What You'll Do When You Really Want It
Know how I whine about how much I have to shell out to buy a teensy squeeze bottle of Hellmann's mayonnaise? I do it even if I don't particularly like to because when you really want something you've been used to eating for your whole life, you will fulfill any outrageous request and make any outrageous payment to get it.
It never occurred to me that people living in the United States or in Canada - people who are from Germany or have lived in Germany and just really love German products - would do the same in reverse.
Over the weekend I found, by accident, this website. It was sort of amusing to poke around and see the things they have for sale, mostly because I wanted to see just what sorts of things people living in the US and Canada want to have. And then I looked at the prices and got the shock of my life.
Those of you who shop in Germany will be the ones whose mouths really drop open when you see how much they charge for stuff. Knorr Fix for $4.49 - for one envelope! You need two envelopes if you want to cook for more than two or three people. Two Milka advent calendars for $39.99! A double pack of Götterspeise for $3.49. Hell's bells, it ain't like they don't sell 700 different kids of Jello in America. I found a box of chocolate muesli for $12.99. The cereal aisle in your average American grocery store is long enough to be a runway for a jumbo jet and that's not enough for some poor soul who's just got to have some muesli from Germany?
I know there's a lot of overhead in a food import business like this. Dealing with customs alone has got to be a pain in the neck. Somehow it just seems crazier to pay this sort of price for stuff that I can't imagine German people in America can really be missing all that much anyway but then again someone in America is thinking I'm out of my mind to pay nearly 2€ for a little bitty package of strawberry Twizzlers.
I suppose the moaning I do about the 4.99€ I pay for a jar of pickle relish is being repeated somewhere in the wilds of the Dakotas or in a Manhattan highrise or a ranch in Texas when they order a $12.99 jar of wurst.
Labels: German foods
posted by Dixie at 11:07 PM
12Comments:
Funny and ever so true. I laugh when I buy chili powder and drag it back down to Mexico. Are you kidding me? But when you want what you want...
The same happens with displaced Cubans and Cuban-Americans, however sites like http://www.cubanfoodmarket.com/ don't overcharge by much - the prices are similar to prices in Miami grocery stores. I guess if shipped outside the US though, the shipping would be expensive.
I know early on when we got married, I paid a bunch of money to get Philadelphia products for Hubby once. Then we realized we could just get his mom to send a care package - DUH!
Lucky for me, a big city like Toronto has a few German deli's around where stuff is considerably cheaper than the website you linked. Otherwise I'd go broke. I don't have memories of particular stuff I liked from the "old country" but because my parents always bought special stuff, especially at Christmas, I now do the same. Funny how that works. Also, when I'm in Germany I prowl the stores looking for new stuff to try. Yup, we pay for what we really, really want...ciao
Have you read the forum over at germanicans.com? Full of German expats in the U.S. whining about Kleenex, dill pickles, bread, gummy bears, etc. etc.
Another website is Germanys Best based in Germany
They may be able to get Jello in the US, but can they get WALDMEISTER Jello? :D I don't think so!
LOL! Touche! Baby, iffin ya ain't had Waldmeister Jello, you ain't had Jello!
You need a German ex-pat exchange buddy. I was at Sam's club the other day and they had these enormous gallon sized jars of all kinds of mayo, sadly not Hellman's or I would have totally bought it for you. LOL. I am still totally willing to do a Hellman's & snowballs for Kindereggs & chocolate swap anytime.
The thing about gummy bears, though (Martina mentioned them) is that the ones in America SUCK. And I'm talking Haribo! I couldn't believe it! I'm diabetic and use Haribo gummi bears for insulin reactions (glucose syrup is the #1 ingredient) and then we bought some in the US and they are NOT the same. The texture is different, the flavor is different. I can understand poor, desperate Germans paying $10 for a bag of the ones from Deutschland, lol.
But really, there is so much MORE CHOICE in American stores overall that it's tough to imagine Germans feeling deprived there. My husband said all he'd miss if we moved to the States is chocolate. He hates all American chocolate bars and insists that the Ritter Sport sold in the US isn't the same. Who knows. After the Haribo gummi bears issue, maybe he's right...
I thought this topic was somthing WAY different when I read the subject!
Cheeky monkey!
D Mollie
Since you can't get any decent licorice in States, I checked out that website and found exactly what I wanted. They have a minimum order requirement, so I found a couple of other things I wanted (Weinbrandbohnen). The kicker was that they wanted to charge me almost $15 for a $29 order. So I decided I don't need licorice that much, especially since it is not good for my high blood pressure anyways. I'll just wait until next year when I visit Germany.
I understand what you are saying. you don't even what to KNOW what I'm paying to ship lobsters to my BFF in Tucson for Christmas. But if you really want it (or really want someone to enjoy a taste of home) you'll pay.
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