Shipping food to Singapore in overseas furniture container

[CanadatoSingapore]

My wife and I made a recent trip to Singapore to find housing and we found that the prices of certain foods, especially western foods that children like (ie. cereal, Kraft Dinner, peanut butter, jam etc.) are very expensive. We were thinking of shipping a bunch of this stuff in our move container that has our furniture. Does anyone forsee a problem with this? Will we have to pay duty? Is it worth our while?

Thanks

[foodie]

The food stuff, dry or wet items here are very affordable.

There are many supermarkets like Cold Storage, NTUC Fairprice, Save N Save, Giant, Carrerfour - which offers a lot of the items you have mentioned at great prices.

Don't have to bring them over from your home country, the shipping costs won't be worth your while.

[CanadatoSingapore]

Maybe I was a bit frightened off by the cost of a small box of cherios being $10 which is only about $3.50 in Canada. Even with the conversion it is still twice the price.

Thoughts???

[whatalark]

Peanut butter, maybe. Canned stuff should be okay. Boxes of cereal (like Cheerios, Alphabits, etc) not recommended because the packaging material might suit Canada's drier climate but Singapore/Malaysia's humidity seeps thru everything. You will find when you get here that the Frosties are packed in sealed, heavy-duty, lined aluminum foil. Why? Because it is effective against the all-penetrating humidity. Not the waxed paper packaging that we use in Canada. My box of AlphaBits (from the US) had to be thrown out cos it was all soggy, and it came from the supermarket that way. I tossed it after having 2 bowls of uncrispy, unsatisfying breakfast.

[Guest]

Hi Canada,

Welcome to Singapore.

Check very carefully with your Moving Company, they usually prohibit the transport of all foodstuffs. The chances of it arriving in Singapore, months later and still edible are pretty high anyway. You can slip a few boxes in your suitcase however.

Ten dollar Cheerios are just one of the **joys** of living in Singapore. Better to pay the exorbitant prices on a few luxuries to keep the kids happy and save on the other stuff you can bring back: good kids shoes and clothing, shoes for yourselves, clothes for yourself, bedlinens, DVDs, books, favorite over-the-counter medications, etc...

Regarding your question about furniture on another post: friends that have moved large Asian-bought teak back to dry climates like California had some pieces crack and rend. It's the lack of humidity on the other end that is a problem. The items you bring from Canada should be fine, the drawers may stick a little, not a big problem. I have a few pieces that I have brought back to the US and they have done fine.

Hope this helps.