The idea is you are virtually “walking through” a foreign supermarket. So a set up shot of the supermarket sign out front/storefront is a great way to start. If there is anything weird/different about how food is displayed or the checkout that could be interesting too. These posts are photography based– with little blurbs about what the items are, any tips, funny anecdotes etc.
- condiments– mustards, dressings, gravies etc. (I am kind of obsessed with stuff in tubes since we don’t package condiments that way here. Weird/colorful packaging is also a bonus!)
- candy
- cookies
- baking mixes for cakes/breads etc.
- unusual spices (this is tough and rare since I can find most everything in the US)
- unusual pickled items
- jams & honey
- coffee/tea
- cheese (kinds that aren’t widely exported– we get lots of dutch cheese but I can’t think of any Polish or Norwegian cheese!)
- baked goods (pre-packaged baked sweets, sometimes I’ll even bring a loaf of local bread home if it will keep for a couple of days)
- liquor (sometimes it’s sold in supermarkets, only if it’s not exported)
- toiletries– in Italy I look at the toothpaste, in Portugal I love the big soaps. This doesn’t work for all countries as they are sometimes not sold in supermarkets or it’s just not interesting.
- Weird things I know I can’t bring back because of US customs laws (anything with meat or meat by products) or stuff that’s not practical (frozen or refrigerator items) but it’s worth a photo because it’s just so weird or funny.
If you want to look at some past posts, this is the basic set up (I still have Sweden and Hungary in draft mode):
Austria is the most “foreign” so this one is the best guide (so much of their stuff was from Germany so I had to weed that out):
https://souvenirfinder.com/
recently did England which was tough because I can buy so much UK stuff here:
https://souvenirfinder.com/
Ireland was tricky too as most of their stuff is from England so I had to read the labels, I didn’t even have enough for a post so I combined two grocery stores:
Thanks!