Major American supermarkets have limited shelf space, so they focus on stocking the best-selling, mass-market snacks. This means that many classic and beloved treats from the past, or popular snacks from other countries, have disappeared from the aisles of your local Kroger or Safeway. For snack aficionados on a nostalgic quest, finding these items requires a special trip. You have to hunt for them at international markets, gourmet food shops, or specialty online retailers that cater to a more specific clientele. Here are eight snacks that you’ll have to find in a specialty store.
1. Authentic Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate
While you can find Hershey-produced Cadbury chocolate in any U.S. store, true fans know it is not the same. The authentic Cadbury Dairy Milk bars made in the United Kingdom use a different recipe with a higher cocoa butter content, resulting in a much creamier texture. To find the real UK version, you must go to a British import shop or a specialty online store that stocks genuine British candy.
2. Japanese Kit Kat Flavors
In the U.S., you are lucky to find more than two or three varieties of Kit Kat bars. In Japan, however, there are hundreds of unique and creative flavors, from Matcha Green Tea and Strawberry Cheesecake to Sake and Wasabi. These sought-after flavors are often difficult to find in a typical American grocery store. You can find them at an Asian market or on a specialty candy website.
3. Walker’s Crisps
Walkers are the most popular brand of potato crisps (chips) in the United Kingdom, famous for their unique and intense flavors like Prawn Cocktail, Roast Chicken, and Cheese & Onion. While Lay’s, Walker’s parent company, dominates the U.S. market, you cannot find these classic British flavors in a standard supermarket. A trip to a British import store is necessary to satisfy a craving for Walker’s.
4. Haribo Gummies (German Versions)
Haribo gummies are available everywhere, but dedicated fans know that the gummies made in Germany taste different from the ones made for the American market. The German-made Haribo products, especially the Goldbears, often use different gelling agents and flavorings, resulting in a firmer, chewier texture that many people prefer. You can only find these imported bags at specialty candy stores or German markets.
5. Kinder Surprise Eggs
The classic Kinder Surprise Egg, with a toy encapsulated inside a chocolate shell, has been banned for sale in the U.S. for decades due to choking hazard concerns. While the company created the legal Kinder Joy for the American market, finding the original, iconic Kinder Surprise requires a trip to an international market in a neighboring country like Canada or Mexico. It remains a forbidden but highly sought-after treat.
6. Classic European Biscuits
Many beloved European biscuits, like the UK’s Jaffa Cakes or McVitie’s Digestives and Germany’s Bahlsen Leibniz-Keks, have a devoted following in the United States. However, they are rarely stocked in the cookie aisle of a major American supermarket. To find these classic tea-time biscuits, you need to visit a European-style deli, a World Market, or an online import grocer.
7. Jones Soda (in Glass Bottles)
Jones Soda, known for its unique flavors and user-submitted photos on its labels, was once widely available. Over the years, its distribution has shrunk significantly. While some varieties can still be found, tracking down a specific flavor in its signature glass bottle often requires a trip to a specialty soda shop or a smaller, independent convenience store rather than a supermarket.
8. Dunkaroos
This iconic 90s snack, featuring cookies that you dip into a container of frosting, was discontinued for years, much to the dismay of nostalgic millennials. While General Mills has brought them back in a limited capacity, they can still be very hard to find. Their distribution is often spotty, making them a rare sight in many major grocery chains and forcing fans to hunt for them in specialty snack stores or online.
The Hunt for Nostalgia
The disappearance of these snacks from mainstream shelves shows how much the retail landscape has consolidated. However, their continued availability in specialty stores proves that there is a passionate market for nostalgic and unique tastes. For those willing to look beyond their usual supermarket, a world of classic and international flavors is still waiting to be discovered.
What classic or international snack do you wish were sold at your local grocery store? What’s the best hard-to-find treat you’ve ever discovered? Let us know!
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