I just ordered a jar of peanut butter from a store 3,286 miles away.
Since we live in such a small military community, we do not have a commissary and the NEX (Navy Exchange) sells a limited selection of groceries. There are small quantities of dairy products — milk from California, eggs from Las Vegas — but most of the food is targeted to sailors on port calls. Pallets of beer and soda, chips, cookies, Spaghetti-O’s.
The primary benefit of a commissary is that it sells food at near-wholesale prices. Similar to a Costco but you do not have to buy a year’s supply of pickles. It is a great military benefit that makes a big difference in a family’s food budget both in the United States and when living overseas in a high-cost country.
Our nearest commissary is in Yokota, Japan and the staff offer, voluntarily, shopping services for about 800 service members in Asia. It was a bit tedious but I just created a shopping list online based on the store’s inventory and my groceries will arrive in a couple of weeks.
I am not sure if our items are packed with the shipment of foods to the NEX or they are simply placed on a space-available military flight between Japan and Singapore. In any case, it is a great service and there are no added charges.
The only catch is to make sure you know what you are ordering by the limited description. I just learned that “Hot dog relish” is mustard and relish mixed together, while “hamburger relish” is ketchup and relish.
Who knew?
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The other day I had one of my once-every-six-months burgers and it came with mustard and I was thinking how good that was. I would disappointed to only have one or the other. I need both!