British food is the third most missed home comfort for Brits who move abroad, but if you can’t live without your favourite foods, it could set you back a tidy sum.

New research carried out by Foreign Currency Direct, a specialist foreign exchange provider, has revealed the true extent of the cost of expat foods. Depending on where you choose to live abroad, the cost of enjoying your traditional British favourites varies significantly. The US does itself proud by catering most for the tastes of so-called Limeys. In fact, British favourites such as baked beans, English tea bags and Heinz Tomato Ketchup actually cost Brits 17% less than they’d pay for them back in the UK. But, sadly, that’s not the case in all countries.

In France, for example, instead of saving money on buying British food, expats will have to fork out about 133% more if they want to eat their favourite foods. A basket of shopping that includes six large free range eggs, 200 English tea bags, Heinz Tomato Ketchup, a jar of Branston Pickle, baked beans, 12 rashers of unsmoked bacon and a pint of beer or lager would set you back £35.75 in France. The comparative price in the UK is only £15.36 and in the US it would be £12.82.

It’s a similar situation elsewhere in the Eurozone, where many countries are selling British goods at a premium; the average price is now £27.04 (compared to £15.36 in the UK). In Italy, the cost of 200 English tea bags has risen to £12.78, more than three times the price in the UK, and in Greece expats are paying up to 92% more.

The full cost breakdown of a basket of food, based on the top 10 countries Britons would most like to move to, is as follows:    

UK – £15.36
US – £12.82
Australia – £16.11
New Zealand – £16.79
Canada – £18.29
Spain – £25.48
Cyprus – £26.31
Portugal – £27.25
Italy – £27.25
Greece – £29.48
France – £35.75

(This is based on a basket containing: six large free range eggs, 200 English tea bags, Heinz Tomato Ketchup, a jar of Branston Pickle, baked beans, 12 rashers of unsmoked bacon and a pint of beer or lager).

Of course, it all begs the question can you live without your age old favourites and, if you’re moving abroad, should you not try and adapt more to the diet of the locals? With the cost of some of the British food abroad, it seems that adapting may be the cheaper option!

British food, Expats, Living abroad

This entry was posted on Friday, April 3rd, 2009 at 2:30 pm and is filed under Lifestyle. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.