THE CRAVINGS of expats based in Cyprus and even those of Cypriots has led to a new market developing for an online food service specialising in British grocery items.
According to www.BritishCornerShop.co.uk, which sends branded food products to expats living abroad, hundreds of orders for British food products are flowing in from Cyprus since the service began this month.
“We provide a service to anyone who comes from Britain who is hankering after a taste of home. More and more Brits are buying properties in Cyprus so we’ve seen an increase in orders from them, particularly as the costs to ship to the country have halved recently,” said the company’s Managing Director, Mark Callaghan.
Callaghan said the company had also noticed that quite a few Cypriots were also ordering items.
“I think they may have lived in the UK or have had relatives who have brought back particular products from Britain,” said Callaghan.
“They can’t get these products in Cyprus so they are ordering them online from us.”
He said particular favourites were Marmite, crisps, bacon, pickles and sauces.
“As well as orders from individuals, we’re also getting calls from hotels and shops who want to offer their UK customers British food,” Callaghan added.
BritishCornerShop stocks more than 6,000 British food products, covering all the major brands found in British supermarkets. The website, which was launched in 2004, delivers British food to consumers worldwide and can also sell to trade customers and shops overseas via its recently launched wholesale department.
“We’ve recently sent cakes to commandos in Afghanistan and to the Irish Embassy in Moscow,” Callaghan said.
“We get lots of unusual requests and have even sent 32 tins of baked beans to a tiny village in the Pyrenees and lots of British cat and dog food to Japan.”
He said the website sells more or less all the branded products one would expect to find in a British supermarket. The company also has a dedicated British food wholesale division supplying shops and trade customers with products all over the world. It has recently shipped £50,000 sterling worth of bacon to South America.
Cyprus orders are mainly coming in from Larnaca, Limassol and Paphos with expats looking mainly for Pataks Indian Sauces, Walkers Crisps and baby milk.
The website is already receiving orders for Christmas. Britons in Cyprus apparently have a hard time finding Mr Kipling Mince Pies, Cadbury and Nestle Selection Boxes and Christmas Puddings.
