Top Ten Imported British Products

When customers enthusiastically bustle through the great door at the front of Blighty's Tuck store they are faced with over 700 choices of Great British grocery and candy products. And yet, if I close my eyes, I can almost predict which products will be in their shopping carts when they come to the checkout.

You see, there are certain favourites. It's not just our regulars; even new customers seem to migrate toward the same shelves. So consistent is the trend that I have been able to identify a Top Ten list of people's favourites. Bear in mind this is not my list, it is yours! Let's start at the bottom of the list with number 10.

10. Lucozade
What Lucozade? Bottom of the list? No, of course not. Lucozade is a member of the select top 1.5% of customer favourites. We sell so much Lucozade I almost think customers must be powering their pickups with the stuff. I am anxiously awaiting a call from NASA. Alright, Lucozade might not get you into Low Earth Orbit but it will certainly get you feeling fit enough to be ready for call-up to astronaut duty. Lucozade is Britain's favourite high octane energy drink. If you are feeling down in the dumps and you need the kind of pick-me-up that won't get you arrested then guzzle Lucozade. Unfortunately, only the original flavour is available in Canada - there are other varieties available across the puddle.

9. Marks & Spencer Custard Creams
Marks & Spencer is one of the leading retailers in Britain and its products are legendary. But M&S is after all, a retailer - not a manufacturer. M&S sells M&S branded products, but scratch the surface and you will find they are really made to M&S specifications by somebody else. A competing brand of custard creams wears the crown of Britain's favourite biscuit and you can find it on Blighty's shelves too. So why is it that Blighty's customers choose M&S Custard Creams over the leading brand? To be completely honest, I cannot tell the two brands apart on taste alone. Perhaps the answer lies in the whopping great size of the M&S package compared to the leading brand. M&S delivers value!

8. Crosse & Blackwell Branston Pickle
Could Branston be Britain's favourite pickle? You would certainly think so if you could see the daily parade of Blighty's customers hauling out wheelbarrow loads of the stuff. We have lots of pickles, chutneys and sauces, but when it comes time to choose, they bring out the Branston. Crosse & Blackwell Branston pickle is a sweet pickle made from finely diced veggies in a brown sauce. It goes down very nicely with cheese although I like it on turkey too. Its chief rival for the British tea plate is Picalilli made by Heinz. Picalilli is made from coarsely diced veggies in a sweet mustard sauce - very nice but Branston wins the top pickle prize in it's class.

7. Haywards Pickled Onions
No surprises here really. To make Great British pickled onions you need Great British onions and Great British vinegar. British onions owe their flavour to the soil in which they are grown and to the rain which enriches that soil. British vinegar owes its flavour to the British barley grains from which it is made. And British barley grains owe their flavour to the soil and the rain that falls from British skies. Some say that crunchiness is the only quality by which onions should be judged. Sure, Haywards onions are crunchy, but their flavour is unmatchable. My favourite, and our customers' overwhelming favourite, is Haywards "Traditional" pickled onions, but you could also choose Haywards "Strong" onions if you dare.

6. Walker's Cheese & Onion Potato Crisps
I swear I lose money stocking this product. I ran out of them once and had to face the wrath of disgruntled Walker's Cheese & Onion crisp addicts who couldn't get their fix. Now I deliberately order more than I can sell before the "best before" date. The remainder get donated to worthy causes. Blighty's carries over a dozen varieties of Walker's Crisps (potato chips) but Cheese & Onion outsells all the others at least five times over. Walker's has been making its crisps using healthy Sunseed Oil for the last couple of years so you could even kid yourself into believing they are good for you. Or, you could be honest and just accept they taste great.

Tomorrow, the top five according to an independent panel of judges - Blighty's customers.