What treats can I bring with me from the US that is hard to find in the UK? Candy, soda, cookies?

Question

I am visiting and want my friend to try things that are not common there.

Answer 1

If you bring chocolate stick to Ghiradelli or maybe Dove, no Hershey's though. It does not even compare to Cadbury, Galaxy, and Green & Black's chocolate!

Lucky Charms, Fruit Loops, most kid's cereals they don't have here.

Good bbq sauce. Good salsa.

Peanut Butter! The British pb is just not the same as Skippy or Jif.

Peppermint patties, reeses pieces, tootsie rolls.

Hershey's Syrup. CARAMEL!!!! They have toffee here but it's not the same.

French's Fried Onions

Ranch Dressing

You really can find a lot of American food here, but you pay more for it and it's only in small select shops (even Harrod's has a good selection).

Answer 2

Tootsie Rolls! They are about the only chocolate treat Brits can stomach. Tastes are different when it comes to sweets and waxy, anemic Hershey chocs in particular are reviled by most Brits.

Brits also find a lot of American treats too salty or too sweet (sometimes both, in the same package) so don't go overboard with the junk food. Boxes of Cracker Jacks are fun though.

Brits have the original root beers (ginger beer, sarsaparilla and dandelion & burdock) but I have a friend who waxes lyrical about cream soda from the US.

Anything to do with barbecue or TexMex would be welcome if your friends like to cook - BBQ sauce, chili sauce, salsa, dried peppers, that type of thing. It is possible to buy some in the UK, but only bland versions made in Belgium so go for the smalltown brands with kooky labels  to make an impression.

One thing I fell in love with on my last trip back to the States was fruit butter - peach butter, apple butter, cherry butter - I've never seen anything like it in the UK and they are a lovely change from strawberry jam.

If your friend likes a tipple, bring some local bottled ales to show off microbreweries from you area. Don't bother with Jack Daniels or Bud Light, all the big brands are sold here.

Some things NOT to bring - coffee and tea! Coffee culture is very advanced in the UK and most things Americans call 'tea' are horrible concoctions.

Answer 3

I can't help overly with your question, but I thought the people who answered you might like to know that most of those things are available in the UK. Root Beer for example you can buy in most supermarkets. Why not bring some of your brands of chocolate so it can be compared with ours?

Answer 4

when i lived in london, I longed for durkee/frank's "red hot" sauce  or any of the red-dyed louisiana hot sauces.

any form of mexican food. when i returned from UK, i ate mexican food every day for two weeks.

sweet tarts, nutterbutters

Answer 5

Reeces Pieces (we can get the cups here if you look hard enough) and also Root Beer - it's simply not available here.

Answer 6

Mountain Dew ... the greatest drink ever, and we can't get it in the UK

whenever i go to the U.S i binge on the stuff and get addicted, and then coming back to the UK is like going into rehab

the only way we can get it is to buy it off the internet and import it for a lot of money

Answer 7

Lucky Charms aren't sold here.

www.cybercandy.com  and the shop in covent garden sell loadsa america candy so he/she could go there too.