Recently, u/VividThinking asked "what's one product from your home country that you're surprised hasn't become more popular worldwide?" and we decided to round up the best answers:
1. "Toilets with pedals so you don’t have to touch anything with your hands."
2. "A bottle recycling machine/reverse vending machine."
"When you buy a drink in a bottle/can you pay a little 'pawn fee' (like 20 cents), and when you later go put the empty bottle/can in the machine you get the fee back. We usually collect the bottles until there is like six bags and then go cash out like 16€ at once. It's pretty neat."
3. "Bakfietsen (bikes with a kind of wheelbarrow front for carrying kids or groceries). I’ve seen a few bakfietsen in the states lately which is cool. But, without dedicated bike lanes I would guess carrying kids in them would be a terrible idea."
4. "I live in Italy and we have Tapparelle. They're essentially roll up plastic blinds for the windows, but instead of simply being curtains they're actually inserted into a crease in the wall, so that no light can pass through when they're down."
5. "In Finland we have a dish drying cabinet."
"I’m a Finn living in the UK and yes, while it’s lovely to look into my garden while doing the dishes, it’s annoying to only be able to do a small amount at a time and then leave them to dry on the narrow counter where my cat can knock over the whole dinner set. In the cabinet they would dry safely!"
6. "Cadbury Flake and Aero chocolate bars (preferably in mint). There are some Cadbury products in the US but they're made with inferior chocolate and the Flake has never been a thing."
7. "Bidet. I cannot believe they are not more popular in the US! They can be very inexpensive, and it was a quality of life type change."
8. "Christmas crackers."
9. "Garbage disposals. I’ve seen so many posts recently of Europeans shocked these things exist. They’re great. Get on board everyone."
10. "When serving chicken wings at a restaurant we provide a convenient thin plastic glove so you can eat without getting your hands covered in often very hot or messy sauce."
11. "Chicken salt and Dim Sims."
"I’m American, but I ordered some chicken salt from Amazon on a whim, and now it’s a pantry staple. I LOVE it on popcorn."
"Found the Aussie/Kiwi!"
12. "UK 3-pin plug."
13. "Pålægschokolade (Denmark) — thin sheets of dark or milk chocolate to eat on your breakfast bun over a thick layer of butter."
14. "Lemon lime and bitters. Tall glass, add ice, drizzle Angostura bitters around the inside of the glass, add a shot of lime cordial then fill with Sprite/7up."
15. "Tartiflette and raclette nights."
16. "Not my home country, but heated vending machines from Japan."
H/T to u/VividThinking and AskReddit for having this discussion!
Note: All submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.