An expatriate delicatessen, expat foodstore or expat supermarket is a
delicatessen
Traditionally, a delicatessen or deli is a retail establishment that sells a selection of fine, exotic, or foreign prepared foods. Delicatessen originated in Germany (original: ) during the 18th century and spread to the United States in the m ...
''(European meaning)'' that specialise in selling food and drink of particular country to
expatriate
An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...
s and food enthusiasts who can't find such items in local food shops. These are usually set-up in areas of high expatriate areas to gain maximum sales or on-line. Unlike an ethnic grocer which tends to sell a mixture of products and goods, an expatiate delicatessen tends to sell items from one particular place such as
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
or region like Eastern Europe. As they are specialised food stores, they charge high prices (usually several times their value) due to a lack of competition, high local duties and low orders from their suppliers. They also sometimes sell items in relation to the area like
cooking equipment or native-language media that are hard to find in regular shops.
Items
Examples of the items that are sold in these stores such as in an American expatriate delicatessen are
Lucky Charms
Lucky Charms is a brand of breakfast cereal produced by General Mills since 1964. The cereal consists of multi-colored marshmallows and pieces of shaped pulverized oat, each resembling one of several objects or symbols associated with good lu ...
breakfast cereal,
3 Musketeers,
Hershey's chocolate and
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are an American candy consisting of a chocolate cup filled with peanut butter, marketed by The Hershey Company. They were created on November 15, 1928, by H. B. Reese, a former dairy farmer and shipping foreman for M ...
confectionery,
Fluff marshmallow spread,
A1 steak sauce
A.1. Sauce (formerly A.1. Steak Sauce and sometimes stylized as A1 Sauce in certain markets) is a brand of brown sauce produced by Brand & co, a subsidiary of Premier Foods in the United Kingdom (as "Brand's A.1. Sauce") and in North America b ...
and
Mountain Dew fizzy drink, while a Polish store sells jarred
bigos
Bigos (; be, бігас, ', or бігус, ', lt, bigusas), often translated into English as hunter's stew, is a Polish dish of chopped meat of various kinds stewed with sauerkraut and shredded fresh cabbage. It is served hot and can be enrich ...
,
sauerkraut
Sauerkraut (; , "sour cabbage") is finely cut raw cabbage that has been fermented by various lactic acid bacteria. It has a long shelf life and a distinctive sour flavor, both of which result from the lactic acid formed when the bacteria ferm ...
,
gherkins
A pickled cucumber (commonly known as a pickle in the United States and Canada and a gherkin in Britain, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand) is a usually small or miniature cucumber that has been pickled in a brine, vinegar, or ...
,
smetana and
kielbasa wiejska sausage. Such items are usually either directly imported from the country or ordered through
grey market
A grey market or dark market (sometimes confused with the similar term " parallel market") is the trade of a commodity through distribution channels that are not authorized by the original manufacturer or trade mark proprietor. Grey market pr ...
importers. Some items are impossible to import as the local country bans them or controls their imports. For example, Mountain Dew is banned in the UK as it contains an ingredient (
BVO) which is not allowed in the local food chain.
See also
*
List of delicatessens
This is a list of notable delicatessens. A delicatessen is a retail establishment that sells a selection of unusual or foreign prepared foods. Delicatessens originated in Germany during the 1700s. They later spread to the United States in the m ...
*
Specialty food
A specialty food is a food that is typically considered as a "unique and high-value food item made in small quantities from high-quality ingredients". Consumers typically pay higher prices for specialty foods, and may perceive them as having variou ...
References
{{Use dmy dates, date=August 2021
Expatriates
Delicatessens