Are some of the vegetables being imported to DR?

[Chip]

Well Chip, 'I doubt' as you state makes it evident that you are guessing, like many on here. And I am also not guessing that I am talking about your friends little independent store. We are talking about large chains, the DR imports the crap no one else will accept, and exports the fine quality stuff it produces. The DR takes anything at the reduced price, clothes, toys, FOOD.
So yes, there are places that do sell local produce. It would not be financial sensible to import huge quantities of second rate food. But it is cheap than buying local for the large chains, so no, I'm not guessing. {Dog passes the salt around}

The large supermarkets don't have the majority market here in this country, therefore by far the majority of the produce bought sold and consumed is criollo.

Your problem is you live and think like a foreigner, as evidenced in your posts, and thus have little clue as to how a lot of things work here, notwithstanding your constant postulations.

 

[dv8]

Honestly I said the colmados were cheap, not the big supermarkets.
Compared to the cost of food in the States it is much cheaper here. I spend about US350 a month on food for 5 people. I hardly buy anything imported. That is the secret.

few points here:
colmados are not that cheap. they sell by one or tiny amount (few slices of salami, a spoon of butter). the cheapest fruits and veg can be purchased from the farmers themselves, that is on the market, from pickup trucks and so on. and in bulk.

there is food and food. we spend a lot more for two people only. i like variety. we buy a lot of local stuff and i appreciate dominican food. but i also like to splurge at times. if i want a small tray of blueberries i buy it. if i want wensleydale cheese with cranberries that costs 200 pesos for a piece size of a matchbox, damn, i will buy it too.

and finally: the secret is in living well. on whatever money you have. spending it the way you want.

 

[Chip]

few points here:
colmados are not that cheap. they sell by one or tiny amount (few slices of salami, a spoon of butter). the cheapest fruits and veg can be purchased from the farmers themselves, that is on the market, from pickup trucks and so on. and in bulk.

there is food and food. we spend a lot more for two people only. i like variety. we buy a lot of local stuff and i appreciate dominican food. but i also like to splurge at times. if i want a small tray of blueberries i buy it. if i want wensleydale cheese with cranberries that costs 200 pesos for a piece size of a matchbox, damn, i will buy it too.

and finally: the secret is in living well. on whatever money you have. spending it the way you want.

Colmados are still cheaper than El Nacional and other big supermarkets.

 

[Givadogahome]

The large supermarkets don't have the majority market here in this country, therefore by far the majority of the produce bought sold and consumed is criollo.

Your problem is you live and think like a foreigner, as evidenced in your posts, and thus have little clue as to how a lot of things work here, notwithstanding your constant postulations.

I am a foreigner, as are you, or have you forgotten that? Never in my most obscure dreams would I want to live, think and go about my business as anything other than that of which I am, that would be pretending I am something I am not. I get by pretty well here chip, and I do not require financial assistance from my native land, and I can't think of any Dominicans who get financed from abroad either, so who is living like a native here, and who is pretending? Hmmmmm! You drive down the middle of the road chip, yet speak as if you drive on the right.

 

[bob saunders]

Nothing is cheap in DR, people need to stop thinking like this. Things can be cheaper than another store, but nothing is in comparison to other countries, nothing!

ive never seen a native order a salad, his system may go into shock.

That may be true for some Dominican families but even my mother-in-law likes to eat salad. Lettuce, cabbage, carrots and beets are cheap. Some garlic is imported but much is grown locally. Onions and squash are also inexpensive. Best to buy off the trucks as they come in to town in the morning or the fruitera.

 

[Koreano]

Colmados are still cheaper than El Nacional and other big supermarkets.

It maybe cheap for many but I feel there's 10 pasos markup for being Asian that is not fluent in Spanish. So it comes out about equal.

 

[bob saunders]

That's a good tip, though less and less importers sell directly off the truck. Food import is getting more complicated.

I was talking about the farm truck; directly from the farm to you.

 

[AlterEgo]

I was talking about the farm truck; directly from the farm to you.

Where we live on the south coast, there are several roadside farm stands. Amazing fresh produce, a lot of it grown very near. The oddest thing is that I’ve seen some of it get delivered to them by regular buses (the smaller ones, syndicated), the bus stops on the road and passengers wait while huge bags of various vegetables are unloaded. I presume they’re coming from the big Mercado in San Cristobal.

 

[CristoRey]

That's a good tip, though less and less importers sell directly off the truck. Food import is getting more complicated.

Last post dated on this thread (# 26) was done about one year before I joined DR1.
Talk about a resurrection but definitely a topic worth discussing...
Instead of importing more, this government should be bending over backwards to
increase production.

 

[NanSanPedro]

Last post dated on this thread (# 26) was done about one year before I joined DR1.
Talk about a resurrection but definitely a topic worth discussing...
Instead of importing more, this government should be bending over backwards to
increase production.

But I thought they did that. When the AIs closed because of the Wuhan Flu scare, we were reading about how much produce they were destroying because there was no market for that kind of volume. The people who were hurt were the farmers, not the importers.

 

[CristoRey]

But I thought they did that. When the AIs closed because of the Wuhan Flu scare, we were reading about how much produce they were destroying because there was no market for that kind of volume. The people who were hurt were the farmers, not the importers.

That's good question.
I remember reading that.

 

[Gadfly]

Naval oranges, Washington Apples. The big American almond also ?

 

[Luperon]

At least I got to see Cris Colon's old post. He still speaks the Truth, even from the beyond.