Help me fill my overseas container!

Hello all,

I am having to move much sooner than expected and would like recommendations on what I should bring over to help with adjusting food wise....I plan to do some bulk shopping at BJ's and already know I'm bringing tons of my Goya spices, condiments, pancake and possibly cake mixes, canned goods, peanut butter, grape jelly, pickles...But can you let me know what products we take for granted in the US that are hard or impossible to find over there so I can add them to my shipping container?

In addition I'm willing to bring items over for others overseas in exchange for help on costs of the shipping container...The container will land in liverpool and travel to birmingham so people close to those areas. The container will leave the states in the beginning of December.

AFAIK you are not allowed to bring foodstuffs into the UK in your container. We couldn't when we moved from Malaysia to the UK back in 2013.

A few of us moved at the same time and had to get rid of all of our spices etc, as well as eating down our stocks of canned food before we left.

This is news to me indeed! I was informed by the shipping company as well as US customs, we couldn't put perishables in the container but are allowed to put non-perishables (as long as we dont plan to re-sell them). I will double check as I dont want to waste money buying in bulk for nothing!

You would have to check with UK customs. I'm trying to find the advice we were given when packing for the UK. I know we couldn't bring any foodstuffs when we returned to the US either.

I brought LOADS of non perishables from the U.S. In 2013 and had no problem. I had about 4 boxes of food, the shipping company just labeled then as non perishables, do when my container was scanned at the port, I got an email requesting a detailed list of what exactly was in them. Just make sure that everything you lack is not restricted. They do scan the containers and if they think you haven't told them everything, they can open your container and any box to investigate.

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I have been bringing back non perishables when ever I have visit family/friends in Massachusetts.
I have been here in Scotland since 1999. Not once have I ever had an issue with
my  favourite food stuffs at customs. I have NEVER tried to bring back anything that is not allowed.

I too have brought food in my checked suitcase. We were specifically told by our shipping company that no food could be brought in our shipping container. If this is totally wrong I apologize, and if I ever find our paperwork from 4 years ago I'll post again with more details.
Good luck with your move

If you decide not to pack any food, don't worry too much about it.  Almost all of the things you listed are available here- peanut butter, cake mix, pickles, all that stuff.  It might not be exactly like home and you might find it wierd and hard to get used to, but you'll adapt. 

Every time I go home I find myself bringing less and less stuff back.   I must admit that yesterday I bought a tub of grits for 12 quid from Amazon!