Its funny, after living in CH for more than 10 years, I still get a thrill out of buying stuff from UK, hauling it all back and laying every item out on table as if I was admiring the spoils of war... Of particular delight are things that you can actually get here, but cost 10-fold higher....the cheaper UK prices make them taste better .
Anyway below some additional suggestions of items of want.
General items
Hartley's Pineapple jam
Maldon flaky sea salt
Good quality sliced bread
Biscuits that taste nice
Crisps that taste of something other than paprika
sudocrem (not for ingestion)
Vicks (see above)
Custard powder (I am lazy)
Billington's light muscavado sugar (try it with coffee...)
Funny thing- we used to get excited bringing stuff back to UK from Switzerland- still do now for daughters, family and friends. And now, t'other way round.
But (sorry but ...) Brexit has changed things a lot. We can't take meat, sausages, cheese, clotted cream, etc, anymore, can we?
Rules when travelling from a non-EU country
If you travel to the EU from a non-EU country, you are not allowed to bring any meat or dairy products with you.
We normally take our plug in cool box with us to UK and used to bring good quality sausages, bacon, Stilton, pork pies, etc- but last time we didnt, sadly.
The Lindt Lindor Chocolates sold at Waitrose in the U.K. (4 quid 200g)and COOP here in Switzerland (4 CHF 75g) have the same ingredients and are both made in the EU (Italy).
In my experience, it's the ones in the U.S. that taste a bit off and those are made in the U.S. and usually have different ingredients.
@homesick_alien, lol, I used to do the same from the US--brown sugar and Mexican dried chilis! BTW, maldon salt and Hellman's mayo are available in any SPAR, just over the border, in case you run out.
this thread reminding me of the things I used to bring back in my suitcase back in the mid 90’s.....zip-lock bags for one (not exotic anymore)
finding a decent builder’s tea at supermarket still requires going to the right branch; if not returning from UK my local butcher in Stockholm has Yorkshire in more than 1 variety - Gold, decaf, standard
My daughter loves the Naked bar as a treat and when over at Christmas time bought boxes of them in different flavours. You can buy a box of 4 in the major UK supermarkets for not much more than a single bar in Geneva.
After six months here, and a recent trip to the UK, I thought I would post up what has been difficult to find here, and what was on my shopping list when I went back to Blighty.
So the single biggest gap on the supermarket shelves here is brown sugars. Dark, light, muscovado, Demerara, all hard to find. I’m sure not impossible if you know where to look, but not in Co-op/Migros/Denner. Hardly the end of the world, but those recipes that need it, really need it.
Most of my shopping list for the UK was spices. Not that you can’t find them here, just that a UK kilo of a given spice costs about the same as 100g here. Also spice pastes (lemongrass, chipotle, harissa etc).
Similarly iboprufen/paracetamol/aspirin/any over the counter pharma products. Twentyfold more expensive in some places!
And lastly chutney! It is possible to get Branstons, but I do like a variety, so had to buy some to get me through to autumn, when I shall make my own.
Thanks again to everyone who contributed, hope this is useful for anyone in a similar position.