What’s in Your Basket? A Peek into African Grocery Shopping Habits in the U.S
When you walk into any African home in the U.S. and open the pantry, you’ll see the story of a home neatly packed in jars, bags, and bottles. Stockfish beside spaghetti. Palm oil next to olive oil. Garri stacked under cereal boxes. For us it is more than groceries, or the one that affected our childhood which is finding Egusi in the bowl of ice cream, all are just a survival with a side of nostalgia.
African grocery shopping abroad is way beyond what we eat or shop. It’s about how we recreate home thousands of miles away.
So let’s peek into some habits that shape the baskets of Africans living in the U.S.
The Non-Negotiables
Every African family has those items that must make it into the cart no matter what. Garri, fufu flour, palm oil, stockfish, Maggi cubes. These are the anchors of the basket, the essentials you buy first before even thinking about milk or bread. Without them, meals don’t taste like home.
Shop Grains and Flour with MamaJones African Market today
The “Treat Yourself” Items
Then comes the snacks, drinks and extras. Chin chin, plantain chips, puff puff mix, zobo leaves. These are not about filling the stomach, they are about feeding the soul. For many, it’s the taste of boarding school days, Christmas visits to grandma, or after-school stops at mama Bisi’s kiosk.
Fresh Finds That Matter
While supermarkets in the U.S. stock endless greens, nothing hits like ugwu, bitterleaf, or okra. African shoppers know this. We scan the freezer aisle hoping to find those vegetables frozen fresh, because only they can complete our soups and stews.
Shop your Vegetables and farm produce here
Double Identity Shopping
African grocery baskets abroad are always hybrid. You’ll find oatmeal for breakfast, but right next to it a tub of garri. Hot dogs for the kids, but goat meat for pepper soup. African shopping abroad is not about choosing one identity over the other, it’s about weaving both worlds into one basket.
Click here to shop for your breakfast meals
The Community Connection
African grocery shopping is also a community. It’s asking the cashier if they have fresh stockfish coming next week. It’s buying extra chin chin because you know your friend and family will ask. It’s standing in the aisle chatting in pidgin, swapping recipe tips, and laughing about how expensive yam is now compared to “back home.”
You can click here to grab your Yam
Why Online Shopping is Taking Over
Life in the U.S. is fast. Between work, kids, and commutes, many Africans now skip the long trips to the nearest African market. Online African grocery stores like MamaJones are becoming the bridge , we are bringing palm oil, Garri, frozen vegetables, and even goat meat right to the doorstep. It saves time and ensures the basket is never empty.
Talking about Goat meat, we have a few for grab here
For us in the U.S, African grocery baskets are more than food collections. They are comfort, memory, and identity carefully arranged. Every palm oil bottle, every tuber of yam, every pack of plantain chips is a reminder that while the miles separate us, the flavors keep us close.
Ready to fill your basket with a taste of home?
Explore African groceries now at MamaJones.