The Campbell Reporter
Business
Photograph by Neal Waters
Meal Fixings: Ron Dhillon, owner of British Food Centre in the Kirkwood Plaza, provides a haven for expatriates longing for a taste of home.
Expatriates don't have to travel far for a taste of home across the pond
By Cathy Weselby
There's a place in Campbell for people who crave Cadbury Flake, H.P. sauce and Branston Pickle. It's the British Food Centre in Kirkwood Plaza.
Ron Dhillon purchased the Campbell store, which has been open since 1980, and two affiliated locations in San Carlos and Solana Beach six years ago.
Dhillon says the store is the only direct importer from England to California. People come all the way from Sacramento and Reno with ice chests to stock up on frozen bangers, Irish bacon and other goodies.
The store has more than 70 different kinds of chocolates, a large selection of cookies--referred to as biscuits in Great Britain--Cornish pasties and other foods that expatriates grew up on.
Dhillon says when a shipment of Walkers crisps--potato chips--arrives at the store, the packages "fly off the shelves."
He estimates 95 percent of his customers are expatriates and says they're so thankful they can find their beloved Bird's Custard or Hayward's Piccalilli that they'll say, "We don't need to move back to England."
The store's biggest sellers are by far the chocolates. In preparation for Easter, one of the shop's busiest seasons, Dhillon has stocked 28 different varieties of chocolate Easter eggs.
Other favorites are McVittie's digestive biscuits, frozen Irish puddings and black puddings.
It's not just food products that draw customers to the store for their British fix.
Many people who travel to Britain and bring back few souvenirs show up to buy a beer mug, pint glass or teapot. Dhillon says, "Anything with a Union Jack on it is a hit."
Dhillon grew up in the Great Britain in Cranford, Houslow, near Heathrow. His family was in the grocery business, and when he was looking to diversify his IT consulting business with a niche business, the three British Food Centre stores appealed to him. Plus, he says, he grew up eating British food, so it was a natural fit.
Personally, Dhillon is partial to Cadbury's chocolate flake, but his kids like the bacon and bangers, which are usually served at the family's traditional English dinners on Sundays.
The long history of the store is also reflected in the staff. Many of the employees are like family.
There are three full-time and two part-time employees, all of whom are expatriates, and nearly all have worked there for 18 years.
Dhillon says because the employees are so experienced and capable, he doesn't have to be on site every day.
His biggest challenge in the business is importing the stock. Since 9-11, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has imposed more restrictions on what can be brought into the country. Additionally, meat can't be imported directly from England because of mad cow disease. British meat products actually come from the United States and are processed here in the English style. The Irish bacon is processed in Denmark before it's imported to the United States.
Customers don't fully understand the restrictions because they've been eating meat from Britain for 50 years without any consequences.
Now British expatriates from all over the United States can stock up on Aunt Bessie's Bubble and Squeak.
Dhillon expanded his business three years ago with an online store that receives 4,000 hits per month. His plans include opening locations in San Francisco and the East Bay.
For more information about the British Food Centre, 1614 W. Campbell Ave., call 408.374.7770, or visit www.buybritish.net.
