November,
2006 Monthly
Newsletter
Real German Food - is it Really?
Something that seems to always amaze me is the amount of people that will come into our store to purchase German food just after arriving in from Germany!
They just got back from Germany and either forgot to get gifts for their friends and family or they didn’t want to have to deal with carrying alot of souvenirs home with them. Most often they buy food which brings up the subject of real German food vs. artificial German food.
Many people do not realize that many foreign countries often make special versions of their food which is “for export only”. Most often, you couldn’t tell the difference, especially if you are not from Germany. But if you were born there, live there or go there alot, you would notice the difference.
Take for example the famous Gummi Bears. You see these in many American stores. They have everything printed in English and they taste good. But then there are the real German ones. The German gummi bears look more clear in color but the one major difference is less sugar. Personally, I prefer the German ones, because they have a more natural fruity taste to them.
Another example is Nutella, the hazelnut spread you also see in popular grocery stores and food chains. The Americanized version is not made with hazelnut oil, but rather with peanut oil. The real German Nutella is made with real hazelnut oil and because of this, tastes more like real hazelnut spread.
Sometimes people that walk into our store think that our prices are more expensive than what they are used to seeing. But it is these people that don’t really understand the difference between “real” German food vs “made for export” German food. Of course there is a small difference in price. But then again, we couldn’t call ourselves a German food store if we didn’t carry the real thing.
So, the next time you go into a German food store, check the labels. A good giveaway is if the original package information is in English. The real imports will be in the German language with perhaps an attached label translating the German into English.