Government sends foods to small shops

A.Hidalgo

Silver
Apr 28, 2006
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Hey Matilda I know you own a colmado. Can you keep us up to date on this info from DR1 news.......

Government sends foods to small shops
Faced with strong criticism over high food prices, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce has begun to implement a program to ship low-priced foods to local grocery shops known as "colmados". According to El Nuevo Diario, there are 100,000 of these small, neighborhood stores in the DR. They are due to receive rice, beans and eggs at reduced prices. Rice is supposed to sell for RD$12 a pound, and red beans and pinto beans at RD$21 and RD$23 per pound. The price of bread and eggs is meant to be kept down to RD$3 per unit. According to the ministry, it will take some time to supply all the 'colmados', but the process has been initiated with agreements with 30 commercial associations that distribute foodstuffs to these establishments. Ministry of Agriculture trucks will begin to supply barrios with products from the farmer's markets at the same reduced prices.
 

Matilda

RIP Lindsay
Sep 13, 2006
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No sign so far. Rice we buy at 18RD$ a pound and sell at 20. Beans we buy at 25 a pound and sell at 28. Eggs we buy at 3RD$ and sell at 4RD$. I have no idea who these 'commercial associations' are. We buy rice and beans from a warehouse in the San Pedro market and eggs from a truck that comes form the capital and from whom we also buy veg 3 times a week as long as it is of comparable quality and prices as the San Pedro market. Onions are now down to 15 a pound, tomatos at 10, Platanos at 7, potatos at 15. So we wait to see what happens. bread was supposed to go down, but it went up to 5RD$ each and we sell at 6.

Matilda
 

A.Hidalgo

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Apr 28, 2006
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Lets see how long before this program reaches your colmado. I guess it's no surprise that the Ministry of Industry and Commerce has not contacted you yet.....cuando sera eso.:cheeky:
 

SantiagoDR

The "REAL" SantiagoDR
Jan 12, 2006
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Errrm - don't hold your breath.

Amazing how many ideas the political parties can come up with in the run up to the elections.

Like the deal Leonel made with the supermarkets to lower the prices and have the government pay the difference. La Sirena has for a long time had the list price for Nestle?s Cornflakes at $129, even tho they sell for anywhere from $79 to $129 in their store, depending on when you go.

Now the shelf price is $139.


Guess La Sirena wants to be one step ahead of the government price subsidy program.
 

Hillbilly

Moderator
Jan 1, 2002
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You know, Don has a good point: Why should a product manufactured within the DR-CAFTA go up in price. there should be no taxes, surely it is not a "protected" item under the FTA since nobody here makes it...
Of course there has been a 130% increase in the price of RICE in the USA. Wheat is up like 10%, milk and eggs are up a good bit too.
Some people are saying that it is the fact that farmers are selling more corn and grains to bio-diesel or ethanol manufacturers and less to cattle or poultry farmers.

The DR can be self sufficient as far as rice goes, at least for a few more years, and we could reduce our wheat imports by up to 30% by using other flours to make breads.

Cooking oil will certainly become a major headache, since edible oils are in demand for bio-diesel, too. All we have here is an extinct group of peanut farmers and that wonderful, vein-clogging African palm oil that has 'heart attack' written all over it.

Ah politics. Yes, please do tell us when the President's trucks come by your place with cheaper foodstuffs...

HB
 

cobraboy

Pro-Bono Demolition Hobbyist
Jul 24, 2004
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Ah politics. Yes, please do tell us when the President's trucks come by your place with cheaper foodstuffs...

HB
Politics is the art of doing what voters want to gain their vote. Obviously, many Dominican voters have trained politicians they have to directly give them "stuff" to earn their vote. How can that chain be broken?
 

montreal

Bronze
Apr 17, 2006
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Politics is the art of doing what voters want to gain their vote. Obviously, many Dominican voters have trained politicians they have to directly give them "stuff" to earn their vote. How can that chain be broken?

This isn't the case of politicians handing out pesos from the back of a truck. This is a promise to subsidise food staples that have risen dramatically in price. Whether or not they do it or how long they do it for is another story. Governments all around the world do this (even in 1st world countries, whether it be food or other necessities like gas and electricity). It is every government's responsibilities to protect it's people (that includes making sure they don't starve). Although, it is obviously only a bandaid to the problem and not a permanent solution.
 

Chip

Platinum
Jul 25, 2007
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Santiago
No sign so far. Rice we buy at 18RD$ a pound and sell at 20. Beans we buy at 25 a pound and sell at 28. Eggs we buy at 3RD$ and sell at 4RD$. I have no idea who these 'commercial associations' are. We buy rice and beans from a warehouse in the San Pedro market and eggs from a truck that comes form the capital and from whom we also buy veg 3 times a week as long as it is of comparable quality and prices as the San Pedro market. Onions are now down to 15 a pound, tomatos at 10, Platanos at 7, potatos at 15. So we wait to see what happens. bread was supposed to go down, but it went up to 5RD$ each and we sell at 6.

Matilda

Cripes, I bought a 50lb bag of medium grade rice at RD1100!!!!

Matilda, do you do delivery to Santiago? :)
 

Matilda

RIP Lindsay
Sep 13, 2006
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Chip. 900 RD$ here in the warehouse for a 50lb bag medium quality! I did mention on another thread that the prices in the market and the warehouse have NOT increased for most things apart from oil. yet they have increased significantly in the supermarkets so instead of us being more expensive than supermarkets we are now cheaper. Some things just do not make sense. 20 oz coca cola bottles we sell for 25 RD$ (the glass half litres we sell for 14 RD$!!!). We buy from Coca Cola directly and those prices give us a 50% mark up. The same 20 oz bottles are 29 RD$ in Jumbo. Even if they buy at the same price as me do they need more than a 50% mark up???

There is no sign of the supermarkets lowering their prices since they were asked to.

Unfortunately Santiago is a little bit far for our pasola to do a home delivery! Would take about 6 months to get there!!!

Matilda
 

Thandie

Bronze
Nov 27, 2007
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I remember when I use to visit certain family in Jamaica they would always ask me to bring down a bag of onions. At the time I thought it was funny cause I thought it was such a stange request, cause onion are so inexpensive in Canada...but now I am older and wiser I realize it was no laughing matter.
 

Matilda

RIP Lindsay
Sep 13, 2006
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Still no sign of these cheap deliveries. Asked my husband tonight and he informed me that we would not be getting them. Apparently some places have had them but the 'bosses' in our area have 'appropriated' the food for the colmados in Juan Dolio as we are not 'poor enough' here!!!!

Still, checked with the warehouse, and the only price increase over the past few months has been oil, and I can still buy cheap rice at 12 RD$ a pound, although we buy better quality.

Just seems to be the supermarkets who are pushing the prices up for some reason.

Matilda
 

Hillbilly

Moderator
Jan 1, 2002
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My dear wife, quite political person that she is, says that these subsidies are just to support speculation. That is, the government is supporting the price gouging of the major food suppliers. In Spanish: "Un subsidio a la especulaci?n."

Of course if Matilda and her hubby were proper PLD folks they would, of course, get the subsidized foodstuffs...

HB
 

A.Hidalgo

Silver
Apr 28, 2006
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Well looks like hell will freeze over before Matilda gets anything. Politics as usual in the good old Quisqueya
 

A.Hidalgo

Silver
Apr 28, 2006
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Matilda my dear where are you. Any word on these food staples yet. Its looking more like a promise by Leonel to help in his election run......it worked!!!!
 

Matilda

RIP Lindsay
Sep 13, 2006
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Absolutely nada!!! Off to market in the morning. Flour has shot up overnight and we now sell at 25RD$ a pound - up from 10 a few weeks ago!!! Oli is up too but rice is stable. Veg are coming down especially onions and tomatos and platanos are now down to 6 each from 8 or nine. Ripe eating bananas are still at 4 each. Rum and beer stable as are cigarettes. Beans still stable, and garlic down. Am waiting to see if there are any signs of decent mangos still - they are late this year - the odd ones around are horrid and expensive and still waiting for avocados. But to answer your question nada cheap from the government!!!

Matilda
 

Lambada

Gold
Mar 4, 2004
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www.ginniebedggood.com
Absolutely nada!!! Off to market in the morning. Flour has shot up overnight and we now sell at 25RD$ a pound - up from 10 a few weeks ago!!! Matilda

That is quite a hike!!! I get mine already packaged in 2lb. bags from Tropical Supermarket so expect to pay more than RD$10 a pound - usually RD$35 for a 2lb. bag. But if you're selling at 25 a pound mine will probably go from 35 to 60.................:ermm: