Accra - Post Report Question and Answers
What household or grocery items do you wish you had shipped to post?
I would absolutely max out consumables if you are budget conscious. You need to ship the obvious stuff (chocolate chips, gluten free flour, canned tuna, shampoo, sunscreen) but I wish I would have shipped the non-obvious stuff (cooking oil, all purpose flour, bulk sugar and rice, dish detergent, hand soap, floor cleaner) because the local brands are poor value/quality and imported brands are pricey. I ship a significant amount to DPO and have found many local vendors to fill in the gaps, but it took a while. - Aug 2024
Anything in glass and liquid that you can’t get shipped through DPO. - Sep 2023
I didn't ship anything and never really felt like I regretted it. You can get almost anything in Accra if you don't mind about getting a specific brand. - Nov 2022
A coworker sent me a spreadsheet of what they bought for consumables before I packed out, and I used that to inform my Costco shopping. but whatever you forget to ship can usually be found here (just at a higher price). You will probably use Amazon and Walmart.com if you want to save some money. Some people just buy everything here, but when you have a larger family and kids in school, you might want the US school snacks, etc. - Sep 2022
Paper products (toilet paper, paper towels, zip lock bags, aluminum foil, etc.) Tide detergent, kid snacks (goldfish, animal crackers). Toys for birthday presents for children: any American product you find locally will be 3x the price you can get on Amazon. Clothing- there isn't one chain clothing store in Accra. I only shop online. - Mar 2022
We had a pretty good idea of what to bring, cleaning supplies and soft toilet paper plus favorite brands if that's what you need. Have been able to get by pretty well. - Nov 2019
We didn't ship much in our initial consumables shipment since we didn't know what to expect. We made a later shipment that included peanut and olive oils (sunflower and canola and general "vegetable" oils are easily available), masa harina for making corn tortillas, specific hot sauces we like (though Ghanaian hot sauces are delicious, too), our favorite beer (the beer here tends to be very generic lagers and Guinness "foreign stout," which is quite different from the Guinness sold elsewhere), and wheat to grind. High-quality white flour is readily available (the town of Tema has an excellent flour producer), but whole wheat is harder to locate, and not always fresh. If you like specific brands of cleaning products or toiletries, those items are worth putting in consumables, too. Even if you find brands in the stores here that you like, they might suddenly disappear from the shelves. - May 2019
We shipped a lot of items in our consumables which was great. So far I haven't encountered anything I wish we'd shipped and hadn't. Some things I wish I'd purchased in larger quantities that are personal snack preferences (for example, you can't really buy bags of chips here, so I wish I'd brought endless tortilla chips). - Apr 2018
I wish I had brought more cleaning supplies, especially disinfecting wipes (like Clorox wipes). You can find cleaning supplies here, but they are very expensive or of inferior quality. - Aug 2017
Bring as many groceries as you can! TetraPak soups, sauces of all sorts, couscous, tomato sauce, pesto sauce, cereal, peanut butter, laundry detergent, if you eat it or use it in the house, bring it. You will save a fortune. A lot of this stuff is found locally but is really pricey, and often an inferior brand. Pack fresh cheese in your suit case and freeze it. - Apr 2017
You can find most everything though dairy products are very expensive. People freeze cheese and meat and bring it in their suitcases when they come to post. - Aug 2016
Mexican spices, powdered milk, extra pairs of shoes for the kids, mosquito spray, laundry detergent. - May 2014
Mexican-American foodstuffs (tortilla chips, seasonings, etc.), root beer, dog food, bread machine mixes, name-brand cleaning supplies, specialty baking items. - Apr 2012
Foods and cleaning products I can't do without and car maintenance parts. - Aug 2011
Bikes. Can be a good way to go short distances. A child's play gym or Little Tykes house/fort for the back yard. - Feb 2010
If you have consumables, goods are cheaper in the U.S.But most things are available in Accra. - Feb 2010
Flat screen TV; electronics are expensive here. - May 2009
