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British food suppliers
Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 4:43 pm
by tina
I want open a small supermarket in Carvoeiro , and I can´t find a supplier for groceries -english products. I need help .
Thanks.Tina
Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 5:16 pm
by Lesley Jean
Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 7:21 pm
by Farol
Have you tried Makro at Guia?
Posted: Sun Mar 02, 2008 9:05 pm
by tbbr
There is a growing english food distributor on the road into the square in ALbufeira, sells everything that the expat missing E nos could want.
Certainly worth a visit if you are interested.
Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 10:53 am
by LoobyLou
Direct transport in Albufeira will ship anything out that you can order online so you could order through Tesco or Asda for example.
Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 3:00 pm
by tina
Thank fou so much for your replies.
Let me try Albufeira.
Tina
Posted: Mon Mar 03, 2008 8:50 pm
by blue
The English grocery shop in Algoz, 'Let the Magic In', seem to get most of their produce from Sainsbury's & Tesco's in the UK & have it brought over by 'Direct Transport' I think.
Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 10:42 am
by lizzieh
Hi Tina give in Messines we have a shop called Foodfayre run by 2 English girls, they sell loads of UK imported food I,m sure Julie or Sarah would be able to help you. Their number is 282 332692. Liz
Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 7:31 pm
by Bruce Wallis
I'm going to make myself intensely unpopular here.....again......
But the last thing I want when in Portugal, is English food.
If we move to live in Carvoeiro, why not adopt a "When in Rome" attitude, and adapt to a new lifestyle.
I love bacon, marmite and marmalade when in England, but when I come out to Carvoeiro, I switch off to them .
The only thing we might miss is English tea. Beyond that the choice available to us in the Portuguese shops is so good.
We bought in Carvoeiro to avoid English ex-pat ghettos....not to encourage them!
Viva Portuguesa!

Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 7:45 pm
by tbbr
Well said, The only thing I would really miss is PG tips oh and maybe the occaisional tin of heinz baked beans.
Our last dinner at our new home on Sat was Prawns fried in garlic oil with a little piri Piri, followed by a bass just wrapped in foil with slices of lemon and cooked on the BBQ with some BBQ,d red pepper and a mixed salad.
This feast cost us max £4/head plus a 3 euro bottle wine.
It was fresh and delicious, no chemicals , preservatives or e nos.
We actually prefer the portuguese sausages ( with real meat ) to those " FROZEN ENGLISH " versions you can pay a fortune for.
The only thing liz wants to find a scource for is fresh cream.
Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 8:04 pm
by lizzieh
Likewise we always try and eat 'local' food when in Portugal, we found Foodfayre a couple of years ago when daughter was a veggie and they were our nearest shop to stock such foods.
We always laugh at the cost of UK food in Portugal usually after saying HOW MUCH!. UK Foods that we miss in Portugal XXXX Portugese foods that we miss in UK too numerouis to mention. Liz
Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 9:37 pm
by snowytheboy
I don't know why people make such a big thing about only eating portugese food when in portugal. When in Britain do they only eat British food or do the also eat Italian, Chinese, Indian foods etc. etc. I don't know about other people but when in Portugal I eat what takes my fancy no matter where it originated. If somebody can sell British food in Carvoeiro then it is because there is a demand.
Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2008 10:45 pm
by tbbr
Why did the english start to eat chinese, indian italian food etc, BECAUSE IT WAS CHEAP and much better than the standard english meat and two veg that was all that could be had in those days.
Ethnic foods are definetely of a higher quality in the UK than is usually to be had in Portugal.
Good quality Portuguese food has a huge variety and is not usually found in the tourist areas we all know. But you can recreate it at home and without spending too much.
Maybe we associate those expats who crave their bisto, frozen sausages etc with the daily mail /sun readers who left the UK because it was going to the dogs, full of foreigners, over taxed and now spend most of their time complaining about the Portuguese and life in Portugal . Their grasp of the language is limited to ordering alcohol.
Good luck to anyone setting up a business in Portugal and a English food shop should do well, but be prepared for the moans about the prices.
Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 12:02 am
by blue
Having lived in Portugal for a couple of years now & holidayed here for 17 years before that & eaten in very, many different restaurants I will also make myself a target by saying that I am not that impressed with typical Portuguese food, provincial or otherwise, the stews are often swimming in fat & salt & overcooked, the vegetables are often cooked until they're falling apart & drained of colour, the grilled meat often tough & the salads uninspiring. The only thing that is consistently good is the grilled fish. But each to their own, it is all a question of taste, as in all countries there is good & bad cuisine. I wouldn't dream of telling visitors to England that they must only eat fish & chips, steak & kidney pudding, english breakfast, shepherds pie, roast dinners etc. So now I live in Portugal should I not eat curries, chinese, italian, spanish food? My parents lived in Africa, Brazil, Denmark, Malaysia & England, all my life I have eaten food from all around the world, why on earth would I stop now I live in Portugal?

Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2008 12:26 am
by maddi
I am already unpopular with some so .... I am going to say bravo to you Blue, what a brave and honest thing to say on this forum.
