Is it because the packets are already printed but until they’ve sourced the produce on the open market they don’t actually know which country it will come from? It’s the same with honey jars too, they say something like produce of more than one country.
Honey is a whole other story - a ton of it comes from China and is often heavily adulterated with various sugars.
Usually the cheaper stuff says “a mix of EU and non-EU honeys”, which means that there’s probably not much actual European honey in it, and in the UK it’s worse I think.
Pretty much the only way to be sure of getting proper honey is to buy it direct from a local producer. It will cost a lot more, but it will be real.
I know that about Chinese ‘honey’. My point was that if you’re buying fresh produce on the open market, maybe you don’t know in advance where it’s going to come from.
They usually have which country or countries the honey is from printed on the lid or sometimes overprinted on the base or the label. This is in France, I don’t know about the UK. I buy only local honey wherever I am.
Thank you Vero. Maybe I’m confusing France and the UK when I was there.
UK supermarket honey jars are often very vague - unless it’s claiming to be something specific (e.g. Mexican or Spanish honey), it usually just says something like “a blend of honeys from more than one country / blend of non-EU honeys”.
But even then, that “non-EU honey” is almost certain to a) come from China, which is the world’s biggest producer, and b) contain a goodly dose of fructose syrup.
I bought some honey in Intermarché in Poitiers in June to bring back to the UK, and that was specifically local Poitevin honey. In my local Sainsbury’s over here, even the more expensive jars are blends from overseas.
We find all the tinned peas to be awful.
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We’ll give the Lidl ones a try!
I’ve always struggled to find decent potatoes here in France.
I’ve tried so many different types from markets and supermarkets.
Once, I found an OK variety at a market which were from Spain. Only saw them once.
Agata seems to be the worst variety. I find them rather pointless. No taste and questionable texture.
As for peas, we’ve had some horrible ones too. I end up adding them to curries as peas are an amazing little veg.
I have never once had decent potatoes in France. Poor quality, the newer varieties seem “overbred” and are very expensive. However I think you have to either grow them ypurself, or find the right market stall.
Same for flour. Other than specific types of flour from local-ish mills, which here are good, I find French flour to be flabby.