skye

This may not be food per se, but I'm in Shanghai, and I have no idea where they sell Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream here! I have searched numerous supermarket chains, including carrefour, but they don't carry it.

Does anyone know where I can get a tub?

boilermaker

Have you tried Wal-Mart?

Sweet Willie

looks like nearest store is Hong Kong

http://www.benjerry.com/our_company/international/

skye

Hear me groan and my stomach growl. Hong Kong is two hours flight away from here, I guess I need to go there, and get a few tubs packed up in dry ice sometime later.

And they have wal-mart in Shanghai?

redbeard911

Skye, I think that they carry Ben & Jerry's at the Western store near the Portman hotel. (Near the old location of HRC) I haven't been there for a year, so they may not carry it now.

No Wal-Mart in Shanghai...but there is an IKEA and Swedish meatballs. YUM!

skye

Ah! Thanks. I was just at the RC the other day, is it far from the RC?

moondog

The Portman and RC are one in the same, but if you want to be understood, you'd be wise to stick with "Portman". As for the topic, I've seen Ben & Jerry's there before, but not regularly.

skye

Where have you seen it before, then?

moondog

at the portman grocery store which is, incidentally, my new favorite lunch spot (y10 deli sandwiches).

edited to add: i (sometimes wrongly) assume that everyone in sh knows about the portman. in case you're not familiar with this massive cultural staple/landmark:

-aka "shanghai centre"
-chinese name 波特漫
-north side of nanjing road at xikang road due west of plaza 66
-the grocery store is in the northwest corner of the complex at ground level (between hsbc and starbucks)

skye

Just went there, no Ben and Jerry's.

Sweet Willie

K's Choice has some lyrics I think might apply to you :

It's not a habit, it's cool, I feel alive
If you don't have it you're on the other side
I'm not an addict (maybe that's a lie)
I'm not an addict...

ktp28

No joke, I was pitching to B&J North America and Unilever HKG to open a B&J in HKG. I wanted to expand to China and the rest of Asia, but they thought I was too young at the time.

Ben & Jerry has failed in its strategy for expansion in Asia. They totally blew it with Japan by only licensing 7-Elevens to carry their products and they didn't have a Scoop Shop. Total mismanagement.

The B&J in HKG seems to do well, but it's still not readily available in the stores. I would suggest if you have an urge for ice cream (as I do for Cherry Garcia) is to have a friend in the states ship it to you in an ice box with dry ice. It's costly, but worth it.

P.S. I would do it for a nominal fee...

moondog

have you considered adapting your eating habits to the local environment? this may sound somewhat hypocritical coming from a person that lives in china yet doesn't eat chinese food, but bear with me.

i have always had and always will have a sweet tooth. desserts are an essential part of my diet.

i like ice cream. with the exception of emack & bolio's it is my favorite widely distributed brand.

therefore, when i first started working in china, i was a bit let down that 31 flavors (and later haagen daz) were the only brands on offer. i was also purturbed by the prices (31 isn't too bad, but i've never seen pints of ice cream as expensive as HD in china).

but, the let down was short lived. i soon learned that shanghai is one of the best dessert cities in which i've had the pleasure of living. here are some of my favorite dessert spots:

che
azul
paulaner
danieli's
da marco
portman
4 seasons
pudong shangri-la
hyatt
radisson
malone's
tony roma's (the skillet cookie sundae is a work of art)
t8

note: all the hotels listed (and pretty much all 5*s in asia) have a wide variety of sweets on offer during their sunday brunches. aside from brunch, they also tend to have nice lobbies with soft couches and music from which one can also order desserts. if it was still 2002, the westin would be on the above list, but they lost me as a customer when stages changed management and jacked the prices.