The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

Bahamian food retailers were yesterday urged to “work together and not against each other”, adopting the strategy employed by their Chinese-owned competitors.

Phil Lightbourne, owner of Gladstone Road-based retailer/wholesaler, Phil’s Food Services, said consumers would largely ignore Value-Added Tax (VAT) if they felt retailers were passing on savings and not price gouging.

“Bahamians are going to shop around. They are not  just going to buy anything,” Mr Lightbourne said. “If you are selling rice, for instance, and they could get it somewhere else for one cent less, even if it costs more to get there they are going to go where it is cheaper.

“The fact is they will worry about gas later, but they want their food bill to go down. The way the Chinese work, they work together and they don’t feel anything. The reason Bahamians feel it is because they  work against each other.

“If all the Bahamians come together and say, for instance,  I as a wholesaler help the small ‘Mom and Pop’ stores get some good prices, they can help the smaller people. If we work together, we will make this thing look easy. We must adapt the Chinese style of business and start working together.”

Mr Lightbourne added: “Its going to be a competitive world but it’s simple. It’s going to be Bahamian against Chinese. If we as Bahamians continue to fight against each other then all the consumers will just end up shopping at the Chinese food stores, and it will be nobody’s fault but our own.

“If I’m able to get a deal, I’m going to pass it on to my consumers. I want them to come back, of course. You just have to buy right and turn the savings on to them. The 7.5 per cent won’t matter if you’re giving them a savings.”

    Mr Lightbourne said the VAT transition has been smooth for his business. “At the end of the day I think it’s going to be a smooth run for everyone, we just have to get it down pat,” he said.

“I feel the transition has been smooth. I just want to make sure that food is affordable to all. VAT definitely won’t stop us. VAT will just make us stronger. It’s just the beginning. I think once people get their systems adjusted it’s going to be a smooth ride for everyone.

“I think the Government went easy on us with the 7.5 per cent because when you add up duty, freight and all the other stuff it comes up to way more. Any additional cost to anything people, are going to cry.”