Kyle and I went to the local Stop and Shop supermarket last night for our weekly shop, and I finally remembered to take my camera to get some pictures of the "International Foods" aisle there. (I felt a little concerned that someone might be upset that I was taking pictures of the shelves, but Kyle assured me that it would be okay as long as I wasn't noting down the prices.)
So what? you might be thinking. What has always fascinated me about this particular section of the store (aside from a sign indicating the sale of "international beans") is that it includes a selection of "British" items such as jam, PG Tips tea, and various digestive biscuits, crackers and chocolate products (click on the image to see more detail):
A lot of brands really are international, including Tetley teabags, which are actually in the main tea-and-coffee section. I'd always believed that Tetley was some parochial Yorkshire-based firm after seeing all their 1980's TV adverts, but it turns out that they're actually an Indian-owned multinational company which is also the second largest tea company in the US. Twix and KitKats are also available here.
But it's interesting to me that in a world of global brands like Starbucks and Macdonalds, familiar things such as Bounty bars and PG Tips tea can still be "foreign foods" to people here. It makes them seem more special than they would be on supermarket shelves back home. I wouldn't try to make a case that Jacobs crackers and Lion bars are somehow significant symbols of British identity, but seeing them is a pleasant reminder of back home every time we go shopping - as if there is a supermarket shelf in the Stop and Shop that's selling a little taste of England!
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