Hallo! What American novelties would Germans enjoy?

Ich besuche meine Familie nächste Woche, und ich will kleine Geschenke mitbringen.

I know American chocolate is inferior, but I assume it's still a novelty. Some kind of candies probably, too. What else? Many years ago they loved to get boxed breakfast cereal and paper napkins, which seems quaint now.

It's been years since I've seen them, and I'm sure everyone there can buy whatever they want on the Internet, but it will still be fun to bring something.

Any suggestions for an Ausländer?

PhineaZ ,

Peanutbutter-based stuff (esp. sweets) make for a good pick. Reese's is available in Germany but hard to come by and expensive.
And I agree with what several already said: Hot Sauce.

Unabart ,
@Unabart@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

I know I’m a hero to my German pals when I come back with a brick of Grape Soda because, for some reason, it’s forbidden to sell here. Pop Tarts are also popular.

clay_pidgin OP ,

Thanks.

RidderSport ,

Pop tarts and twinkies, never had latter myself, but Pop Tarts are really expensive here (5€ for 4)

sumpfsocke ,

Beef Jerky!

rainynight65 ,

You don't want beef jerky - Biltong is superior in all aspects.

Domkat ,

Reese's
You are able to get them in Germany, but only in miniscule portions.

EyIchFragDochNur ,

If Scholz brings a Kebap when visiting Erdogan you can bring Bratwurst & Sauerkraut.

No seriously, I think most Germans would like to try other country's versions of our food. But not sure if you're even allowed to import food (or what kind of food exactly) on a flight.

clay_pidgin OP ,

Did he really? How odd.

EyIchFragDochNur ,

Damn I mixed him up with Steinmeier. And actually he brought a Berliner Kebap bar owner who brought the Kebap himself. But well

Sodis ,

Don't bring chocolate. I have heard from many people, that the American is vastly inferior to European chocolate.

clay_pidgin OP ,

Have you never tried it? It's definitely worse, though I'd say it's more wax like. Like everything else here, it's made of mostly corn syrup.

the_wise_wolf ,

Like everything else here, it's made of mostly corn syrup.

Haha, that was unexpected and yet, completely unsurprising. TIL

clay_pidgin OP ,

We pay significant subsidies for corn farmers, but then we have to figure out what to do with way too much corn! The reason everything has corn syrup in it is because it's cheaper than sugar. That's also why ethanol is quite common in gasoline here even though it's bad for fuel economy, power, and engine health.

An entirely separate issue is that we consider corn to be a vegetable, when it's really a grain. Carbohydrates are almost all they have!

invertedspear ,

It’s definitely waxier in consistency, especially Hershey’s, the best known American chocolate. Not sure of the truth, but the story goes: Hershey’s sent chocolate to the military members overseas in WW2. In the summer it would melt so they changed the formula to make it more stable, which made it waxy. When troops came home they wanted what they were used to, so that became the norm. Then they switched to corn syrup, which also made it worse. There are good American chocolates, but they aren’t coming from Hershey’s or Mars.

clay_pidgin OP ,

The development of processed foods in the U.S. is closely tied to the military. They funded research into more shelf-stable foods like "cheese product" and preservative laden bread. Manufacturers appreciate their products expiring more slowly as it helps out their logistics. It's not really anyone's goal to feed us all stabilizers and preservative, but because it's cheaper for big companies it's what we get. There's not much in the way of consumer protection in this area.

Certainly there's good chocolate, but price is a major factor at the grocery store. A big Hershey bar (the size of your hand) is $2 and a similarly-sized bar from a better manufacturer is at least $5.

You ,

There's another additive used by Hershey and other manufactorers in the US: butyric acid. It ads a sour taste and unfortunately it reminds people of vomit.

crispy_kilt ,

Hot Sauces!

clay_pidgin OP ,

Several have said this- seems like a good bet.

ErwinLottemann ,

a friend of mine always requests the current 'hot ones' sauce collection

clay_pidgin OP ,

Thanks!

ECB ,

Ranch dressing is a big one, since you can't get hidden valley anywhere!

I always request that one from from family in the US (along with good bbq sauce and hot sauce)

clay_pidgin OP ,

I wouldn't have guessed ranch! Thank you.

bjoern_tantau ,
@bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de avatar

Peanut butter! We just don't have the good stuff here. It's the only present I remember from my father's guest sisters when they visited us.

TwoCubed ,

We get the good stuff from the Netherlands though.

I'd suggest some disgusting shit like canned cheese.

pau_hana ,

Some Pepperidge farms cookies don't seem to have an equivalent in Germany. And I think real Spam is better than the generic Frühstücksfleisch, but that's probably just a Geschmackssache.

clay_pidgin OP ,

I do love SPAM.

Thanks for the new word: Geschmackssache!

Loki ,

Do they like spicy things? If so, maybe bring some really spicy snack. I've been disappointed by everything from the snack aisle that says "hot" on it and I don't handle spice well at all. I suspect the US has much hotter snacks??

viking Mod ,
@viking@infosec.pub avatar

Go to Penny and look for Feuerdrachen (fire dragons). That's the real deal.

Loki ,

My limited research (finding a dedicated fan community on Reddit and reading the posts on there lol) leads me to believe I may not find the "real deal"... But I'll give it a shot anyway, thanks!

(Research because Rewe has something called Feuerdrachen and those suck :/)

viking Mod ,
@viking@infosec.pub avatar

Needs to be the Penny house brand, that's the only one with a decent level of spiciness. One of the rare few cases where someone knocked off a discount product.

Loki , (edited )

I went to Penny just now and picked up a bag (the Bravo ones with the Penny logo on the back), but they must've changed the recipe. It's not really hot, tastes like the Rewe ones :/

Edit: I just checked, the Rewe Feuerdrachen and the Penny ones are the same, same ingredients, same manufacturer

viking Mod ,
@viking@infosec.pub avatar

Hm, crap. That really sucks to hear, those were my favorites :-/

clay_pidgin OP ,

I don't know! It seems like a fun idea, though.

Nomad ,

Asia Supermarket. Look for wasabi peanuts. Dont thank me yet, they get so addictive and hot you dont smell anything for days.

clay_pidgin OP ,

They are more "scharf", though. It's fun that in English we typically use "hot" to refer to both hot peppers and horseradish.

Loki ,

Unfortunately, I despise horseradish (and wasabi), but thanks for the suggestion anyway :)

voodoocode ,

Marshmallows

clay_pidgin OP ,

Really!? Are they not common in Germany?

vintageballs ,

They are available in almost every supermarket.

donduky ,

Hot sauce und Barbecue Sauce nehme ich mir immer mit wenn ich in den USA bin. Ist ja auch Grillsaison

clay_pidgin OP ,

Danke schön!

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