Best Shops to Buy Honey Beans in Liverpool (2026)
You can buy honey beans, the sweet brown oloyin bean used for ewa agoyin and moi moi, at most of Liverpool's African and West African food shops. The best rated are Harvestfield Store and Temmy African store around County Road and Breck Road, Matta's on Bold Street in the city centre, and the Kensington shops.
African Stores Editorial Team
The short answer
You can buy honey beans, the sweet brown oloyin bean used for ewa agoyin and moi moi, at most of Liverpool's African and West African food shops. The best rated are Harvestfield Store and Temmy African store around County Road and Breck Road, Matta's on Bold Street in the city centre, and the Kensington shops. You can find African food stores near you on African Stores.
What to remember
- Honey beans are a pantry staple in Liverpool's Nigerian and West African food shops, so they are easy to find once you know where to look.
- The best rated shops for them sit around County Road in Walton, Breck Road in Everton and Anfield, Kensington, and Bold Street in the city centre.
- They are sold dried in bags, and it pays to ask for honey beans by name so you get oloyin rather than another brown bean.
- To find a shop near you across the city, African Stores lists African and Caribbean food shops wherever you are.
Few things say home like a plate of ewa agoyin, the beans mashed soft and topped with that dark, fried pepper sauce. For many Nigerians in Liverpool, tracking down proper honey beans is one of the first errands of settling in, and finding a shop that keeps good oloyin in stock is a small victory. What we liked across the city is how many of these grocers are run by people who cook the same food themselves and will point you to the right bag on the shelf. That is worth more than any label.
1. Harvestfield Store A County Road favourite and one of the highest rated African shops in the city at 4.8, run with a clear Nigerian and West African focus, which is exactly what you want when you are after honey beans. Shoppers praise it for fresh stock and hard to find staples, the sort of shop where the oloyin is on the shelf and the pepper, onions and seasoning for your ewa agoyin are all a step away. You will find it at 165-169 County Rd, Liverpool L4 5PB.
2. Minara Farm A busy meat and fish market on Prescot Road in Old Swan with a strong 4.7, handy if you are picking up the meat or fish for the pot at the same time as your bag of honey beans. Reviewers rate it for freshness and value, so it makes a natural one stop for the whole meal. You will find it at 4-10 Stanley Building, Prescot Rd, Old Swan, Liverpool L13 3AS.
3. Temmy African Store A well loved Nigerian shop on Breck Road at 4.7, the kind of neighbourhood grocer where regulars come for their honey beans, garri and dried fish. Shoppers mention friendly service and a good, reliable range of Nigerian staples. You will find it at 292 Breck Rd, Liverpool L5 6QB.
4. Mj Unique Ventures A West African shop just along Breck Road in Anfield, rated 4.7, small but well stocked and rated highly by the people who use it. A good local call for honey beans and the peppers and seasonings that turn them into moi moi or akara. You will find it at 82 Breck Rd, Anfield, Liverpool L4 2RD.
5. Matta's International Food The Liverpool institution, on Bold Street for around forty years and rated 4.6 across more than a thousand reviews. Its range runs well beyond African food, but the African and Caribbean pantry shelves are proper, and honey beans sit among them. If you are in the city centre, this is the easy one. You will find it at 51 Bold St, Liverpool L1 4EU.
6. Kensington Superstore A large, busy store on Kensington rated 4.5 across nearly three hundred reviews, with a wide African and Caribbean grocery range and the footfall to keep stock turning over. A dependable Kensington choice for honey beans and the rest of the meal. You will find it at 287 Kensington, Fairfield, Liverpool L7 2RG.
7. Blue Nile Grocery Store A friendly grocer on Holt Road in Kensington at 4.4, with a butcher counter alongside the groceries, so you can pick up your meat and your honey beans in one trip. You will find it at 43 Holt Rd, Liverpool L7 2PL.
8. J & I International Store A well rated halal grocer on Mulgrave Street in Toxteth at 4.4, with a butcher counter and a solid African and Caribbean range, useful if you want the meat for your beans halal. You will find it at 101 Mulgrave St, Liverpool L8 2TD.
How we picked this list We hold data on the African and Caribbean food shops across the city and ranked them by the rating real shoppers give them on Google, reading the reviews so the strengths we mention are the ones people actually value. For honey beans we leaned toward the Nigerian and West African shops, where they sell steadily and stay well stocked, and we included the well rated general African and Caribbean grocers that carry them too. One shop worth a mention outside the top eight is African Caribbean Food store on Townsend Lane in Anfield, whose shoppers name beans and other Nigerian staples directly in their reviews. Grocers gather fewer reviews than restaurants, so we set a sensible review floor to keep the list fair. Small shops change their hours and stock, so it is worth a quick call before a big trip, and because shops also stock other beans like black-eyed beans and plain brown beans, ask specifically for honey beans, or oloyin, so you get the sweet variety.
Where to buy honey beans in Liverpool The main clusters are County Road in Walton, Breck Road across Everton and Anfield, Kensington and Toxteth around Lodge Lane and Granby Street, with Matta's as the city centre landmark. Wherever you are in the city one is rarely far. And if you want the nearest shop to home, African Stores helps you find African food stores near you, so you can pick up your honey beans, dried fish and peppers close by.
Frequently asked questions
Where can I buy honey beans in Liverpool?
Honey beans are stocked by most of Liverpool's African and West African food shops. The best rated include Harvestfield Store and Temmy African store around County Road and Breck Road, Matta's on Bold Street, and the Kensington shops. African Stores lists African food shops across the UK, so you can find one near you that stocks honey beans.
What are honey beans, or oloyin?
Honey beans, known in Nigeria as oloyin or ewa oloyin, are small brown beans that are naturally sweet. They are a legume, sold dried in bags, and are used for dishes such as ewa agoyin, moi moi, akara and bean porridge.
How are honey beans different from other beans?
Honey beans are naturally sweet and are softer and quicker to cook than many other beans, which is why they are prized for ewa agoyin. Because shops also stock other varieties such as black-eyed beans and plain brown beans, it is worth asking for honey beans, or oloyin, by name.
What can I cook with honey beans?
Honey beans are used for ewa agoyin, the mashed beans served with fried pepper sauce, as well as moi moi, akara, which are bean cakes, and bean porridge. Their soft texture and natural sweetness suit all of these.
How do I find an African food shop near me?
African Stores lists African and Caribbean food shops across the UK, so you can find one near you that stocks honey beans and the rest of your ingredients, wherever you are.
