Send food to Cuba from Miami and the United States

What food to send to Cuba

The package takes 7 to 14 business days from pickup, so choose dry or canned foods that keep for weeks without refrigeration and that your family uses every day:

• Grains and flours: rice, black and red beans, split peas, lentils, cornmeal, spaghetti and other pasta.
• Cooking oil, in tightly sealed plastic bottles.
• Ground or whole-bean coffee, sugar, salt and spices like cumin, oregano or sazón.
• Powdered milk, oatmeal and cereal for the kids and the elderly.
• Canned goods: tuna, sardines, luncheon meat, canned chicken, Vienna sausages, tomato sauce.

What cannot go in the package

The package travels without refrigeration, so do not send food that needs to be kept cold: fresh or frozen meat or chicken, cheese, yogurt, cold cuts that are not canned, or anything that spoils without cold. No fresh fruit or vegetables either.

Check each product's expiration date before packing it and choose ones that expire several months out. If you are not sure, ask Paketico AI or support before you send it.

Food travels in its own package

Food, toiletries and medicines (medical supplies too) always travel in their own package: they can share that box, but are never mixed with the rest of your things.

If you also want to send clothes, shoes or household items, pack two boxes: one with only the food (plus, if you like, toiletries and medicine) and another with everything else. Both can go in the same shipment, in one payment: when you create it, the food goes in the “Food, hygiene and medicine” package. Each package weighs 10 to 100 pounds and can be worth up to $800, so a food box reaches the minimum easily: a bag of rice and a few bottles of oil already add up to several pounds.

How to pack food so it arrives in good shape

A few minutes of care when packing keeps one broken bottle of oil from ruining the whole box.

• Use a sturdy cardboard box, new if you can, and seal it with wide tape on the top and bottom.
• Leave each product in its original container, sealed and labeled.
• Put liquids (oil, sauces) in zip-top plastic bags and tape the caps.
• Put the heaviest items at the bottom (rice, cans) and the most fragile on top (crackers, cereal).
• Fill the gaps with bags or paper so nothing moves inside the box.
• Weigh it at home with a bathroom scale: weigh yourself holding the box and subtract your own weight.

Food bundles for Cuba: build your own

Many people search for "food combos" or "food bundles for Cuba". In the Paketico store you will find food and combos with door-to-door delivery included in the price. And if you would rather pick every item, you can send your own package, with what your family really needs and in the brands you know.

A simple idea to start: rice, black beans, oil, sugar, coffee, powdered milk and a few cans of tuna or chicken. Ask your family first what they are missing; sometimes the most useful thing is what you think of least, like salt or tomato sauce.

How much it costs to send food to Cuba

A food package costs the same as any other: $5.00 per package plus $2.00 per pound. A 20-pound box costs $45.00 and a 40-pound one, $85.00. Pickup at your home, up to 100 miles from Miami, is charged separately based on distance, and you see the total before you pay. If you send another box in the same shipment, each one pays its own flat fee and pickup is charged just once.

We deliver in all 15 provinces and the special municipality of Isla de la Juventud, and your family pays nothing when the box arrives. See more examples in how much it costs to ship to Cuba or on our pricing page.