When I first moved to France, it was SO difficult to find American products. Aside from specialty websites that import American food items, everyday things like canned pumpkin, peanut butter, and even regular size semisweet chocolate chips were hard to come by back in the day. Don’t get me wrong — I love discovering French products and there are many amazing ones I’ve come to adore, but sometimes you just want a taste of home and something familiar.
These days, the global influence is strong so it’s much easier to find what you need — even on Amazon… for a price. It got me thinking, what about products from France in American grocery stores. Can French people in the US find French food products that are near and dear to their hearts? Or Americans looking to add a bit of French flair to their meals? Let’s see what is out there in terms of French products in USA supermarkets.
Products from France: French products in USA grocery stores
When I was back in Florida over the summer, I made some videos about French food products you can find in American grocery stores like Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe’s. If blog posts are more your thing, keep on reading…
Let’s take a look at the top French food products you can find pretty easily in American supermarkets. In addition to what I showed you in the videos, I also saw that Walmart has Président butter if you need a French fix. Where else have you found French butter brands? The Fresh Market and Whole Foods only seemed to stock Irish butter.
For an online French grocery store for French snacks, regular French grocery products and even artisanal products, check out myPanier and get $10 off w/code OUIINFRANCEMP.
Below is a look at the French products at The Fresh Market. FYI the jam and mustard are commonly found at Publix too. Let me know below what French products you’ve found at American grocery stores! (or elsewhere outside of France). Thanks, Dad, for helping with the pics from afar. ;-)))
Tips for grocery shopping in France that tourists NEED to know! >>
Maille Mustard
Maille is a French staple for mustard, and man, is it good. I’m more of a mustard person — Tom is the mayo guy — so Maille has become a fridge must-have for me. I was pleased to see that The Fresh Market has you covered and stocks a better selection of Maille products than any other American supermarket that I’ve found.
Choose from Honey Dijon, Whole Grain or a regular Dijon mustard (not pictured). In France, there’s a larger selection as you’d expect, but you can’t go wrong with any of the ones available stateside. They’re great on a sandwich, with meat like steak tartare, or in a salad dressing.
Maille Pickles
Sticking with Maille for a second, you’ll also want to pick up some pickles. They’re called cornichons in French and are delicious little additions to sandwiches and salads. I’ve found that the Maille products aren’t always next to each other in US grocery stores, so be sure to check the condiments section and the aisle where they stock pickles (if it’s not the same place) to make sure you don’t miss anything.
Bonne Maman preserves
It’s SO nice to see that Bonne Maman is a French brand that’s easy to find in the US and not just France. With a wide array of flavors and even a lower sugar “Intense” product line, this jam is delicious on toast, in recipes, and pretty much everywhere.
They also went viral on social media last year because of their heartwarming backstory that is either true or a brilliant PR stunt. Jury is still out. Regardless, the jam is one of my must-buy French products in USA grocery stores.
La Fermière Yogurt
If you’re looking for authentic French yogurt in the US, family-owned La Fermière is an excellent choice. Smooth with just enough tang, the yogurt is delicious and another plus is the ceramic container (read this for ideas on how to repurpose them).
The Fresh Market local to where I was in Florida stocked about four flavors in addition to plain (Whole Foods as you saw in the video only had two). It’s a brand of French yogurt that can be found in France as well, although the product line and packaging looks a little different than at supermarkets in France.
Big differences between French and American supermarkets >>
Brie cheese
French cheese! I love the colorful Eiffel Tower on this round container of Brie that is clearly made for foreign markets. In France, you’ll find it most commonly cut into triangular wedges. Brie is a French cheese everyone loves, so pick some up the next time you entertain.
Boursin cheese
This spreadable herbed cheese is one of my favorites and is similar in texture to cream cheese. It’s excellent on a fresh baguette slice, on crackers, or as a vegetable dip. The garlic and fine herbs would be my top choice.
Cookies
The Fresh Market has several varieties of French cookies like these boudoirs (lady fingers) in addition to butter cookies and palmiers. I’m a sucker for a fun play on words — note the brand name Oui Love it! — and a big fan of the colorful packaging.
French brioche
If the hamburger rolls pictured above aren’t your thing, The Fresh Market also has brioche hotdog rolls and traditional brioche. What a great way to add some French flair to your next BBQ — actual products from France. Sweet but not overpowering, brioche buns have become my go-to bun choice for hamburgers and hotdogs. Aldi US also has some tasty ones too.
What about in France? While they aren’t quite as mainstream as in the US and the French might scoff at a sweet bun with a hamburger, I have seen brioche style hamburger buns here and there and they were excellent. No hotdog buns, though.
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What are the best French products in USA grocery stores that you’ve found?
P.S. Check out myPanier for all your French grocery store products in the US. They’re an online French supermarket I reviewed here that is FAB. Get $10 OFF your first order of $49+ with code OUIINFRANCEMP at checkout. Stock up on your favorite French products today and support a small business run by a French owner at the same time. Click here to shop!
P.P.S. If you are visiting France soon, check out my eBook that has my top tips for France travel! It’s priced at just a few bucks for a limited time.
Lastly, if you missed ’em, here are my two videos about French food products in the US, shot at Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods Market (be sure to subscribe to my channel here):
PIN my French products in USA supermarkets here:
Part of being an occasionable Expat is to go whole hog and not think about American products and focus on new ones.
What I really like in the freshness and varieties of French food.
The hardest part is not having a large selection of frozen foods which, like most bachelors, I use too much even though I know it’s process.
My French girlfriends once held up a tomato and said: “This is a vegetable. I know you don’t have them in America”.
Oh man, hope she was joking. Either that or she has never been to the US!
I suppose it’s not a common grocery store item but I can’t live without my French wine!
Super common! Tons of French wine in Florida supermarkets!
Note that not everything with the Président brand name is made in France. They’ve been producing more and more of their North American product line in the US. The last time I looked through their products at my local store I think all but one of their cheeses was made in the US. There’s nothing wrong with that; plenty of decent cheese is made in the US, but if you want brie or camembert that was actually made in France it’s best to look to other brands first. (And read the labels!) I haven’t checked the packaging on Président butter (I usually buy Challenge, an Americaqn brand of butter) but I’d hazard to guess that the Président butter sold in the US is most likely a rebranded American-made butter.
Better to buy local as well.
I highly endorse buying local. In my home state of Wisconsin, we are fortunate to have some dairies that produce excellent artisanal cheeses, butter, and other dairy products. I am grateful to be able to pay more for their products — it’s important to keep these local treasures and the people behind them in business and valued. This is not to throw shade on excellent non-local products! They, too, are precious and definitely also to be enjoyed from time to time.
Not being in or from the U.S. I can’t say much for what is in the supermarkets there. In the UK and here in NL it has been Aldi and Lidl who have done most to bring French and other countries’ products to the average shopper. Not necessarily brand names, but always made in France, because they have operations there. Things like cornichons and mustard have been available everywhere in Europe (and the U.S.) for a very long time, so I don’t know that it’s so novel. I prefer English mustard, but Dijon is definitely more creamy.
Right now I have a brie in the fridge from Le Rustique, which they’ve only recently started doing. In France Camembert is more popular and I don’t think they even sell that brie in France. Maybe you’ll know better. For jam I like St. Dalfour, though the pot is smaller. Sweetened with fruit juice. Mostly I make my own jam.
Most of all it’s hard to get identical bread products. French boulangerie croissants are just good. Happily more and more places have opened that do a close product. There’s a small Flemish bakery chain who do good ones and there is improvement in supermarket croissants (not Albert Heijn though, theirs are a disgrace). Bread is a gamble, one just has to find a good bakery!
Boursin, Bonne Maman and Maille are fairly easy to find in Canadian supermarkets as well. Do La Laitière yogurt taste the same? Danette landed in Canada a few years ago and we were all super excited (by “all”, I mean the handful of French around me…!) but Canadian Danette is NOT French Danette. I think they are made with Canadian ingredients, it just doesn’t taste the same.
French cookie brands like LU or St. Michel are easy to find in Ontario as well, although it may be an Ottawa thing. Oh, and La Vache Qui Rit and Babybel! Super common here.