If you’re craving a lavender-flavored oat ice cream, you can probably grab one at the store without a second thought. These days, it feels like the most unique and unexpected food combos are just a shopping trip away. But not too long ago, things like avocado or tofu were considered luxuries, hard to find and even harder to afford.
Thanks to globalization, modern farming, and the magic of food trade, a lot of what used to be “exotic” is now just another item on the grocery list. Foods that were once rare and reserved for the elite are now part of everyday meals. Today, we’ve rounded up some of the most surprising ones. Keep reading to see which foods went from impossible to find to totally normal!
#1
Pineapple. We would get one fresh pineapple a year, in a christmas gift fruit basket from a more well-to-do relative. You could get canned pineapple, but the fruit itself seemed like from an alien world and was more expensive, if not impossible, to get parts of the year.
Image credits: beardsley64
#2
General Foods International Coffees in the rectangular tins, like Orange Cappuccino or Swiss Mocha. If you had those in your house, you were high end.
Oh, and I thought Grey Poupon dijon mustard was for rich people in Bentleys.
Image credits: Few-Boysenberry-7826
#3
Avocados. I grew up in Michigan and we didn’t have a lot of extra money. My mother used to buy me an avocado every year for Christmas.
I miss her.
Image credits: ThreeDogs2963
Kale chips, truffle seasoning, sriracha popcorn—just a few of the quirky snacks you can casually grab at the store today. Nothing feels “rare” anymore; in fact, we’ve gotten so used to variety that we hardly notice it. But imagine a time when just finding yogurt at a supermarket felt like a luxury. No fancy flavors, no dairy-free options, just plain yogurt, if you were lucky.
Before globalization, certain foods were strictly local. If you wanted something from another country, you either had to travel there or have a well-connected aunt who could sneak it in her suitcase. Take avocados, for example—now they’re practically a personality trait for brunch lovers, but there was a time when getting one outside of its native region was like winning the food lottery. Today, they’re everywhere, from sandwiches to smoothies, making us forget that they were once a rare find.
#4
1976 I had hummus and falafel for the first time… had this Syrian guy teach me to make hummus. My yankee parents were so skeptical… it became a staple and I ate falafel every chance I got.
Image credits: Grouchy-Fix485
#5
Sushi. I remember watching The Breakfast Club and how all the other kids reacted to Claire having sushi, and I agreed. Sounded weird and disgusting. Fast forward 40 years and sushi is my absolute favorite/if I had to eat only one thing for the rest of my life food! I live in the USA.
Image credits: Equal_Mess6623
#6
Fresh fruit and vegetables. I come from an isolated northern 🇨🇦 town and growing up we got the last of the produce on the truck. What we got was old and battered and cost a small fortune. Now I live in the south and sometimes it still surprises me at the variety.
Image credits: No_Budget7828
To get some insight into how food availability has changed, we spoke with Parth Kothari, one of the minds behind the popular Instagram page Munchymumbai. With over 165,000 followers, his page showcases intriguing food combinations, must-try dishes, and global flavors that have become a part of daily life. Given his experience exploring food trends, we had to ask—how did we go from craving imported snacks to having everything at our fingertips?
#7
When I was little we got oranges in our stocking. When I was a teenager we got pomegranates, very fancy for us at the time.
#8
Vienetta ice cream
ETA: location is UK.
#9
I remember when a Mexican restaurant opened in our town in the early 70s maybe? That was exotic!
Image credits: rexeditrex
Parth starts off by saying, these days, you can think of literally any ingredient, and chances are, it’s already stocked in a store near you. Whether it’s cheese from Switzerland or pasta from Italy, we can get it all.
“There was a time when finding even simple imported ingredients meant waiting for a relative to bring them back from abroad. Now? You can have them delivered to your doorstep in 15 minutes while sitting in your pajamas.”
#10
Grew up in rural Ireland in the 60s/70s. I remember having pasta for the first time.. it was the wild exotic food that my father got from friends who came home from Italy. I remember neighbours coming in to taste it.
Never had an avocado, a kiwi fruit etc… we just had basic foods in the local supermarket/shop.
I do remember when dried potatoes came..in the late 70s…not having to cook a pot of potatoes and have lump free potatoes was amazing.
Image credits: AnySandwich4765
#11
Mangos. I live in the Midwest, and we never had real mangoes in the 70s. We called green bell peppers mangoes for some inexplicable reason.
Image credits: Tough_Antelope5704
#12
Tofu seemed exotic (to non-Asians) when we first started having it in the 1970s.
“Take blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries,” Parth recalls. “Back then, getting your hands on them in India was almost impossible. I remember how we’d beg family members traveling from Europe to bring some back. The excitement of finally eating them was unmatched—we’d savor every single berry because we had no idea when we’d get them again. Now, they’re available on grocery apps, ready to be delivered faster than a pizza. Crazy, right?”
#13
I was in mid 20s before I ever heard of Pesto sauce.
Image credits: paranoid_70
#14
Toblerone. I grew up in the 80s and only got one when someone I knew traveled by airplane, so they must have been very fancy and exotic. Now you can get one anywhere.
Image credits: johnstonb
#15
Olive oil. When I was a kid, that was something in a tiny bottle you stuck in your ear for earache.
Image credits: inkybluish
And it’s not just about groceries, he adds. “The availability of new ingredients has completely changed restaurant menus too. From authentic sushi to avocado toast, the kinds of dishes you can find today are incredible.”
“Chefs have access to flavors that were once impossible to get, which means food lovers get to experience cuisines from all over the world without even leaving their city. It’s like having a passport for your taste buds.”
#16
Any lettuce other than iceberg. Grew up in the south and remember living in California for a month. Not just lettuces but the array of fresh vegetables was awe inspiring to my little mind.
Eta: which is funny because a lot of my family had vegetable gardens. But it was peas, okra, tomatoes, and maybe corn. Kale was still just a decorative plant.
Image credits: kellogla
#17
Where I grew up it was a huge deal when we got our first Taco Bell.
Image credits: awraynor
#18
Craft beer. Correct that, good beer is what I meant to say. When I was young, it was Bud, Miller, or PBR. That was it. Literally.
Southern US.
Image credits: Routine_Mine_3019
“Another cool thing is how food brings cultures closer,” Parth says. “Years ago, if you wanted to make Mexican food at home, you’d have to hunt for tortillas or make a desperate request for someone to bring back authentic ingredients. Now, you can just walk into a store and grab everything you need for tacos, burritos, or even enchiladas. It’s never been this easy to experiment with food and try things that once seemed so out of reach.”
#19
La Choy and Chun King canned Chinese food back in the day. Peak exotica. And TV dinners weren’t exotic, but pretty novel to us kids. Plus they were in little trays similar to the food trays in 2001: A Space Odyssey, so it was kind of like eating astronaut food in our minds.
#20
I remember my mom (born 1948) told me the first time she had yogurt was when she was 18. Hummus was also a very exciting discovery for her.
Image credits: nottoembarrass
#21
Cashews. They used to be really expensive, I remember my grandmother bought a pound every year for Christmas from Fannie May, paid something like $20 around 1970(?). That was when the nuts were hand stripped from the fruits in India before automation.
Image credits: Oldbean98
It’s also fun to see how global foods blend into local culture, he adds. “Ramen, for example, once a Japanese staple, now every city has a new take on it. Whether it’s a spicy Indian twist or a creamy fusion broth, people are making these dishes their own. That’s the beauty of food. It evolves, adapts, and makes everyday eating a little more exciting.”
#22
Anything you could cook in a microwave.
#23
When I was maybe 6 years old (approx 1956) a brand new restaurant chain came to my Midwestern factory town.
McDonald’s!
I attended a friend’s birthday party, and the new and exciting birthday excursion was…a trip to McDonald’s!
My hamburger had *mustard* and *pickles* on it, which to me meant poison. I cried because I couldn’t (wouldn’t) eat the exotic new food.
Image credits: Buckabuckaw
#24
Blackberries. I used to have to pick them wild when I was a kid for a few weeks in the spring. My understanding is they weren’t really made into a viable crop until the USDA came up with a hybrid variety in the 1990s. Now you can get nice fine ones in the store whenever you want.
The way food has changed over the years is honestly wild. What was once a rare, special treat is now just another Tuesday’s grocery run. Thanks to globalization, technology, and changing tastes, we can experience so many different cultures through food without ever stepping on a plane.
So next time you casually toss a once-exotic ingredient into your cart, take a second to appreciate just how far we’ve come in the world of food!
#25
Iced coffee. I learned to drink it in Boston in the late 80s in college, but when I was home in Colorado and tried to order it people thought I was crazy.
And in the early/mid 90s in Los Angeles, coffee shops were like nightclubs. There were lines to get at night, and you’d go in to order drinks, talk with friends and meet people. Very different from the Starbucks of today!
Image credits: giallo73
#26
I remember, mid 80s, seeing the first burrito place in NYC. It as called California Burrito, on something like 3rd avenue and 35th. Previous to this, a burrito was really a California thing. I had always looked forward to getting one in San Francisco on business trips as a special, regional food.
Now they are so ubiquitous, I recently had one in Scott’s Bluff Montana, which is truly in the middle of BF Memphis.
Image credits: Tom__mm
#27
Shrimp and really any seafood. I buy bags of frozen shrimp as a regular thing now. We have a shrimp dish once or twice a month. I remember shrimp was a once-a-year maybe thing and only at a restaurant.
Which of these posts did you find the most intriguing? Is there a food you remember being impossible to find, but now it’s everywhere? Maybe something you once had to wait for a relative to bring back from a trip? Share your thoughts. We’d love to know what once felt like a luxury but is now just another everyday item!
#28
I remember when nachos became a national fad, in about ‘77 after Monday Night Football went to Dallas and had them as a bar appetizer. My mother took 3×5 cards to a friend’s house to copy the recipe for nachos.
#29
Artichokes, in 1960’s US.
Also, cilantro was really hard to find, until the late 80’s.
#30
My grandad would say ‘oranges’ – he was gifted one every Christmas when he was a child :).
#31
Kiwi in the Northeast.
#32
Star fruit.
#33
Edamame.
#34
Believe it or not, yogurt. I remember when they first started advertising it. We all thought it was very odd.
#35
Authentic Thai food, no restaurants in the 50s and early 60s either in Nashville or Atlanta where we lived.
Came back North after College, all over the area…Love Thai food.
#36
Hummus. I made it in my middle school “Teen Living” [Home Ec] class and my mom thought it was the weirdest thing ever. It was not available in grocery stores. This would have been 1992-93.
#37
Eggs Benedict – You would have to go to the fancy breakfast restaurants to get that mammy jammy. Now I think you can even get them at IHOP.
#38
When I was growing up in Indiana in the 70s stuff like sushi and pho soup were mostly unheard of.
#39
I grew up in NYC, sushi was barely on the radar until the mid to late 1980s — longer in the outer boroughs. Same can be said for most Asian food aside from Chinese. Not necessary exotic but Mexican food, aside from a few neighborhoods, was also not popular back then. My wife grew up on the west coast and was disappointed in our lack of options when she moved to Queens in the 1980s.
#40
Papaya. I was 21 before I’d ever eaten one (1963).
#41
I didn’t have the opportunity to eat Indian food until I was in graduate school; now it is my favorite international cuisine. Luckily, it has greatly increased in popularity over the years, so now it seems like you can find Indian restaurants in even fairly small cities.
#42
In a tiny town in northern BC Canada ca 1970, an uncle visited from Vancouver and introduced the family to pizza. It must’ve been from the local Safeway frozen foods section but it seemed very exotic – hmmmm, what is this strange food peet-za? I recall my parents marveling and feeling very cosmopolitan.
#43
Back in the late 80s, my company would have frequent pot luck lunches (sadly, these are rare nowadays). I had discovered Trader Joe’s, and would drive 30 minutes to do my shopping there before they opened more locations. I brought blue corn tortilla chips to one of the pot lucks and everyone thought there was something wrong with them, like they were moldy. Now I think most folks don’t bat an eye at multi-colored tortilla chips.
#44
Any apple not Macintosh or Red Delicious.
#45
I don’t know if this quite fits OP’s intent, but I remember when Jelly Belly was considered “gourmet”.
#46
A slab of ham with a pineapple slice promoted as ‘Polynesian’.
#47
Believe it or not -pizza.
Fresh Ginger —Ginger in the spice aisle was common (after the 1960s) but not fresh Ginger.
Broccoli-I recall when it first showed up in the Frozen food aisle.Fresh broccoli came later.
Kiwi
Star fruit.
Multiple types of snack foods —BUGLES were one of the first .Joining potato chips,pretzels and Cracker Jacks.
#48
Nutella.
#49
Lychee. It wasn’t until I was at a bar (I was underage, but it’s NYC who cared?) that the bartender suggested I try their new lychee martinis. I didn’t have a clue what it was but figured hey I’ll try… I’m now a chef and STILL LOVE lychee! (Wasn’t very common in 2000).