Where to Buy Caribbean Groceries in London
A guide to buying Caribbean groceries across London, what to look for and where the best community shops and markets are.
If you want to cook Caribbean food at home, you need the right ingredients, and London has plenty of shops that carry them. From yam and green banana to saltfish, ackee, jerk seasoning and the correct Scotch bonnet, the community grocers and market stalls across the city have everything. Here is what to buy and where to find it.
What to stock up on
The building blocks of a Caribbean kitchen:
- Ground provisions: yam, green banana, dasheen, eddoes and sweet potato, the starches that go into soups and sides.
- Plantain, both green for frying savoury and ripe for sweet fried plantain.
- Saltfish (salted cod), for ackee and saltfish and fritters. Soak it to draw out the salt before cooking.
- Ackee, usually tinned outside Jamaica, the other half of the national dish.
- Scotch bonnet peppers, for heat and that particular fruity flavour. A little goes a long way.
- Seasonings: jerk paste and dry rub, all-purpose seasoning, browning, pimento (allspice), fresh thyme and scallion.
- Rice and dried kidney beans for rice and peas, plus coconut milk.
- Hard dough bread and, in season, spiced bun.
What to look for in a good shop
A proper Caribbean grocer has fresh ground provisions out front, a good spread of peppers and herbs, a freezer with fish and meat cuts, and shelves of the seasonings and tinned goods you need. If the yam looks fresh and the Scotch bonnets are firm and glossy, you are in a good shop.
Ask the staff. People who run these shops know their ingredients and will happily tell you how to pick a good breadfruit or how much saltfish you need.
It is also worth knowing what is seasonal. Fresh ackee, sorrel around Christmas, and certain ground provisions come and go, and a good grocer will tell you when something is at its best or point you to the tinned or frozen version when it is not. If you are cooking for a specific dish, say so, and they will steer you to the right cut of saltfish or the right heat of pepper.
The listings below show real grocery shops across London, including Caribbean grocers.
Where in London to look
Brixton in Lambeth is the classic, with market stalls and grocers packed along Electric Avenue and around the market, and you can browse grocery shops in Lambeth to start. Tottenham in Haringey, Hackney and Dalston, Peckham in Southwark, Lewisham, Croydon and East London all have strong Caribbean grocers and market stalls.
Markets are often cheaper and fresher for produce, while the shops are better for the tinned and dried goods, seasonings and frozen fish. A good trip usually means both.
Buy it right
Cooking Caribbean food at home is easy once your cupboard is stocked. Get the ground provisions and plantain fresh, keep saltfish, ackee, coconut milk and the right seasonings in, and always have a Scotch bonnet or two around. Buy from the community shops and markets, ask the people who run them, and you will cook better for it. Then you can make the curry goat and rice and peas at home whenever you fancy it.
Written by See The Smoke · kept current from the directory, last checked 2026-09-07