Food Shopping in St. Thomas and St. John

[fookisan]

Was told the supermarket food is very high priced in the islands due to transportation. Is it better to bring certain food products with you from the mainland instead of buying them locally? Items such as honey, maple syrup, whole wheat pancake mix, dried fruit, specialty grains such as millet or quinia, etc. I seldom eat out in restaurants and cook in my room, thanks to a sensitive stomach, so supermarkets play a big role in my trips

Thanks,

Dan

 

[mike_s]

There are name brand supermarkets such as a Super K-Mart on St Thomas, but St John you won't find stores as big.

All the packaged food there has to be shipped in. Most of it from or through Puerto Rico. You pay for this shipping in your purchase price.

Any sealed package food you can bring with you will save on your grocery bill there. Fresh foods such as bread, fruit, and meat are harder to transport and might not be allowed (we didn't bring in anything fresh)

You sound like you need some speciality items. I wouldn't depend on those being as readily available there as they are in the States. I would DEFINATELY take those items with me.

 

[scubachris]

You can get most of those things on St. Thomas but you'll pay quite bit more then on the mainland. There's a really good health food store on St. Thomas near Havensight, called Natural Food Grocery and Deli. It's in Mandela Circle, phone is 340.775.3737, if you want to check prices and products. There's another store by the DMV, but I can't remember the name and it's smaller.

The SuperK doensn't really have much in the way of groceries as on the mainland, and not what you are looking for. Plaza Extra, Pueblo, Food Center or Marina Market are your best bet for grocery stores. Also Goumet Gallery in Crown Bay and Havensight will have some of these things.

But there's no Whole Foods, Trader Joe's or Wild Oats like on the mainland to go to.


Chris