Questions about Forbidden Fruit?
 

We will be flying into Frankfurt from Florida to stay with friends and want to bring a box of oranges as a hostess gift. I can't seem to find a site that will tell me if that's OK. I know when I've returned to the US from Europe they won't allow any fruit to be brought in. This fruit will be all boxed up directly from the grower. Has anyone had any experience with this? Thanks.

There are no restrictions on bringing fruit into Germany.

Sorry, can't help you. Just why on earth would you want to bring oranges?
They CHEAP, available EVERYWHERE in Germany... Bring and empty box and fill it with spanish oranges when you arrive, but anyway you'd better bring potatoes. :D

Hi Logos,

Florida does produce very good oranges and grapefruit.

talking about great Florida oranges not Spanish ones - tough to find Florida oranges in Europe perhaps due to trade barriers?

they is a difference

not saying Valencias. etc bad.

Hi ira,
but can they compete with a box of chinese pomelos from across the street? (No, they can't, not even the price is right) :D.

Oranges may be cheap & readily available but they must be imported. People who live in the northeast US have oranges readily available too but they love getting oranges fresh from Florida.

Thanks Quokka - are you sure? They don't consider them liquid do they? (just kidding - sort of). From what I've been reading on this site it seems that there is no clear set of guidelines as to what gets confiscated.

Don't overestimate the distances, from Germany, Spain (and Italy) are "just around the corner". Freshness isn't an issue. Don't expect to much a difference.

Mimmel:

Your hostess doesn't live in NE America. People come back from Florida with all kinds of comments: I've never heard a soul (and millions of us visit the state every year) mention the oranges are better. Cheaper, maybe - but is that really the right note to strike in the present you're giving a hostess?

Unless your hostess really has expressed an interest, you're likely, at best, to be in the awful position of having to explain how good your present is.

Take her a bottle of Makers Mark.

Flanner's right. I live in Florida and usually find myself buying California oranges which are easier to peel, just as sweet.

I have a feeling that a Florida orange tastes the same no matter where it's purchased.

A book on Florida architecture or gardens or something (I know of several good ones) would be nicer.

Sometimes fresh fruit can be really good, but if it's coming from a grower, maybe it's not so fresh. I haven't had any decent oranges from Florida lately, I didn't think they were ripe yet, although the first ones that come in are usually sour so maybe they'll get better.

I'm surprised there are no restrictions on bringing in agricultural items to Germany, but maybe they haven't had some of the problems like the US has. So, if you can, sounds like a good idea. But thee fact that it is boxed by the grower should be irrelevant as it could still have pests, and that's the reason for those restrictions in the US, not who boxed them up.

Fresh oranges from Florida are a nice hostess gift if they really are fresh and good.

>Florida orange tastes the same
Can it it be it's all the same variety, grown in large areas, optimized for size? That would make sense, when maximizing profits.

>nice hostess gift if they really are fresh and good.
Honestly, just like flanner said, not such a good idea bringing oranges. Imagine bringing a bag of potatoes, it's just like that!
Don't they produce something exotic?

A bag of oranges is a really strange gift to bring to europe. They have perfectly good access to fresh, ripe produce all year long - just like we do. (Oranges may come from Spain, from Israel etc - and in Italy I've had fantastic blood orange juice much better than anything from FL.) Agree- it's like bringing a bag of potatoes.

Much better to bring a book - or even some fancy seashells - if you want something local.

I would think of a different gift only because hauling a box of oranges to Europe with you is not going to be that easy! I try to think of smaller things to bring as gifts... like a scarf or a calendar (lol)!

How about some pecans or peanut brittle or something?

Add me to the list thinking a box of oranges isn't that great a gift.

1) difficult logistics - they will either take up all of your carry on, or most of you checked luggage

2) Not "exotic" or special since I've had wonderful oranges/fruit all over Europe

3) CA oranges are better anyway :-P :)

Take something they can't find in Germany or that is more personal.

I think a bottle of Jack Daniels would be a more appreciated gift than a box of oranges! Or even a bottle of Johnny Walker from the duty free. And I have never sampled a Florida orange that can compare with those luscious Sicilian blood oranges.

I guess it is just a cultural difference. In the US, bringing fruit as a hostess gift is generally a nice thing - even if you can buy the same thing in the local store. It isn't seen as bringing groceries. I think it is a hold over from a time when fruit out of season was not readily availible.

It wouldn't have been a bad gift if it were worth the weight (which it isn't).

Nevertheless, as concerns France, most of the (pink) grapefruit comes from the same Indian River place as the US, so it is clearly appreciated.

The oranges often come from Spain or Morocco, never from Florida. Orange juice in France was very often from Florida in the past, but now it is usually from Spain, Brazil or Morocco. The Florida orange juice was very popular because it was much sweeter naturally and less acidic, but the other countries now seem to have solved that problem.

Of course, if the dollar continues to lose value, maybe we will go back to Florida oranges.

OK, thanks for the input. Actually the point of getting them from the grower is that they will be ripe when you buy them. When you get them in the grocery store they are gassed to turn them orange when they are still green & unripe, even when you buy them in the grocery store in Florida. But I get the message. Thanks.