Super Value food store chain owner Rupert Roberts said yesterday that notwithstanding all the creative measures employed by buyers in the grocery story industry, particularly within his establishment, food prices will likely remain elevated into next year and will probably continue to rise.

Roberts said the only commodity that he sees going down right now is corned beef.

"Most of the other commodities have gone up," he said.

"Sugar went up $3 a bale; rice is up. Most commodities have gone up.

"Now, in the next 18 months, I hope they remain the same, but they are likely to go up again.

"So, I don't know what's fueling it, but we tripled up on orders from China ... and ,of course, the freight rates from China have actually come down. We locked in the prices on the China goods at least until the end of this year.

"All of the inflation hasn't really shown in this country because when we suspect something, we buy [to lock in lowest prices]. We have a 100,000-square-foot warehouse now. Our warehouse is probably a little less than half full, and so we have a lot of opportunity to buy. We have space. We have storage.

"Anytime we suspect something is going to go up - like we suspected sugar was going to increase - we bought an extra 15 containers. Now, in 15 weeks, that was up. We had to buy at the high price."

Inflation is imported into The Bahamas, government officials often point out.

Multiple international news headlines reflect that while inflation in the United States and some other markets is easing, grocery prices remain stubborn.

CNN Business reported in March, "The cost of food is down, but grocery still up."

It stated, "When food producers started raising prices a few years ago, they blamed their own costs, including higher ingredient prices. But ingredient prices have actually been on a downswing for months, and individuals are still paying more for food.

"In part, it's because food producers have other expenses that remain pricey, like labor and transportation, compared to a few years ago."

The Financial Times reported at the end of May, "Food price inflation is proving stubbornly persistent."

It said, "Falls in commodity and energy costs have not all fed through to grocery baskets."

In May, CBS News reported, "Food inflation is easing - but price breaks few and far between."

The Economist Intelligence - the research and analysis division of The Economist Group, the sister company to The Economist newspaper - reported in April, "Food prices are soaring, particularly in Europe, as producers and retailers try to maintain or increase their margins."

In The Bahamas in late April, the Bahamas National Statistical Institute (BNSI) reported that the consumer price index (CPI), which represents the overall change in prices, rose five percent in February 2023 over the same period in 2022.

"The major categories that contributed to this rise included recreation, alcoholic beverages, along with food and non-alcoholic beverages with increases of 20 percent, 11 percent and nine percent, respectively."

Asked yesterday about the assumption many shoppers seem to make that his stores are raising prices from a position of greed, Roberts said, "I understand it. I really understand and I feel their pain.

"... I know that's what they're saying. I know that's what they feel. I saw a video the other day about Wesson oil and 'Rupert Roberts is gong to hell', and so on, and they said they were going to Price Control.

"Well, when they went to Price Control, Price Control would have told them, 'Look, Rupert Roberts is really not making any more money out of this. Rupert Roberts is selling this less than Price Control allows him to sell it.'

"So, it's just something called inflation that we all have to live with. This is a reality world."

Asked in early May whether inflation has peaked, Governor of the Central Bank John Rolle told reporters, "We cannot say at the Central Bank whether inflation has peaked yet, but what we can say is that to the extent that there are signs of easing or moderation in the United States, and some of the other countries, that means that the leveling off and eventual decline in The Bahamas will not be far behind.

"I think that's what's important and we have started to see in the US some easing. Admittedly, though, there is still a lot by way of easing in inflation that everyone would like to see, but we think we are closer to the peak, if we have not yet seen it."

Speaking in the House of Assembly recently during the 2023/2024 budget debate, Minister of Foreign Affairs Fred Mitchell, the MP for Fox Hill, said inflation is clearly the number one issue faced by Bahamians and he is seeing more requests for help from constituents than he has ever seen in his time in politics.

"... It seems to me, I know people say that crime and immigration are issues which concern them, but it seems to me right now that inflation has got to be the number one issue that's affecting people because the cost of everything has become more expensive," Mitchell said.

In January 2023, the minimum wage increased from $210 per week to $260, but with high costs for food, fuel, energy and other necessities, many find it hard to make their dollars stretch.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian