Has anyone bought from this place?

[Madame Wells]

Ciao Tutti,

I'm an American who likes to cook a lot of American dishes. I live in Italy but time to time I go to Germany to shop for American products. I came across a site called FOODS from Home. I was wondering has anyone bought from this site or store? And if so, have you used the shipping option or van pick up? They say they can deliver to Italy. I would like to order some items next month, but I wanted know if anyone has tried them out. Thanks for any info.

Ciao

[Bevdeforges]

Used to live in Germany and now live in France - but I've found that using "authentic" American products is simply too expensive and not really worth it. I've generally found local products that can be substituted (like yesterday when I made my Jim Beard pumpkin pie recipe, with pumpkin from our garden, creme fraiche instead of "heavy cream").

What sorts of US products do you get from this place? Perhaps we can suggest reasonable substitutions for you.
Cheers,
Bev

[Madame Wells]

Ciao Bev,

Thanks for the reply. I have lived as an Expat since the early 90's. I have substituted till the cows come home. But now I noticed this type of shops popping up and I just want to have a touch of my home country in my pantry. Things like Kayro syrup and brown sugar, though I have found substitutes for these, I just want the original. I plan to buy in bulk. Yes, it's more expensive. But the last time I went shopping in the States, I was shocked how the prices had gone up. So for me it's a treat and cheaper than a plane ticket if I can have a taste of home.

[Bevdeforges]

I guess it depends on where you are. Here in France, we have brown sugar - in both dark and light versions - though it took me a while to figure out where to find it. (Apparently it's popular in the north of France so is considered a "regional specialty.")

Karo syrup and molasses, I agree, aren't generally easy to find here. Then again, back when I was living in Germany (15+ years ago), you couldn't find stalk celery except in specialty shops around Christmas time. Now, it's pretty common.

Fresh cranberries are only available here (in France) in the weeks before Christmas - which is weird because I know they grow the things in Belgium and the Netherlands - but even Carrefour imports Ocean Spray brand cranberries from the US. Some of the other stores here offer European cranberries, but only at Christmas time.

The site you mentioned in your original post looks interesting, and seems to have a bricks and mortar shop, too, which is promising. In the past, I've seen a number of "foods from..." websites, often set up by members of the various expat clubs and associations around Europe. And there are a few of the expat clubs that place bulk orders with some of those sites to save on shipping costs and take advantage of bulk rates. If you have an expat club in the area, you might want to see who they use.
Cheers,
Bev

[Phil Gillette]

There are several American military bases in Germany, Italy, and Spain, and they all have commissaries where an incredible number of American products are available, at tax-free prices. In Italy, they are at Aviano, no. of Venice, Livorno, Naples, and Sicily. Of course, you can't shop there unless you have what is called SOFA status, basically military, their families, and U.S. military civilian employees. I live in Dietzenbach, near Frankfurt, and if you are in the area, contact me at pdgillette@aol.com, and I can give you some more detailed info.

Phil Gillette

[fido]

I just had a look at that site but there seemed to be a lot more British products than American. Looks like they don't sell the legendary spray- on cheese! If I do go to live in Germany I won't bother with shops like that but I might try making my own cheddar cheese, beer and other items I can't find to suit my UK conditioned palate. Just relocationg from England to Scotland I found there are quite a few foods which are either not on sale or are different to the English version. For example, the Scots have a propensity for including oats in everything whereas the English mainly only eat oats in the form of porridge. Where I come from in central England most of the bakers recycle some of their unsold bread into bread pudding but I've never seen bread pudding in Scotland.

[Madame Wells]

Originally Posted by Phil Gillette

There are several American military bases in Germany, Italy, and Spain, and they all have commissaries where an incredible number of American products are available, at tax-free prices. In Italy, they are at Aviano, no. of Venice, Livorno, Naples, and Sicily. Of course, you can't shop there unless you have what is called SOFA status, basically military, their families, and U.S. military civilian employees. I live in Dietzenbach, near Frankfurt, and if you are in the area, contact me at pdgillette@aol.com, and I can give you some more detailed info.

Phil Gillette

Thanks Phil,

I have been to the American Base store in Vicenza. It was in pure heaven. But you must know someone. And you also risk them loosing their privileges for sharing it with non military personnel and dependents.

[Madame Wells]

Originally Posted by Bevdeforges

I guess it depends on where you are. Here in France, we have brown sugar - in both dark and light versions - though it took me a while to figure out where to find it. (Apparently it's popular in the north of France so is considered a "regional specialty.")

Karo syrup and molasses, I agree, aren't generally easy to find here. Then again, back when I was living in Germany (15+ years ago), you couldn't find stalk celery except in specialty shops around Christmas time. Now, it's pretty common.

Fresh cranberries are only available here (in France) in the weeks before Christmas - which is weird because I know they grow the things in Belgium and the Netherlands - but even Carrefour imports Ocean Spray brand cranberries from the US. Some of the other stores here offer European cranberries, but only at Christmas time.

The site you mentioned in your original post looks interesting, and seems to have a bricks and mortar shop, too, which is promising. In the past, I've seen a number of "foods from..." websites, often set up by members of the various expat clubs and associations around Europe. And there are a few of the expat clubs that place bulk orders with some of those sites to save on shipping costs and take advantage of bulk rates. If you have an expat club in the area, you might want to see who they use.
Cheers,
Bev

Ciao Bev,

It's very true. My husband travels a lot for business throughout Europe and Russia. I often have him bring me items from the local markets. He brought me cranberry sauce and dried cranberries from Poland. I got the best vanilla from Hungry, And molasses from Switzerland. I agree with Fido who says most of the products from this site are English. I saw on Amazon.uk that they have a store called American Soda, that has a better selection of American products. But the prices and the exchange rate of the pound and euro and that damn shipping is always getting in the way. I thought I would start off slow. I want to try them both out. Thanks about France. I was there this summer. What is Brown sugar called there?

[Bevdeforges]

Originally Posted by Madame Wells

What is Brown sugar called there?

It kind of depends where you are. Up north, where my husband is from, it used to be called "cassonade" but these days the cassonade you get in the grocery stores is actually raw sugar - granulated, but kind of a light brown color. Not at all what you and I think of as brown sugar.

Lately, though, I've found it in the grocery stores here called "vergeoise" and it comes in both light and dark variety. The dark is VERY dark and just wonderful! Very soft and moist.
Cheers,
Bev

[twostep]

Originally Posted by Phil Gillette

There are several American military bases in Germany, Italy, and Spain, and they all have commissaries where an incredible number of American products are available, at tax-free prices. In Italy, they are at Aviano, no. of Venice, Livorno, Naples, and Sicily. Of course, you can't shop there unless you have what is called SOFA status, basically military, their families, and U.S. military civilian employees. I live in Dietzenbach, near Frankfurt, and if you are in the area, contact me at pdgillette@aol.com, and I can give you some more detailed info.

Phil Gillette

I hope you know what problems you can get into by shopping subsidized and tax exempt items with intent of resale:>)