The retail, distribution and agricultural industries do not expect food shortages in the final quarter of this year, but have raised concerns that uncertainty around global shipping and local weather conditions could affect supplies of critical commodities, their leaders said on Tuesday.
President of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) Paul Inniss told Barbados TODAY the biggest concern at this stage was not the availability of goods, but consumer demand.
He said: “From the feedback we have received from members of the BCCI’s retail and distribution sector, businesses are actively preparing for the year-end trading period and, at this stage, appear to be reasonably well positioned to meet the expected demand.”
Several businesses had ordered stock earlier and were managing inventory and replenishment carefully, particularly given the continuing uncertainty around international shipping, he added.
“There are still concerns about longer lead times, freight costs and occasional supplier availability, but we are not seeing any indication at this point of a general shortage of goods for the Christmas period.
“Where there is a little more uncertainty is around consumer demand. Some businesses are expecting stronger sales in the final quarter, while others believe demand will be similar to last year or softer in certain categories. What is coming through quite clearly is that consumers remain very price-conscious, and affordability continues to influence how and where people are spending.”
Businesses were preparing not only for the “usual” increase in activity around November and Christmas, but also for customers likely to be more selective and focused on value, he added.
But the chamber president cautioned that all concerned had to remain mindful of external factors such as international shipping conditions, freight costs and geopolitical developments, all of which could affect landed costs and delivery times.
“Overall, I would say the sector appears to be preparing responsibly for the year-end period. At this stage, the greater uncertainty is not whether businesses will have goods available, but the strength of consumer demand and how continuing affordability pressures will influence spending.”
In the farming community, its key representative said he did not foresee any significant issues with supplies of fruits, vegetables and meats, but was hoping for more rainfall to help some fruits reach maturity in time for the Christmas season.
“I would say that the agricultural sector is in a very good position to service the needs of consumers in Barbados, in terms of the commodities that are usually in demand,” chief executive of the Barbados Agricultural Society (BAS) James Paul told Barbados TODAY.
“In the area of fruits and vegetables, we note that in terms of watermelons and some of those staples like sweet potatoes, they don’t seem to be as plentiful as last year, judging from the prices. But I think that as we go into Christmas, we should see greater supplies of those commodities, once the weather does not impact on the crops on the ground right now. We are getting some rain, which is good, but I hope that we continue to get some rain that will help the crops in terms of maturity.
“But I think from the point of view of fruits and vegetables, we are just hoping that as we go into the last quarter of the year, that we would be able to keep up the supplies, and we would see more sweet potatoes on hand…because I don’t think we have been doing very well with sweet potatoes. But hopefully, as we go later in the year, we will see more sweet potatoes on hand.”
Paul noted that yams also appear later in the year: “Planting is there. It is just to make sure that the weather is not unkind to the farmers.”
He then turned his attention to poultry, eggs and pork supplies, which traditionally face heavier demand during the Christmas season.
“We are likely again to do very well in poultry. I think that the industry for the second straight year, we were able to meet the demand of consumers very successfully, not only in poultry meat, but in eggs also. So, again, we don’t anticipate any particular problems for consumers as far as that is concerned.”
For pork supplies, consumers were also told there was no need to worry as the Yuletide season approached.
“And again, in the area of pork, it continues to be in demand by the consumers. That is part of the industry we are hoping the consumers are prepared for; and as we go into the Christmas season, they would take up the supplies that are there. But I don’t think we are likely to see a lot of problems in the industry in terms of being able to meet the demands of consumers.”
He also told consumers the pork industry was prepared for traditional demand for hams, reiterating his forecast that agriculture would not face any problems at the moment.
But the farming spokesman said that imports still had to be monitored to prevent farmers from being pushed out of the market.
“That has always been our concern; and we are hoping, of course, that as we go into the Christmas season, we don’t have a situation with imports that are not needed coming in and jeopardising the ability of farmers to sell their products.”
(EJ)
