Tropical Foods (El Platanero) — Local services in Boston

Tropical Foods Roxbury Washington St

Honestly, the prices here are not high very fair. If it wasn't for the mean and non-professional cashiers I would give 3 stars. If they hired more racially diverse people...I would give them 4 stars. This community market caters to Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, Blacks, Haitians, Jamaicans....people of color. Yet. Less than 1% of the staff are black or of black heritage, Most of the ppl who work at the market can't even speak English very well or at all. Why is that?

This market seems like a big party place for their cashiers. I have been going to this market frequently. Every time, I go into this market it seems like a nightclub party at the front with the cashiers. The cashiers are talking loudly, dancing to loud music and all laughing & speaking loudly in Spanish as if they are at a girl's night out party or home. So not professional!

The cashiers are all predominantly Dominican and NOT professional. I speak Spanish but they assume that I do not know Spanish. I overhear them talking badly about all ppl, especially the darker-skinned ppl of African heritage/descent. I think the cashiers assume that I don't speak Spanish to know what they are saying. But I speak fluent Spanish.

Yet, the owners of this company allow this behavior. Why is this? I want to know why is it that less than 1% of the staff working here are black or of African heritage. Why?

Does Tropicals Food Market, have a federally mandated inclusion policy?

It seems Tropical Markets in Boston make major money but do not give job opportunities to the non-Latino community.

I'm of black heritage... the cashiers do not speak to me, and they do not greet me at the counter even though I go into this market 2-3 times a week. I see them and I speak and not one cashier has ever spoken back. The cashiers in my opinion are not nice or friendly towards ppl of black heritage.

In my opinion, this market may not be promoting racial diversity in its hiring practices. Yet, they are making a lot of profit dollars in this racially...

Tropical Foods carries a wide variety of international foods. The prices vary from affordable to expensive. They have an outstanding variety of teas and coffee. I can always find a sale, particularly on coffee. The particular brand of curry I like I can now only find at Tropicals and I purchase it when and if I need it. Chicken is affordable if you search and I do search paying no more than 4+ dollars for a bag of drumsticks and/or chicken quarters. I do have an issue with the way Tropical packages the chicken in plastic bags that leak. Tying the bags is not sufficient. The bags need to be sealed completely closed & the price labeled on the side as oppose to wrapping it around the top of the remaining flaps where there is a gap causing leakage. I do not find chicken leakage spilling on my hands nor in my shopping cart appealing. I literally asked for a paper towel to wipe my hands, placed the chicken bag into a bag for fruit/ vegetables to stop further leakage, and bought hand sanitizer to thoroughly clean my hands. I usually don't buy fresh vegetables at Tropicals outside of potatoes. Potatoes are affordable but I recommend really checking them before leaving the store, which requires you to literally open the bags and inspect them. Most people wouldn't think to do this but it's better than arriving home and discovering some of the white potatoes have dark blemishes on them. I won't make that mistake again. I find when comparing price to serving size frozen vegetables are too expensive for my taste. Fruit can be a bit pricey at Tropical as well. I won't buy bananas here. I refuse to pay more than 39¢ per pound for bananas. A major plus for Tropical outside of food is the in store music. The...

Tropical Foods has a history here in this neighborhood. Its convenient! It has some ethnic choices not found in lotsa other places.. Having said that, a LOT of Stop & Shops, Market Baskets and Star or Shaws now carry pretty much the same stuff.. I shop here bcs its very convenient.. I also shop at the Daily Table around the corner fr here bcs they have much better prices, but no where near the selection! If I havfta hav something in a hurry I'll take the short drive to here, plenty of parking.. But I'll usually stop into the Daily Table often after work to see what the bargains of the day are, and off times I'm pleasantly surprised by DT (Daily Table).. If I'm doing my monthly shopping trip I'll opt for PriceRight (great prices) OR more often than not, my big monthly trip for restocking for my family is usually a BIG Market Basket with their incredible bargain pricing and WAY better selection than PriceRight.. Tropical Foods has its place and it may save me trips to S&S or...