🍴 Food & Drink

Ben's Original & Minute Rice 🇺🇸🇺🇸 US · spoza UE

American parboiled rice, in a continent full of risotto.

• Riso Gallo Lombardy since 1856, six generations of the same family. 🇮🇹
• Riso Scotti Pavia, in the middle of Italy's rice country. 🇮🇹
• Oryza German rice brand, part of Euryza in Hamburg. 🇩🇪
• Reis-fit The other German rice standard. 🇩🇪

Campbell's 🇺🇸 US · spoza UE

The soup can Warhol painted.

• Erasco Lübeck since 1931 — the German soup standard. 🇩🇪
• Maggi Swiss since 1872; the seasoning bottle is a European fixture. 🇨🇭
• Vitana Czech soups and seasonings since 1902. 🇨🇿
• Liebig French soups, part of Continental Foods. 🇫🇷

Celestial Seasonings & Bigelow 🇺🇸🇺🇸 US · spoza UE

American herbal tea.

• Teekanne Düsseldorf since 1882, and it invented the tea bag as we know it. 🇩🇪
• Yogi Tea Hamburg-based, organic ayurvedic blends. 🇩🇪
• SONNENTOR Waldviertel, Austria. Organic, and unusually transparent about growers. 🇦🇹
• Pukka Bristol organic herbal teas, B-Corp certified. 🇬🇧

Coca-Cola & Pepsi 🇺🇸🇺🇸 US · spoza UE

The two colas that colonised every fridge on the continent.

• Kofola The Czech cola that outsells Coke on draught at home. Less sweet, more herbal. 🇨🇿
• Fritz-kola Hamburg-born, high caffeine, sold on stubbornness rather than advertising. 🇩🇪
• afri-cola German cola since 1931, back to its original recipe. 🇩🇪
• Cockta Slovenian since 1953, made with rosehip and eleven herbs. No caffeine, no phosphoric acid. 🇸🇮

Dasani & Aquafina 🇺🇸🇺🇸 US · spoza UE

Bottled tap water with an American logo on it.

• Gerolsteiner Volcanic Eifel spring, exceptionally mineral-rich. 🇩🇪
• Mattoni Karlovy Vary mineral water, Czech since 1873. 🇨🇿
• Evian Filtered for fifteen years through the French Alps. 🇫🇷
• San Pellegrino The sparkling one from Lombardy. 🇮🇹

DiGiorno & Totino's 🇺🇸🇺🇸 US · spoza UE

American frozen pizza. In Europe. Yes.

• Dr. Oetker Ristorante Bielefeld. Europe's frozen pizza benchmark. 🇩🇪
• Wagner Saarland family business, Steinofen range. 🇩🇪
• Gustavo Gusto Munich upstart with a genuinely good crust. 🇩🇪
• Buitoni Italian heritage, Nestlé-owned, made in Europe. 🇨🇭

Domino's & Pizza Hut 🇺🇸🇺🇸 US · spoza UE

American pizza delivery, in the countries that invented pizza.

• Telepizza Madrid-founded, the biggest non-US pizza chain in Europe. 🇪🇸
• Kotipizza Finland's chain — one of its pizzas won a world championship. 🇫🇮
• Vapiano German fresh-pasta-and-pizza concept, cooked in front of you. 🇩🇪
• PizzaExpress London since 1965. 🇬🇧

Fanta & Sprite 🇺🇸🇺🇸 US · spoza UE

Orange and lemon-lime, both Atlanta-owned.

• Almdudler Austria's national soft drink: alpine herbs, since 1957, still family-owned. 🇦🇹
• Sinalco Germany's oldest soft drink brand, 1902. 🇩🇪
• Bluna German orange soda with a cult following. 🇩🇪
• Fritz-limo Lemonades from the fritz-kola people, less sugar throughout. 🇩🇪

Gatorade & Powerade 🇺🇸🇺🇸 US · spoza UE

American sports hydration.

• Isostar Swiss, and the original European isotonic drink from 1977. 🇨🇭
• Dextro Energy German glucose sports nutrition since 1927. 🇩🇪
• SPONSER Swiss sports nutrition used across professional cycling. 🇨🇭
• HIGH5 UK endurance nutrition, informed-sport tested. 🇬🇧

Gerber & Beech-Nut 🇺🇸🇺🇸 US · spoza UE

American baby food.

• HiPP Pfaffenhofen. Organic since 1956, and stricter than the EU requires. 🇩🇪
• Holle Swiss demeter-certified biodynamic baby food since 1933. 🇨🇭
• Bebivita German, same quality controls as HiPP at lower prices. 🇩🇪
• Babybio French organic, made in Brittany. 🇫🇷

Heinz & Hellmann's-style US condiments 🇺🇸🇺🇸 US · spoza UE

Pittsburgh decides what ketchup tastes like.

• Hela Ahrensburg. Curry ketchup is a German food group and Hela invented the good one. 🇩🇪
• Develey Bavarian family mustard and ketchup house since 1845. 🇩🇪
• Bautz'ner Saxon mustard. Eastern Germany will accept no substitute. 🇩🇪
• Amora Dijon mustard and French mayonnaise. 🇫🇷

Hershey's, Mars & Mondelez 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 US · spoza UE

Three American groups own most of the confectionery aisle.

• Ritter Sport Waldenbuch, family-owned, square, and militant about it. 🇩🇪
• Lindt & Sprüngli Zurich, 1845. Owns its whole chain from bean to bar. 🇨🇭
• Ferrero Alba, Piedmont. Family-owned, Nutella, Rocher, Kinder. 🇮🇹
• Neuhaus Brussels, and the inventor of the praline in 1912. 🇧🇪

Jack Daniel's & Jim Beam 🇺🇸🇺🇸 US · spoza UE

Tennessee and Kentucky, on every back bar in Europe.

• Jameson Midleton, County Cork. Triple-distilled Irish. 🇮🇪
• Becherovka Karlovy Vary herbal bitters, recipe from 1807. 🇨🇿
• Absolut Åhus, Sweden. Everything made in one town. 🇸🇪
• Metaxa Greek brandy blended with muscat wine, since 1888. 🇬🇷

Kellogg's & General Mills 🇺🇸🇺🇸 US · spoza UE

American breakfast, exported with the sugar included.

• Kölln Elmshorn since 1795. Oats, done properly. 🇩🇪
• Jordans Bedfordshire, farm-sourced granola and muesli. 🇬🇧
• Brüggen Lübeck family mill, supplies half of Europe's own-brand muesli. 🇩🇪
• Dr. Oetker Vitalis Bielefeld. The muesli that actually tastes of nuts. 🇩🇪

Keurig & Dunkin' 🇺🇸🇺🇸 US · spoza UE

American pod coffee and American drip.

• Nespresso Swiss, with an aluminium capsule that Europe actually recycles. 🇨🇭
• Tchibo Cafissimo German capsule system, cheaper per cup. 🇩🇪
• Lavazza A Modo Mio Italian capsules, compostable options. 🇮🇹
• illy iperEspresso Two-stage capsule, genuinely better crema. 🇮🇹

McDonald's & Burger King 🇺🇸🇺🇸 US · spoza UE

Two American burger chains on every European high street.

• Hesburger Finland's own, and it beats McDonald's at home. The mayonnaise is the point. 🇫🇮
• MAX Burgers Swedish, climate-labels every item on the menu. 🇸🇪
• Quick The Franco-Belgian chain, since 1971. 🇫🇷
• Bembos See Goiko — Madrid-born burger chain now across Spain. 🇪🇸

Miller, Coors & Samuel Adams 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 US · spoza UE

American mass-market lager.

• Budweiser Budvar České Budějovice, state-owned, and the original claim to the name. 🇨🇿
• Augustiner-Bräu Munich's oldest brewery, 1328, and still the locals' choice. 🇩🇪
• Warsteiner Sauerland family brewery since 1753. 🇩🇪
• Heineken Amsterdam, 1864. 🇳🇱

Monster & Rockstar 🇺🇸🇺🇸 US · spoza UE

American energy drinks — though the category's inventor is Austrian.

• Red Bull Austrian, and the company that invented the category in 1987. 🇦🇹
• HELL Energy Hungarian, and the volume leader across Central Europe. 🇭🇺
• Tiger Polish energy drink, dominant at home. 🇵🇱
• Booster German energy drink at supermarket prices. 🇩🇪

Oreo & Chips Ahoy 🇺🇸🇺🇸 US · spoza UE

Mondelez biscuits, everywhere.

• Bahlsen Hanover since 1889, still family-owned. Leibniz butter biscuits. 🇩🇪
• Lotus Biscoff The speculoos from Lembeke that conquered coffee saucers worldwide. 🇧🇪
• Delacre Belgian biscuits since 1891. 🇧🇪
• Griesson - de Beukelaer German family biscuit maker. 🇩🇪

Pampers & Huggies 🇺🇸🇺🇸 US · spoza UE

Procter & Gamble and Kimberly-Clark own the nappy aisle.

• Bambo Nature Danish, Nordic Swan ecolabelled, dermatologically tested. 🇩🇰
• Libero Swedish, from Essity. The Nordic default. 🇸🇪
• Naty Swedish, plant-based materials, no plastic against the skin. 🇸🇪
• LILLYDOO Frankfurt subscription nappies, free of chlorine bleaching. 🇩🇪

Philadelphia & Kraft cheese 🇺🇸🇺🇸 US · spoza UE

American processed cheese, in the dairy aisle of Europe.

• Almette Hochland, Bavaria. Whipped, and much lighter. 🇩🇪
• Exquisa Karwendel, Bavarian family dairy since 1932. 🇩🇪
• Buko Danish cream cheese from Arla, the farmer-owned cooperative. 🇩🇰
• Boursin Normandy garlic-and-herb, invented 1957. 🇫🇷

Pringles & Lay's 🇺🇸🇺🇸 US · spoza UE

Kellanova and PepsiCo own the crisp shelf.

• funny-frisch German crisps from Intersnack, since 1965. 🇩🇪
• Chio Also Intersnack. The tortilla chips are the good ones. 🇩🇪
• Croky Belgian crisps, paprika flavour is a national position. 🇧🇪
• Estrella Swedish, and the dill flavour makes sense once you try it. 🇸🇪

Purina & Pedigree 🇺🇸🇺🇸 US · spoza UE

Two American groups feed most of Europe's cats and dogs.

• Josera Bavarian family mill since 1942, makes everything itself. 🇩🇪
• Edgard & Cooper Bruges-based, fresh meat first, compostable packaging. 🇧🇪
• Brit Czech maker with its own factory and vet nutrition range. 🇨🇿
• Yarrah Dutch organic pet food, certified since 1992. 🇳🇱

Skittles & Starburst 🇺🇸🇺🇸 US · spoza UE

Mars owns the pick-and-mix.

• HARIBO Bonn since 1920. Family-owned, and it invented the gummy bear. 🇩🇪
• Katjes Emmerich. All-vegetarian since 2016. 🇩🇪
• Trolli Fürth, Bavaria. 🇩🇪
• Fini Murcia, Spain's biggest sweet maker. 🇪🇸

Starbucks 🇺🇸 US · spoza UE

Seattle's idea of what a European café is.

• Lavazza Turin, family-owned since 1895, still Italy's coffee. 🇮🇹
• illy Trieste. One blend, obsessively made. 🇮🇹
• Tchibo Hamburg. Coffee, plus an inexplicable weekly range of other goods. 🇩🇪
• Julius Meinl Viennese since 1862, and the coffee house tradition to go with it. 🇦🇹

Wrigley's Extra & Orbit 🇺🇸🇺🇸 US · spoza UE

Chicago owns the checkout counter.

• Mentos Perfetti Van Melle, Breda — Dutch-Italian and family-owned. 🇳🇱
• Vivident Italian gum, same group as Mentos. 🇮🇹
• Fisherman's Friend Fleetwood, Lancashire, since 1865. Still family-owned. 🇬🇧
• Ricola Swiss herbal drops from thirteen Alpine herbs. 🇨🇭