Jamaican Souvenirs Worth Buying

Every craft stall in a tourist area sells the same fridge magnets and “Jamaica no problem” T-shirts, and a lot of it isn’t made here. If you want something that’s genuinely Jamaican, and that will still mean something when you unpack it, this is what I’d tell a friend to bring home, where to look, and what your customs officers at home will let you bring back.

What’s genuinely Jamaican

Blue Mountain coffee

The souvenir Jamaicans abroad ask for most. “Jamaica Blue Mountain” is a protected trademark owned by the Jamaica Agricultural Commodities Regulatory Authority (JACRA), and JACRA cup-tests coffee before it can be distributed or exported. Look for “Jamaica Blue Mountain” on the bag, not “Blue Mountain blend” or “Blue Mountain style”, which can contain little or none of the real thing. Roasted beans or ground coffee in a sealed bag travel best. If you want to see where it’s grown, my Blue Mountains coffee tour guide covers the farms that take visitors.

Rum

A bottle of aged Appleton or a Worthy Park rum is the classic gift; a bottle of white overproof is the one your friends will dare each other to try. Appleton Estate has a boutique with a tasting bar inside the Avolta shop at Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, which saves you packing glass. My guide to Jamaican rum explains the styles, and the Appleton Estate rum tour is the place to buy straight from the estate.

Jerk seasoning, pepper sauce and spices

Not a keepsake, but the most useful thing you can bring back. A jar of wet jerk seasoning, a bottle of pepper sauce, or a bag of pimento (allspice) berries will let you cook Jamaican at home. Supermarkets sell the same brands Jamaicans use, at local prices, so buy them there rather than at the airport.

Wood carvings and craft

Jamaican carvers work in local woods, and a good carved bowl, mask or figure is a proper piece of craft. Carvers have traditionally sold along Fern Gully, the road from Ocho Rios into the hills, and you’ll find craft vendors around the big attractions and in the downtown markets of Montego Bay and Ocho Rios. Ask who made a piece. A carver who can tell you about it is a better bet than a stall with fifty identical ones.

Music and art

Reggae, dancehall and ska are Jamaica’s biggest exports. A record, a print or a painting by a Jamaican artist says more about the island than a T-shirt. The gift shop at the Bob Marley Museum in Kingston is a good stop for music fans.

Food from home

Spice bun, hard dough bread, bammy and patties are what Jamaicans abroad beg relatives to carry. Tastee, the patty company, sells boxed travel packs of 6 or 12 patties at its shops and at both international airports. Read the customs section below before you pack anything with meat in it. For the snacks Jamaicans grow up on, from banana chips to coconut drops, see my guide to Jamaican snacks and drinks.

What not to buy

• Anything made from turtle shell. The US Fish and Wildlife Service says international trade in sea turtle products is prohibited, including “tortoiseshell” jewelry and combs.
• Coral and some shells. The same agency warns that many countries limit the collection, sale and export of coral and coral products. Leave coral on the reef.
• Fresh fruit and plants. A mango or a cutting from the garden will almost certainly be taken off you at your home border.
• Imported souvenirs. Turn it over. If the label says it was made somewhere else, it was.

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Taking it home: US customs

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) lists Jamaica as a Caribbean Basin country. These are the main points from CBP’s own pages:

• Duty-free allowance: US$800 worth of items per person, as long as you bring them with you. If you’ve been out of the country more than once in 30 days, or for less than 48 hours, the allowance drops to US$200.
• Alcohol: you can include two liters of alcohol in that US$800 when at least one of the liters was produced in a Caribbean Basin country such as Jamaica. Your arrival state can set its own limits, and amounts over the allowance pay duty and tax.
• Food: you must declare all meats, fruits, vegetables, plants, seeds, soil and animal products, in checked bags and carry-on. CBP says many meat products, and foods that contain meat, are prohibited from foreign countries, and that failing to declare prohibited items can bring a civil penalty of up to US$1,000 for a first offense.

My rule: declare the coffee, the spices and the patties, and let the officer decide. Declaring costs you nothing; if an item isn’t allowed, it’s simply taken. Packaged, shelf-stable food is the safest to bring.

Taking it home: Canada

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) gives returning residents a CAN$800 personal exemption after 48 hours or more away. Within it you can bring one of these free of duty and taxes: up to 1.5 liters of wine, up to 1.14 liters of spirits (one large bottle of rum), or up to 8.5 liters of beer. You must be of drinking age in the province where you arrive: 18 in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec, 19 elsewhere. You must declare all food, plant and animal products.

From the UK or anywhere else, check your own government’s allowances before you fly. Airline baggage rules and connecting flights also matter for bottles: if you change planes, a bottle bought in the airport shop may have to go through security again, so ask the shop before you buy.

Where to shop

• Supermarkets for coffee, rum, seasonings and sauces at local prices.
• Craft vendors and markets for carvings and craft. Bargaining is normal; be friendly about it, and remember the price difference means more to the vendor than to you.
• Attraction gift shops for branded coffee and rum, at higher prices.
• The airport for rum and last-minute coffee. Sangster in Montego Bay has the widest choice.