UPFRONT/GO
Food Culture on Aisle Two
Grocery store tourism gives you a serving of local flavor
THERE’S A TREND on TikTok, where young people post videos at supermarkets in the U.S. and around the world, marveling at the frozen pizzas in Wisconsin or the flavored potato chips in Asia. They aren’t searching out specialty shops, but rather hitting major retail food stores. Yep, Gen Z has figured out what we older folks have known for decades: A trip to a grocery store is a fabulous way to get a feel for the local culture. Says avid traveler Malinee Churanakoses, 51, of San Diego: “It is interesting to see how people live, what flavors or experiences they have.” —Jamie Seaton
🇬🇧 GREAT BRITAIN
• Swizzels Squashies candy
• Jammie Dodgers cookies
• Jaffa Cakes, with chocolate and fruit flavor
🇸🇬 SINGAPORE
Kaya, a creamy jam made with coconut milk, eggs and sugar, and flavored with pandan leaf
🇯🇵 JAPAN
Various flavors of KitKat candy bars, including cough drop, rum raisin, melon with mascarpone, sake wasabi, matcha, strawberry and melty caramel.
🇹🇭 THAILAND
Oreo-flavored Coca-Cola and Coca-Cola-flavored Oreos
🇺🇸 REGIONAL U.S. SODAS
New Hampshire’s Squamscot Old Fashioned maple cream soda; New York’s Sioux City sarsaparilla; Seattle’s Jones green apple soda
🇳🇴 NORWAY
Mills Kaviar, smoked cod roe paste that comes in a squeeze tube
🇿🇦 SOUTH AFRICA
Woolworths Fruit & Nut Rusks, like tiny granola bars