How to mail cereal overseas
 

I have an expat friend in Paris who is jonesing for Cheerios both for herself and for her two kids. She claims (and I believe her, 'cause I've never seen them in France) that you can't get Cheerios anywhere in Paris.

So I'm going to mail her some. How would you do it?

I'm afraid that some overzealous post office worker will stop them, thinking it's a huge bag of weed with cereal around it...

I'm thinking take the bags out of the boxes, then take the bags to the post office, and seal them in a cardboard box in front of the post office worker.

What do you think?

i'm thinking just mail them.

Its French customs that will be more of an issue than the US post office.

I have a friend in the UK who can't get cream wheat, so every now and then I mail some over.

Just stick it in a padded envelope and stick postage on it, drop it off at the self service post office.

Never had a problem.

Cereal is not listed as restricted item at USPS Mailing Rules for France I'd ask PO clerk ahead of time just to be sure.

@:-) Why don't you write a letter to manufacturer General Mills and ask them about availability of Cheerios in France?
If they like your letter, they might just offer to send some to your friend, at no cost ;)

@:-) Perhaps your friend can have a chat with local supermarket manager - if that store sells at least some GM products, they should be able to special order Cheerios.

@:-) Do you know any FT'ers planning MRs from US to/via Paris? Find someone willing to:
- pick up a few boxes of Cheerios from their local store
- get in touch with your friend in advance to make these arrangements
- meet with your friend either at airport or in Paris

As a thanks for doing this favor, your friend can offer to:
- buy these FT'ers lunch or a drink
- give them a ride from airport to city if necessary
- play a tour guide while in Paris
- trade cereal for some french trinket, a box of gourmet specialty chocolates, a bottle of wine unavailable in US, etc

In US, Cheerios regularly goes on sale for $1.00 or $1.50 per box. Minus manufacturer's coupon $0.50 or $0.75, which many supermarket will redeem for double the face value at - $1 or -$1.50.
Making the total cost to the helpful FT'er(s) as much as $0.00.
If you need assistance finding the cps - just ask.

Looks like there ARE a few stores in Paris selling Cheerios.
The pricing appears outrageous to me, but then I am thinking/shopping US, so what do I know.

Tell you friend I said 'hi & you're welcome' :D

A word of caution: there are 2 varieties available in Europe
- General Mills Brand of Cheerios, 280g or 396g box for 7€ or more, this is what we buy in US and
- Nestle Brand Cheerios, 375g box for 4€ to 5€, this is a "UK/Europe" item

Last time I checked Nestle and GM were different companies, so taste of these 2 products could well be drastically different.

You'd have to figure out which option is going to be more financially wise:
- pay over 7€ per box in a Paris store
or
- buy in US for $0.00 after coupons, plus international postage
or
- go the "friendly FT'ers" route

Where to buy CHEERIOS in Paris, France: @ "L'Epicerie Irlandaise de Paris"
 

L'Epicerie Irlandaise de Paris • fondée en 1993
The Paris Irish Grocery store • established since 1993
5, cité du Wauxhall • 75010 PARIS • Tél. : 01 42 00 36 20 • 08 73 75 41 07

To find the products listing:
- from front page of site http://www.saveursdirlande.fr
- look for square box with french words "Recherche produit" above box
- type word "cheerios" in that box
- click on button labelled "Validez"
= next page will have listing of 2 items:

GM Cheerios 280g for 6.95 € and Nestle Cheerios 375g for 5.45 €

Tell her to take a day trip over the Chanel to Dover, she can buy as many as she wants in the UK.

Where to buy CHEERIOS in Paris, France: @ market/restaurant "Thanksgiving"
 

"Thanksgiving" is a combination market-restaurant in the chic Marais district of Paris

web site: www.thanksgivingparis.com
address: 20, rue Saint Paul 75004 PARIS Tel: 01 42 77 68 28 or 29
AMERICAN GROCERY STORE ~ Genuine US products available in-store
There is no option to order or view prices online, only a LIST of available products/brands

Cheerios is listed under "basic American groceries" section

Ship your friend something small and light and fill the box with Cheerios in place of packing peanuts for cushioning purposes? :D

That's hilarious! :D

WOW!

SkyVillager, thank you so much for your research. I'm a little flummoxed as to why she couldn't do it herself - I just took her word at face value when she said that Cheerios weren't availbale - but I will pass your posts along to her... I am sure she will be grateful.

^ ^ :)

Funny how they're not easily available in France, seeing Nestle manufacture them under license for the whole of Europe.......in France !

I'm pretty sure that they're not the same thing...

---

I had Japanese Cheetos (similarity of name purely coincidental) yesterday, for example, and they were delicious, but they were flavored with a mixture of mild cheese, nori, and bonito. Definitely not American Cheetos! :D

I had a bowl of Cheerios for breakfast this morning. I think it tastes like recycled paper. What a yucky stuff. :eek:

In this household, I am the only brave soul to even attempt to chow down GM products, and I have to tell you:

I can not wait to move to Paris, where I would not have the temptation & opportunity to buy groceries which are free but inedible :rolleyes:

Nestle's Honey Nut Cheerios are available in a lot of regular supermarkets and run about 2.50-3.00 euros for 375 g, so cheaper than the expat specialty stores. No plain Cheerios in the regular markets, though.

Cereals here are kind of strange. Probably a good 60-70% of them have chocolate in them in one form or another. The ones that are supposed to be healthier are expensive, and sugar-laden crap is cheap (that part is true everywhere, I think).

Americans will see a lot of familiar brand-name cereals on the shelves here, but the taste and texture are often quite different from their US counterparts.