By: Emily Rumball

For Caribbean people, food carries memory. It reminds you of home, family, and a way of life that shaped who you are. It brings back the smell of a real Jamaican hamburger, not the cardboard version Andrew Morris, co-founder of Sam’s Caribbean Marketplace, tasted on his first trip to Burger King after immigrating to New York, a moment he still laughs about today. It pulls you back to Linstead Market in St. Catherine or Spanish Town. For many who now live across the United States, those memories can feel hard to reach.

That’s why Sam’s Caribbean Marketplace exists. For over thirty years, it has helped the Caribbean diaspora stay connected through the foods and products that define their identity. And for Andrew, that mission has never been about trends. It has always been about service, community, and culture.

A Store Started by Someone Who Lived the Challenge

When Andrew moved from the Bronx to Long Island in the early 1990s, he felt the absence of a true Caribbean store. Asian markets sold a few items, but no one carried the real brands or knew how the ingredients were used. As he put it, “There was no store for Caribbean products where I lived, so I just got mad at the time and decided I would explore opening a Caribbean store”.

He and his wife, Jean, spent two years planning. They opened Sam’s Caribbean Marketplace in 1993 in Hempstead. The store’s name honors Jean’s father, Samuel Bonar, who passed away right as the couple was preparing to finalize the business. Naming the store after him kept his memory alive and tied the work to family from day one.

Those early years were rough. Andrew and Jean baked four patties at a time in a small toaster oven from Jean’s mother. Demand grew so fast that they moved to a $200 oven, then to commercial equipment. At the peak, they were selling 70,000 patties a year using that little oven alone. 

But the real turning point came from community trust. As one customer aptly observed, “If Sam’s doesn’t have it, you don’t need it.” 

Where Culture Lives on the Shelves

Today, Sam’s stocks more than 1,000 authentic products. Walkerswood. Spur Tree. Tiger Malt. Real Jamaican black cake, both fresh and in box mix form, for customers who want to bake at home. Castor oil. Cerasee. T-shirts, flags, herbs, beauty supplies, and cookbooks. Andrew always intended to create a place that felt like a cultural center. 

“We would sell all the food items and other items for Caribbean people,” he explains. 30+ years later, that vision still guides every decision.

Inside the store, customers greet each other like family. Andrew and Melissa, his daughter, know regulars by name. Melissa knows their parents, grandchildren, and even who needs an extra smile after a difficult week. That sense of care drives Sam’s approach to customer service. Visitors feel heard, respected, and understood. It is one reason the store has survived economic downturns, location changes, and the upheaval of COVID.

A Modern Marketplace With the Same Heart

Sam’s updated website, sams24-7.com, continues that mission. The original site launched in 2003 and brought in orders even when Andrew was still learning how to keep pictures from jumping around the page. The day after he published it, two orders came in, and he was hooked.

The new site offers nationwide shipping and up-to-date inventory that actually reflects what the community wants. Someone in Ohio can now make Saturday soup the way their grandmother did. A family in Texas can still find real bun and cheese every Easter. The site also connects customers abroad to Jamaica through Sam’s Bread & Butter Express service, which many use to support relatives and elders back home.

Sam’s recently added same-day local delivery through its Predictive AI Delivery system (PAID), which covers a 100-mile radius and includes live tracking. Customers can now order groceries or hot meals without leaving home, including those who are homebound or facing mobility challenges. It is a practical service shaped by compassion more than technology.

Supporting Jamaica Through Crisis

That compassion showed up again this year. When Hurricane Melissa devastated parts of Jamaica, Andrew immediately mobilized. He relied on the same supplier network and island contacts that built his business. He coordinated food shipments. He reached families in rural areas that couriers refused to serve. He worked directly with trusted partners on the ground to move supplies where they were needed most.

What started as a small grocery store three decades ago has become a lifeline, not only for customers in the U.S. but for communities across Jamaica facing hardship. For Andrew, this work is personal. Jamaica shaped him. It raised him. Giving back is not an initiative. It is a duty.

More Than a Store

Food keeps people grounded. It keeps memories alive. It preserves identity. For the Caribbean diaspora, it restores a sense of home in a country that often feels far away. Sam’s Caribbean Marketplace gives people that connection every day.

Over three decades in, Andrew’s mission has not changed. Serve people. Keep the culture alive. Make sure families can taste home no matter where they live. And when the community needs him for more than groceries, show up the same way his customers have shown up for him.

Thanks to Sam’s, home is never out of reach.