People often wonder what are foods they will miss if decide to move here. When I came to Costa Rica almost 30 years ago there were very few U.S. food products in the supermarkets. I remember making frequent trips to the States and stuffing my suitcase with food from there. Now everything has changed and you can purchase almost anything from the U.S. in Costa Rican markets.

Local super market chains realized that they needed to stock a large amount of products form the United States and Canada because of a growing  expatriate community. Between Price Smart (Costco), Hipermás (Wal-Mart) and the Auto Mercado chains you can virtually find anything you want in Costa Rica. For Example,  at Thanksgiving time you may purchase a whole turkey, Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauce and Stove Top stuffing at any branch of the Auto Mercado.

On a recent trip to the supermarket I was able to buy the following items: Philadelphia Low Fat Cream Cheese, Crest Toothpaste, Lindsay’s canned olives from California, cottage cheese from the U.S., Yoplait Yogurt, Lays Potato Chips, a Sara Lee cheese cake, Arizona Ice Tea, Triscuit Crakers, Snyders Pretzels, French’s Mustard, Pert Plus shampoo, Wrigley’s chewing gum, Purina Dog Chow, Entennman’s pastries, Welch’s Grape Juice and Nabisco Chocolate Chip Cookies. Most of these products cost the same or a little more than they do in the U.S.

The above is a small sample of what is available here. I would be lying if I told you every single U.S. food product may be found in Costa Rica. However,  there are local versions of most packaged foods from the U.S. For example, Costa Rican companies make potato chips, tomato sauce, yogurt, cooking oils, Ice Cream, hot dogs, soy food and non-meat products, cookies and pastries,  dog and cat food, spaghetti and so much more.

An added bonus are the country’s fruits and vegetables which are grown year round. Most are  dirt cheap and plentiful.

What most people do who move here is buy the American products the absolutely can’t live without, purchase the local versions of the foods back home and take advantage of the inexpensive vegetables and fruits the country offers.