidant Food, Super Food, CurrantC, Currant-C, Blackcurrant, Blackcurrant Health Benefits - CurrantC (it's not the best designed website, you need to scroll way down to see the info).

Anyway, their concentrate lasts ages in the freezer and mixes well with sparkling water. Not cheap, but so lovely!

yellowroom

Interesting, I never found Kroger to be expensive! The Kroger at Short Pump was my local supermarket, and had Ribena last time I was there a year ago - about $8 for a small bottle. They have/had a small british/irish section on the end of one the aisles that included choccie digestive biscuits, hob nobs, birds custard powder, salad creme, colman's mixes for things like shepherd's pie & sausage casserole, oxo, bisto, branston pickle. The main issue I had with them was that the turnover on the items wasn't great and many times I had a look they were actually out of date, plus they were very expensive.

Further down West Broad Street:

• The World Market (next to Best Buy) has/had a good international section of goodies at more reasonable prices, especially European biscuits brands like Bahlsen, and I could get chunky kitkats and stuff there (but not often at $1 each!). Good range of tea too if that's your thing.
• The Whole Foods has/had marmite, lurpak and kerrygold butter, british style jams plus some decent Neal's Yard cheeses if you want to go mad for some nice crumbly cheshire or lancashire. I also got my milk there, can't remember the name of it but it was local in glass bottles, hormone free and actually tasted of milk and went off in a normal period of time.
• Trader Joe's has things like english style crumpets and muffins, "irish" sausages and pre-prepared and frozen food that looks more familiar to UK eyes. Plus I loved the packs of frozen slices of banana covered in chocolate in summer, yum.

The only expat items I bought with any regularity were marmite, lurpak and the colman's mixes, which don't really go off despite being "out of date". I either gave up stuff (chocolate and biscuits, lost half a stone), found local alternatives (Mio instead of Ribena) or made my own (mincemeat for mince pies).

Jerseygirl

Wow that's a sweeping statement and it is not true.

Sausage rolls and Yorkshire pudding...making them is hardly rocket science.

I lived in NJ and could find most of the items you claim cannot be found in the US. In places that have a higher British population/visitors...British items are even more readily available...i.e. NYC, Florida etc.

For pharma products...buy them from Costco.

Try Amazon or search the internet for Companies selling British goods in the US.