By JADE RUSSELL
jrussell@tribunemedia.net
SEVERAL Abaco residents have expressed frustration over the “absurd” prices of food in grocery stores on the island.
Yesterday, The Tribune spoke to several residents after receiving numerous complaints about items being overpriced for the average person.
One resident, Crystal Williams, said she is forced to buy her groceries from the United States because she simply cannot afford the increasing prices in the local stores.
“You can’t afford it, like I tell people I’m not a single parent, I’m the only parent. So, therefore being an only parent, I have to maximise my money,” she said.
Ms Williams believes there’s a lot of “price gouging” going on in Abaco food stores.
As a taxi service owner, Ms Williams said when she took her visiting clients to the grocery store, they were shocked by the price of food items.
“A lot of times they were baffled and asked things like how do you guys live with these prices?” she said.
She said items such as butter, milk, cheese, and other dairy products are “ridiculous in price”, as she explained a stick of butter is almost $4.
Another resident, who is an owner of a local restaurant, expressed concern that some businesses on the island are overcharging customers for items that are in high demand.
The business owner, who asked to remain anonymous, revealed that she shops almost daily at the two main food stores on the island — Abaco Groceries and Maxwell’s Supermarket — to stock up on inventory.
However, she said certain items at the store always seem to be climbing up in price compared to the last grocery trip she made.
“There are so many atrocities being committed, it’s unbelievable,” the resident claimed. “I’ve been buying (food) trays for $20 for the last I’d say three weeks or so have now gone up to $50. To me, it’s just nonsensical the way they’re behaving with these prices.
“The French fries, they’re now $50 for the box, and especially when the food store sees that you’re purchasing a certain item, the price increases. Individual-size drinking water is sold at Sams for $3 to $4 and is being sold for $15 and at times, $22. I need to know where Price Control is because this doesn’t make sense.”
Errily Russell, another resident of Abaco, said as Christmas approaches many residents are worried whether they will be able to afford food. “Christmas is coming up, people are saying they don’t know how they’ll make it in the store with their little couple of dollars,” Ms Russell said.
“When it comes to Christmas, they (food stores) know that people will buy a turkey, ham, and macaroni you know, your regular Christmas dinner. So those particular items skyrocketed and it’s really deplorable.”
Meanwhile, Gersil Edgecombe, owner of Keva’s Convenience Store, said it has been difficult sustaining his inventory off the local supermarket in Abaco called Maxwell’s.
“I have to pass the prices on to my customers. And one of the disadvantages of buying from Maxwell’s is more like a middleman, you have to pay the same prices as ordinary customers and then retail it to somebody else. So, it makes it more expensive, and the way things are going it’s just ridiculous,” Mr Edgecombe said.
When contacted for comment, Chad Sawyer, managing director of Maxwell’s Supermarket in Marsh Harbour, Abaco, said the store was doing its best to accommodate customers.
Mr Sawyer said: “We are doing everything we can to try to keep the prices down. The rising cost of doing business from insurance, shipping, repairs, and maintenance on everything. All of the stuff goes up and everything is going up, it’s just not us. We do all we can to try to keep prices down.”
Mr Sawyer said he hopes residents will realise the supermarket is doing its best to accommodate everyone in these times.
“What’s the advantage of me trying to steal from you (customers)? We do everything we can to keep prices down,” Mr Sawyer stressed.
In October, Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis announced that 38 new categories of items will be subject to price controls, in efforts to grapple with a high cost of living crisis due to inflation, among other factors.
There was a push back from food retailers and those in the pharmacy sector over the move.
Negotiations between the government and retailers have been ongoing since.
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