A Cuban resident in the United States who has just obtained her permanent residency shared on TikTok everything she bought at Walmart to take back to the island on her first trip, accompanied by her 20-month-old daughter.
Ashlie Rodriguez recorded a walkthrough of her room, which has been turned into an improvised storage space, and explained product by product what she chose and why, also asking for advice from those who have taken that path before.
Among what was gathered: three large and two small bottles of seasoning, several bottles of condensed milk, six packs of gum, six packs of strawberry gelatin, cookies, chocolates, candies, small snacks, two large packs of powdered milk, fifteen packs of instant pasta —chicken and alfredo— and seven packs of beans.
For the coffee, Ashlie dismissed the more well-known brands due to the price. "La Llave and Bustelo coffee are really expensive; therefore, I bought El Dorado, I was highly recommended it, they say it's good, and the best part is that it's much more affordable," she explained. In total, she packed twelve packages of that brand in her suitcase.
One of the details that drew the most attention was the inclusion of chewing gum. "I brought several packs of gum because in Cuba the poor can't even eat gum," she said, summarizing in one phrase the widespread perception that the Cuban diaspora has regarding the scarcity on the island.
Ashlie also raised a practical question to her followers: whether the packaged cookies would arrive broken at their destination. "I feel like they're going to arrive broken in Cuba, so it's better to buy the ones in the large jar, the ones in the can. Let me know, others who have traveled, because this is my first time going to Cuba since my residency came through," she commented.
This type of video is part of a well-established trend among Cubans in the diaspora, who document their purchases at Walmart, Costco, or Sam's Club to bring to family members on the island.
The practice responds to a food crisis that shows no signs of abating. According to the World Food Programme, Cuba imports more than 80% of the food it consumes, with an annual expenditure of around 2.4 billion dollars. Between 2018 and 2023, national milk production fell by 58%, while powdered milk imports decreased by 71%.
In June of this year, the Minister of Food Industry, Alberto López Díaz, acknowledged that more than 100,000 children were not receiving their daily milk, in a context where 96.91% of the Cuban population lacks adequate access to food, according to the survey "En Cuba Hay Hambre 2025," conducted by Food Monitor Program and Cuido60.
Ashlie's list is not just a shopping list: it is a reflection of what is missing in Cuba. The fact that a mother has to travel to the island with powdered milk, pasta, and gum for her family speaks volumes about the Cuban reality, more than any official figure could.
Other Cuban women have packed their bags with a similar logic before traveling, and the pattern repeats: maximizing the amount of basic goods with the available budget, because on the island those items either do not exist or are unattainable.
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