USA -> U.K. candy suggestions
July 23, 2015 7:07 AM   Subscribe

I am shipping a work related box to colleagues I barely know in London (field: medical research). There is some extra room in the box and I thought it might be nice to send them some simple, small treat you can easily buy in any US convenience store but that might be difficult to find or would at least be a novelty there. What would you suggest or should I just resist this urge and stick to business as usual?
posted by roue to Human Relations (44 answers total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
Response by poster: also, the box will contain a hard drive, not patient bits ... well, bits about patients, on the drive, but not bits formally incorporated into the patients themselves. In case that was a concern.
posted by roue at 7:09 AM on July 23, 2015 [6 favorites]


Babe Ruth candy bars are very american and big red gum (used to be a novelty at least- and stick gum is rare anyway)
posted by pairofshades at 7:14 AM on July 23, 2015


Candy bars with funny names always cracked me up when I first moved to Canada, particularly "Oh Henry!" chocolate bars hee hee! We don't get Babe Ruth bars in the UK either or Hersheys really.

(It's my opinion though that English chocolate is far superior to US Chocolate though so take that information as you will!)
posted by JenThePro at 7:15 AM on July 23, 2015 [3 favorites]


Twizzlers are also good, but not sure how appreciated they would be since they are so much like red licorice.
posted by pairofshades at 7:18 AM on July 23, 2015


I used to always bring Bit O Honey and Butterfingers back to the Netherlands with me. Not sure about availability in the UK.
posted by frumiousb at 7:19 AM on July 23, 2015


Peanut Chews are good and barely even national. There's also Boston Baked Beans. If it doesn't have to be sweet I'd suggested a pack of Camel Unfiltered naked of PSAs.
posted by deathmaven at 7:24 AM on July 23, 2015


I was just in the UK, and casually sampled the chocolate racks on a regular basis. For, er, purely academic reasons. Anyway. I didn't spot Butterfingers, Oh Henry!, Three Musketeers, Almond Joy, Mounds, or much of anything with peanut butter. Not sure I would send Hershey's, which a lot of non-USAians dislike (my English cousin aside).

The Kit-Kats were better in the UK. More varieties! Dark chocolate! I am sad.
posted by thomas j wise at 7:33 AM on July 23, 2015


Hershey's Kisses - I devour those things!
posted by SRMorris at 7:33 AM on July 23, 2015


You might want to take a look at this Reddit thread. Note that the top-rated comment was from a Brit saying nobody in his office likes the taste of mass-market American chocolate. This does seem to be the consensus, at least amongst my friends in London. The issue is that mass-market American candy bars tend to be made with the Hershey process (or with some similar process) that gives it a very distinctive taste. To anybody who didn't grow up with that specific flavor, American chocolate can taste... unpleasant.

Of course, not all Brits feel this way. But if you don't know the recipient very well, I would probably stay away from the chocolate bars you can buy in a convenience store, and perhaps spring for something slightly higher quality if you are going to do this. For what it's worth, the goodies that I bring back from the US include Ghirardelhi chocolate chips; See's candy; and various Trader Joe's goodies. None of those are available in the UK, and none of them have that sour chocolate taste that give American chocolate a bad name.
posted by yankeefog at 7:35 AM on July 23, 2015 [10 favorites]


Smarties in the US are very different from Smarties in the UK. One's chocolate, one's not.
posted by at at 7:36 AM on July 23, 2015


Bit O Honey, Smarties, and the M and Ms in the green bag (chocolate covered rice crisp variety that's somewhat new). Also salt water taffy and giant jaw breakers if you can get them. I used to do exchanges overseas and those were hits.

Oh! Whatchamacallit bars! For the name alone!! Unless it's going to be really hot, then skip that one. My other mentions are fairly heat stable.

Be certain to bag the candies separatly from the hardware and cushion them well! Plus wrap in gift paper so it's not missed.
posted by tilde at 7:45 AM on July 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


Ah! Peanut butter m and ms, and my british cousin always asks me to send him reeses pieces peanut butter cup miniatures...
posted by pairofshades at 7:46 AM on July 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


I can't tell you what the Brits will want. As an American I look at it from the other direction. If you were my British colleague sending me a care package, the answer would be Maynards! MAYNARDS! I was just passing through the UK on my way back from Europe and spent my layover at a WH Smiths in Heathrow jamming every single bag of winegums I possibly could into my bag .

But in addition to the taste issue, another thing to consider with chocolate is that it melts pretty easily. I'd go for something that comes in small pieces and is more temperature agnostic- something like Skittles, though I think they have those. Something you can claim is packing material.
posted by Naberius at 7:47 AM on July 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


I had a European colleague over to the US a few weeks back, and all of her friends and officemates made her promise to bring back as many bags of Hershey's Kisses as she could.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 7:50 AM on July 23, 2015


Are you in Minnesota? Pearson's candies, especially the Nut Goodies and the Salted Nut Rolls would be a unique bit of Midwestern Americana.
posted by plastic_animals at 7:52 AM on July 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


According to the hosts of a UK-based podcast I often listen to, the answer is unequivocally PEANUT BUTTER M&MS!
posted by showbiz_liz at 8:03 AM on July 23, 2015 [4 favorites]


Twizzlers are also good, but not sure how appreciated they would be since they are so much like red licorice.

Sacrilege. Twizzlers are nothing like standard red licorice.
posted by DarlingBri at 8:04 AM on July 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


Mars products in the US don't taste like vomit.

Cinema candy might also be fun: Jujubes (with their old-school floral flavours), Jujyfruits, Lemonheads, Red Hots.
posted by holgate at 8:10 AM on July 23, 2015 [2 favorites]


Several years ago a boyfriend of mine was working between the Chicago and London offices of his company, and traveling back and forth every few months. The request every time from his London-based coworkers: BRING REESE'S. One time he flew back with literally an entire bag full: pb cups of all sizes, Reese's pieces, those pb cup crunchy bar things they also have, everything.

I don't know how widespread throughout the UK this desire for Reese's cups is, but at least in his office he was a hero.
posted by phunniemee at 8:24 AM on July 23, 2015


I was born in America and live in Canada; I'll N'th the Pearson products and N'th staying away from mass-market American chocolate. Even in Canada, nutrolls aren't a thing and I've been hankering for a Payday since about a week after I last made some hand-made nougat peanut rolls. I'm not aware of anyone who hadn't had a nut roll before disliking it, even if some only thought they were OK instead of really great.
posted by nobeagle at 8:32 AM on July 23, 2015


Necco wafers.
posted by TWinbrook8 at 8:53 AM on July 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


The request every time from his London-based coworkers: BRING REESE'S.

The peanut butter cups are now widely available, thank God, in all their varieties. The Pieces, not so much but that's OK because they're inferior anyway :)
posted by DarlingBri at 9:05 AM on July 23, 2015


Maybe some root beer flavored hard candies? My British relatives are always fascinated/confused by root beer.
posted by meese at 9:26 AM on July 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


Buckeyes?


Twizzlers are nothing like standard red licorice.

Licorice candy isn't red. It's liquorice-flavoured and black.
 
posted by Herodios at 9:29 AM on July 23, 2015


I had my dad bring over a bunch of American candy last summer to put in an American movie-themed hamper as a raffle prize. It's the old-school movie theatre stuff that you can never get here. I know he brought Rasinettes, Mike & Ike, Twizzlers, Big Red and Mr Goodbar.
posted by DarlingBri at 9:42 AM on July 23, 2015


Peanut butter cups. My sister has been in UK and Europe past 3-4 years and stocks up every time she comes stateside. They don't have to be Reeces if you want higher quality pick up some of the nicer Trader Joes style ones.
posted by SassHat at 9:43 AM on July 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


When some people from the UK came to visit my old office, one guy was FASCINATED by some random snack (I'm pretty sure it was crunchy Cheetos -- is this correct? Is that something you don't have in the UK?). I think this is a great idea and you should totally do it but unfortunately non-candy (or at least non-chocolate) snacks are more likely to be enjoyed.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 10:01 AM on July 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


Hot Tamales (personal favourite)
Mint, Peanut Butter, Pretzel flavour M&Ms
Non-standard flavour Oreos
Nerds
Pop Tarts

I am from London and these are the first thing I head for when I go to the US. We have Reece's everywhere now. We had Nerds and Pop Tarts in the 80s but not any more so people might be quite nostalgic about them.
posted by intensitymultiply at 10:39 AM on July 23, 2015


Pop Rocks
posted by cazoo at 10:51 AM on July 23, 2015 [2 favorites]


To go with the non-standard M&Ms: limited-run Skittles flavours.
posted by holgate at 10:58 AM on July 23, 2015


Just coming in to say that a lot of the UK supermarkets have a US candy aisle now, so the special M&Ms, Hershey's (incl. Reese's anything), Nerds, etc are no longer so much of a novelty here (tho they can still be overpriced, esp. the M&Ms). Even my post office has Reese's - white ones! Argh.

Special flavour Oreos are not available here (and the new skinny adult ones!). Also Pepperidge Farm Goldfish, tho I dunno if everyone would be with me in how delicious they are. No Almond Joys, but we have Bounty, so it's only missing the almond.

(I wish I could give you specific suggestions as I've just spent 3 weeks in the NYC eating sweet, sweet US candy, but my tastes are probably not representative.)
posted by ClarissaWAM at 11:42 AM on July 23, 2015


I'd avoid chocolate if only because it's summer and it'll melt in transit.
posted by cecic at 11:51 AM on July 23, 2015


If it's any help, whenever anybody brings American candy back from holiday to our office in the UK, Jolly Ranchers usually disappear the quickest.
posted by peteyjlawson at 2:00 PM on July 23, 2015


I second Jolly Ranchers, the hard candy version- love them and my friends love them. Reeses are available in most shops now so it would be pointless to send them.
posted by Trudi at 2:12 PM on July 23, 2015


For your ease of reference, this is what you can buy in Tesco (the UK's biggest supermarket chain) in terms of US confectionery and chocolate. So maybe something that we can't pick up during the weekly shop. Perhaps something peculiar to your region, e.g. Buckeyes from Ohio, Frango Mints from Chicago, Rice-A-Roni from San Francisco (just kidding, never, ever give someone Rice-A-Roni as a gift, even if they're your sworn and deadly enemy...)
posted by essexjan at 2:23 PM on July 23, 2015


Maple candies.
You don't need to give a lot of them, they look special, are generally not available in the corners of the UK I frequent, and are yummy.
posted by troytroy at 2:42 PM on July 23, 2015


You can buy everything these people above have already mentioned. Send England very good chocolate, from a chocolate shop, mixed in with the local candies if your area. English people cannot get their heads around moon pies. Candy corn is another. Boiled sweets are really common here, there is a factory dating to 1826 making herbal drops just down the hill from me. See if you can find fun flavours of boiled candy in your region - this will be a real adventure! They also love Ferrero Pan cherry bombs and lemonheads, as well as Airheads. They are no good jelly beans in the world anymore, and the Germans pretty much own the gelatin arena. There was a peanut butter cup covered in caramel that I found in Atlanta that I loved. I would love to find out the name of it.
posted by parmanparman at 3:06 PM on July 23, 2015


Bit of a side note: shipping chocolate can be problematic, depending on the time of year, method of shipping, etc. More temperature-safe items might be less risky.
posted by gimonca at 4:24 PM on July 23, 2015


(Cecic beat me to it...but is totally correct.)
posted by gimonca at 4:25 PM on July 23, 2015


Nthing maple....also, purple fruit flavored candy in the US is grape, in the UK blackcurrant.
posted by brujita at 5:46 PM on July 23, 2015


Maple candies . . .

seem like a really good idea.
 
posted by Herodios at 6:57 PM on July 23, 2015


I know Swedes want TJs peanut butter cups. And they have excellent taste.
posted by persona au gratin at 2:48 AM on July 24, 2015


Yep, you can buy all those things now. But not blow pops or tootsie pops. Sadly none of my British colleagues like them - but the novelty value is good.

We still can't get Cheetos (crunchy is best) or Fritos, but who knows if your average Brit would like them - this immigrant American does though!
posted by mgrrl at 11:02 AM on July 25, 2015


English people cannot get their heads around moon pies.

Moon pies sound a lot like Wagon Wheels to me, unless graham crackers are really crisp or crunchy.

That Tesco photo is astonishing! Smaller shops don't have anything like that wide a range, though I've noticed that Reese's and mint-flavoured M&Ms have become quite easy to get hold of.

Your colleagues might be amused by the difference between US Mars and Milky Way and the British kind. Chocolate-covered pretzels aren't readily available here (no mass-market brands, though you sometimes find them in chocolate shops). Cinnamon and grape rarely show up as flavours, and likewise the mysterious wintergreen. Maple, we pretty much only see in syrup form. Also, though we have plenty of chocolate-mint things, I remember thinking Peppermint Patties were pretty good, plus there was that *click* moment of realisation about the Peanuts character's name.
posted by ManyLeggedCreature at 2:38 AM on July 26, 2015


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