High prices drive some locals away from sorrel

In the chilled drinks aisle of a supermarket in Portmore, some shoppers glance at the price tag of sorrel, exhale sharply, and move on.

"I pick it up three times and put it back," said Marcia Allen. "Every Christmas mi make sorrel from scratch. This year? Mi just can't. It mean mi affi choose."

Allen grew up learning the ritual of making sorrel from her mother and grandmother, a process she says was never rushed.

"Yuh wash the sorrel good, boil the water, then steep it and leave it overnight so it draw out properly," she explained. "Next morning yuh strain it, add the ginger and pimento, and just a little sugar." For Allen, the slow fermentation is as much a part of the tradition as the drink itself, learnt over years of watching and doing.

"Mi like let it sit a little and turn on its own. Not too sweet. Just enough. That's the taste of Christmas fi me."

But this year, she said, that pot may stay empty. Allen told THE WEEKEND STAR that buying bottled sorrel at a higher price than previous years feels less like convenience and more like compromise, paying more for something that no longer carries the same care.

"The bottled one is too sweet and flat. But I do understand the prices. The crops were lost [due to Hurricane Melissa]. I mean anyone should have seen this coming," she told THE WEEKEND STAR. Another shopper, Devon Richards, father of three, stood comparing bottle sizes.

"Last year mi buy two big bottles, one fi Christmas Day, one fi visitors," he said. "This year mi a buy one small one. After that? A water." The bottled sorrel was priced at $1,665, a cost that raised eyebrows of some shoppers. Richards said rising costs have forced his household to scale back long-standing traditions. Even though sorrel is his favourite holiday drink, he said his decision was about priorities.

"Christmas already expensive," he stated. "School. Food. Light bill. Sorrel just become another thing yuh affi think twice about.

"When yuh start do the maths it nuh make no sense, almost $2000. That can buy some juice mix and mix some big jug a juice," he explained.

While some sorrel remains available on supermarket shelves, industry sources say earlier stockpiling helped cushion the impact of Hurricane Melissa, which damaged much of the crop ahead of the Christmas season. National data show sorrel production fell sharply in 2024 compared with the previous year, and increases at the farm level have since filtered through to consumers, contributing to the higher prices now being felt at retail.

"Mi not buying it at all," said Shanice Powell. "Mi rather use the money and buy chicken. Christmas nice, but yuh haffi be practical."

Others say they are buying less, stretching what they have or saving sorrel only for Christmas Day.

"If the crop mash up, the price haffi go up," said Leroy, another shopper. "Mi understand that, but poor people always feel it first. Mi might just buy one bottle and stretch it," he said. "Just fi dinner. After that, done."