WILLEMSTAD - The Supermarket Association Curaçao (SUVECU) has indicated that the established margins of the basic basket "Makutu Básiko" are generally not high enough to conduct healthy business operations.
And because the supermarkets cannot make a reasonable profit on some products, and sometimes they even suffer losses, this is - ultimately - not favorable for the consumer. This is evident from the recently issued advice from the Social and Economic Council (SER) on the latest proposal from the Minister of Economy to adjust and expand the basic basket.
The SER indicates in their report that according to Suvecu, an average of 20 percent of the turnover of supermarkets products comes from the basic basket. It is an average; The exact share depends on the type of supermarket. Supermarkets sell these products, because they are products that everyone needs and to attract customers for the purchase of other products for which no maximum margins have been established. Because the supermarkets have to compensate for the "loss" on the products from the basic basket, the other products (accounting for an average of 80 percent of sales) are more expensive than is actually necessary. It is therefore not in the interest of the consumer, nor of the supermarkets. If supermarkets/retailers are given the opportunity to determine the margins of products themselves, there will be more diversity in pricing and thus competition, which also serves the interest of the consumer.
The SER also indicates that they are surprised in particular that the prescribed prices of bread and eggs are unchanged or even slightly lower, after a period of ten years. The SER therefore wonders whether the minister has taken into account the inflation figures for the past ten years, including the greatly risen "cost of doing business", and the increased sales tax (OB).
The SER report states that in April of this year (2022) there was a scarcity of eggs in Curaçao, which was partly the result of the shortage of laying chickens, and partly of the greatly risen prices of cattle feed. "A price adjustment seems to be responsible and defensible," said the advisory report.