Investing in Food Access & Ownership with Caribbean Markets (Haverhill, MA)

In Haverhill, MA, a group of immigrant entrepreneurs is building more than a grocery store that’s giving the community access to stability, opportunity, and healthy foods.

Caribbean Markets, a large-format neighborhood grocery, is owned equally by family members, Randy Mejia, Ulysses Rodriguez, and Marisol Rodriguez. For this family, the business reflects a familiar story: family roots, shared responsibility, and a commitment to creating something lasting for their community.

The store is designed to meet a basic but urgent need: access to fresh, culturally relevant, and healthy food in a neighborhood where those options are limited. The store operates in a USDA-designated food desert, an area where residents often rely on convenience stores or travel long distances to find nutritious groceries.

Caribbean Markets changes that equation.

Today, the business employs 22 full-time staff and 2 part-time employees, creating stable jobs in the community while ensuring local residents have consistent access to fresh produce, meats, and pantry staples that reflect the neighborhood’s cultural diversity. Stores like this are often the backbone of immigrant communities, places where language, culture, and commerce come together. But building a store of this scale is not simple.

Like many immigrant entrepreneurs, the owners of Caribbean Markets have had to navigate barriers that traditional financing systems often place in front of small, community-rooted businesses. Despite a clear demand and a strong operating model, access to capital remains one of the most significant hurdles.

That is where LEAF and the Massachusetts Food Trust Program come in.

The proposed financing will support Caribbean Markets in strengthening its operations and long-term viability, ensuring that this essential business can continue serving a community that depends on it. Investments like this are not only about one business. With the support of Mass Food Trust and LEAF’s loan, they can address systemic gaps in food access, support local ownership, and build economic resilience from the ground up.

Caribbean Markets is not a startup built on speculation. It is a functioning business, rooted in community demand, with local employees, local customers, and a bigger purpose.

With the right capital, Caribbean Markets may continue to grow as a neighborhood anchor, proving that when investment meets community need, the returns extend beyond the financial.