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If you don’t live in the U.K., what’s in the English section in your supermarket?

38 replies

IHopeYouStepOnALegPiece · 30/05/2024 15:59

Marmite, Branston Beans (specifically) and Barry’s tea are the 3 staples here.
If you’re REALLY lucky there’s a bottle of Heinz Salad cream occasionally.

OP posts:
IHopeYouStepOnALegPiece · 30/05/2024 16:05

I believe Ireland should take credit for the Barry’s tea but for some reason it never makes its way into the Irish section! We also occasionally have root beer 🤷‍♀️

OP posts:
FuckMeUpFlorida · 30/05/2024 16:05

-Pot Noodle (surprising variety of flavours)
-A range of Sainsburys/Tesco/Morrisons sweetcorn, kidney beans, tinned tomatoes, jams, preserves, biscuits, other tinned stuff
-Colman's mustard
-Rachel's yoghurts
-Branston pickle
-Salad cream
-Irn Bru (if we're covering the UK)
-Fever Tree drinks
-Ubiquitous marmite

And there is definitely more. A surprising number of items. I'm based in ME.

snygghygge · 30/05/2024 16:06

Where I live, a Nordic capital, there is no such thing as an "English section". I wish that had Bendick's bittermints

AllTheWatersTurnedToClouds · 30/05/2024 16:07

Mostly biscuits. Branston, beans, HP sauce, golden syrup, and lots of jam and marmalade.

Marmite is in the yeast section of the baking aisle, as they clearly don't know what it's for Grin

CJ0374 · 30/05/2024 16:11

I live in the UK, but recall seeing British food in supermarkets in Australia. Here is a list:
https://www.woolworths.com.au/shop/browse/international-foods/european-uk-irish/uk-irish-foods

NoHunGosh · 30/05/2024 16:15

No English section in my part of Italy but Lidl has an occasional 'British' specials week with cheddar cheese, fish and chips, fudge, some weird-looking scones, and nasty digestive biscuits.

IHopeYouStepOnALegPiece · 30/05/2024 16:34

Oh I miss British biscuits! I mainly miss Diet Coke and wotsits and have been known to order them at great expense!

Im in Scandinavia and although we have 847 varying types of remoulade, nothing even closely similar to Branston Pickle which is a great shame! But apparently we Brit’s eat Branston beans more than Branston Pickle!

I went to Singapore for work a few months back and the discovery of a M&S was incredible! My suitcase weighed 4.5kg more on the way back purely because of that.

OP posts:
IHopeYouStepOnALegPiece · 30/05/2024 16:35

NoHunGosh · 30/05/2024 16:15

No English section in my part of Italy but Lidl has an occasional 'British' specials week with cheddar cheese, fish and chips, fudge, some weird-looking scones, and nasty digestive biscuits.

Yes we get that here also! Most of it is an offence to British food 😂

OP posts:
RaspberryCloud · 30/05/2024 16:40

Our's features Branston, Dairy Milk, Wine Gums, Heinz Beans (expensive!) Paxo stuffing....Marmelade...

IHopeYouStepOnALegPiece · 30/05/2024 16:42

RaspberryCloud · 30/05/2024 16:40

Our's features Branston, Dairy Milk, Wine Gums, Heinz Beans (expensive!) Paxo stuffing....Marmelade...

Oh I wish we got Paxo! I have to remember to bring that back every time I visit the U.K.!

OP posts:
beryldaperil · 30/05/2024 16:55

Lidl:Cheddar cheese then all the usuals during the English week as pp said : marmalade, salt & vinegar crisps, wine gums and licorish allsorts,

Rewe: digestive biscuits at more than bloody 2€ box ( 14 biscuits a box ). Always sold out

Penny: baked beans at 2,99€ a tin

Netto : British bacon made in 🇩🇰 home grown quality !! Grin

BertieBotts · 30/05/2024 17:08

We don't really have a British section but when Aldi has British Week they tend to have baked beans, loads of mint chocolates for some reason, "fudge" (which is actually caramel/toffee), awful wine gums, cheddar cheese, frozen fish n chips, and earl grey tea. Maybe salt and vinegar crisps. Oh yes, the stale tasting scones too. One year they had clotted cream, but never again!

We can get cadbury's, digestives (including chocolate ones) and Heinz beans in normal supermarkets if they are slightly more upmarket ones. Kerrygold butter and cheese too. British tea is nowhere except for Asian stores sometimes have PG Tips and I once saw Yorskhire Tea in the English section in a bookshop.

HerRoyalNotness · 30/05/2024 17:13

Chocolate fingers. irb bru, malt vinegar, Heinz beans

Simonjt · 30/05/2024 17:16

I haven’t actually seen a British section in the supermarkets we use, baked beans are a thing here anyway, as is ketchup etc.

BettyUnderswoob · 30/05/2024 17:21

When I was camping in France some years ago there was a British section in a supermarket we went into. What I remember most was that there were several different varieties of fig rolls available!
No idea why they should think fig rolls were so popular or indispensable to the average Brit!

DistantConstellation · 30/05/2024 17:21

I used to see these slightly odd "British Bangers" sausages in the US.
As well as Barry's Tea!

Waitingfordoggo · 30/05/2024 17:24

IHopeYouStepOnALegPiece · 30/05/2024 16:34

Oh I miss British biscuits! I mainly miss Diet Coke and wotsits and have been known to order them at great expense!

Im in Scandinavia and although we have 847 varying types of remoulade, nothing even closely similar to Branston Pickle which is a great shame! But apparently we Brit’s eat Branston beans more than Branston Pickle!

I went to Singapore for work a few months back and the discovery of a M&S was incredible! My suitcase weighed 4.5kg more on the way back purely because of that.

Surely you have Diet Coke in Scandinavia? 😯

IHopeYouStepOnALegPiece · 30/05/2024 17:26

Waitingfordoggo · 30/05/2024 17:24

Surely you have Diet Coke in Scandinavia? 😯

Nope! Not in Denmark anyway, Coke Zero is the big drink. At best you can sometimes find Coke lite which doesn’t taste the same, you can kind of hide the taste difference if you add a ton of ice but it’s pretty hard to find anyway 💔

OP posts:
Caspianberg · 30/05/2024 17:27

No marmite or shortbread unfortunately

Patak mango chutney and lemon curd has appeared recently. Sometimes we can get colmans mustard and Heinz Worcester sauce

LadyGreySpillsTheTea · 30/05/2024 17:34

Germany: no British section as such but my local (fairly upmarket) supermarket does a good range of Twinings teas, Yorkshire tea, McVities Choccy Biccies, Cadbury‘s chocolate (the big bars), a few cheddar cheeses (used to have Cathedral City but no more), Wensleydale with cranberries (that’s huge fun to ask for at the cheese counter), occasionally clotted cream, and that’s about it. Once a year in November I do a big Christmas shop with one of those expat warehouses that has all the stock in the Netherlands so it’s tax-free (but bloody expensive).

Madamebrioche1 · 30/05/2024 19:03

In Switzerland - baked beans (at £3 a tin), shortbread biscuits, branston pickle, heinz ketchup, golden syrup, worcestershire sauce, malt vinegar and nice crisps. The Swiss only seem to eat paprika flavour crisps which is the worst flavour ever

DeanElderberry · 30/05/2024 19:34

I'm in Ireland. No English section, far fewer English (and Scottish and Welsh) products than there used to be pre-Brexit - and Iceland has gone bust and closed down.

But lots of our own lovely Barry's tea.

twilighteaser · 30/05/2024 19:48

Italy. The entire non Italian section is usually around 10 products that seems standard in nearly every supermarket. Texmex kits & Sushi making stuff. British stuff is usually Worcester Sauce, Shortbread, Mcvities Digestives, Twinnings Tea & if I'm very lucky Heinz Beans, but they are €3 a tin, so a treat. Last year one supermarket started selling Cheddar & Stilton I nearly cried tears of joy!

twilighteaser · 30/05/2024 19:52

@NoHunGosh Do you have a branch of Esselunga near you? They now permanently stock packs of Cathedral City Cheddar and a very good Stilton.

LaPalmaLlama · 30/05/2024 19:55

Now back in Uk but HK generally had PG tips, some dodgy Australian Cadbury’s ( often melted and reset), Pringles and Borders biscuits.