Most cost effective foods to pack to St John

[OKPACIFIC]

I will be taking a party of 11 including Grandchildren to the Westin St John resort.
I will have a limited amount of free cost space to pack food. It can be fresh, frozen, or dry food. What do you think the most cost effective (costs a lot less on the mainland) foods to take would be?

 

[alexadeparis]

Precooked Bacon, Chicken breasts, steaks, pork, basically any meat. Because of cost AND quality (more so quality). The rest of the food is higher, but not enough to lug with you since you can get the exact same things there. The meat, however, is worth bringing. We always do that when traveling to non US locations.

 

[sachia007]

Cost savings foods

Hi,

We just returned a few weeks ago and had a great visit.

Of all of our visits, we have only bought groceries from Starfish so I only know their pricing.

Things that are more expensive on STJ and worth bringing if your family will eat them:
Granola bars, snacks, cookies, crackers, micro. popcorn
Cereal
Salad dressings/olive oil
dry pasta/rice

FYI - fresh fruit veggies most expensive - the 3 in the pack romaine lettuce were $10.99!!

The meats we always think are pretty reasonable: bone/skinless chix. breasts were $1.99 (on sale), steak was $10.99 (on sale). Quality was VERY good. Yes, a bit more fat on breasts than you would get at home, but not bad. Full price of breasts were either $3.99 or $4.99 so not bad.

 

[okwiater]

Lots of brand name foods are far more expensive than on the mainland, especially organic ones. For instance, Annie's macaroni and cheese (a staple for my young kids) is $6 for a box. For most things besides rum, you should just assume it will cost 2x the price of a mainland grocery store and then you'll be either unfazed or pleasantly surprised by the cost of the items in your cart.

When the St. John Market (a couple hundred yards from the Westin) first opened, we found the selection to be marginal and the prices outlandish compared to Starfish. Over the past few years, I've found the prices at St. John Market to be almost universally better or equivalent to those at Starfish. The selection at Starfish is better, though. We usually do 90% of our shopping at St. John Market and then fill in with additional necessary items from Starfish. Note that both markets offer a 15% discount to Westin owners, but Starfish requires a $100 spend before they'll apply the discount, and St. John Market only requires a $20 spend.

 

[GrayFal]

Note that both markets offer a 15% discount to Westin owners, but Starfish requires a $100 spend before they'll apply the discount, and St. John Market only requires a $20 spend.

Good to know. Thanks!

 

[OKPACIFIC]

Thank you!

OK we are good to go. Went to Sam's and got lots of meat, cereal, granola, salad dressing, popcorn, romaine lettuce, etc. Thanks for all the feedback!

 

[LisaH]

Didn't know you can bring romaine lettuce to the island...I thought fresh vegetables are prohibited?

 

[czar]

I guess we may have had more realistic expectations but we were pleasantly surprised, overall, with the costs of food on the island. As others have highlighted, boxed goods are expensive, so we packed an entire large suitcase full of dry snacks and foods, spices, etc., and we bought other foods (e.g., steaks, fruits, veggies, beer) at Star Market and on site.

If you drink beer, you can but it at the resort for less money with your owners discount card at the store. They even cut limes up for us!