The World in Your Supermarket

When I come home from a trip, I like to bring back all sorts of edible treats that I found on my travels as souvenirs for friends and family. When I came back from Australia for example, I packed half my suitcase with limited edition White and Sweet Surrender Tim Tams, and new Nestle instant coffee mixes (I'm not exaggerating).

Imagine my disappointment then when I come home from each trip only to find that a month or two later these products are rolled out onto the shelves of my local supermarket!

Now that brands are becoming increasingly global, you can get your hands on just about any quirky product that was originally marketed and distributed to a specific country. Just this weekend as I was walking around Vancouver I stopped in the Japanese supermarket on Robson Street and saw a stockpile of different flavoured Japanese Kit Kats I'd never seen before including Matcha & Cherry, Milk Coffee, Strawberry, and Raspberry & Passion Fruit. There are 19 flavours in total, and they were only made available in Japan this past Winter.

What souvenirs do you like to bring home from your travels? Do you bring sweets and treats home too? And if so, how do you feel about the globalization of quirky eats?

Anny Chih