Large supermarkets step up vegetable imports post-Beryl

At least two large supermarket chains have increased their imports of vegetables to meet the reduction in local supplies that resulted from the passage of Hurricane Beryl two months ago.

Hi-Lo Food Stores and MegaMart both said they were able to import adequate supplies of vegetables to address the fallout from the devastation to the local agriculture sector caused by Beryl, a Category 4 hurricane that brushed the island on July 3.

However, both chains say prices at their outlets are trending downwards as local supplies begin to return to the market.

Don Weby, CEO of the GraceKennedy Group, of which Hi-Lo Food Stores is a part, said the company had challenges, initially, getting the required volumes post-Beryl.

“However, we are now getting supplies at the required levels from our vendors that supply us with imported produce. They have been able to keep up with the demand while most local produce was unavailable. There is some improvement,” Wehby said, in written responses to the Financial Gleaner.

The GraceKennedy CEO indicated, however, that the shortage of some produce is expected to continue to year end and into 2025.

“Local tomatoes, leafy vegetables, herbs, sweet peppers, yams and other ground provisions are just starting to come back now. We should be able to get oranges by the end of the year. We won’t have any bananas or plantain until the end of Q1 2025 (the first quarter of next year),” Wehby said.

There are 13 supermarkets in the Hi-Lo Food Stores chain.

Chairman and CEO of MegaMart Gassan Azan said the Jamaican government reacted promptly to the vegetable shortage by granting the permits required for the importation of produce.

“As far as imports go, the Ministry of Agriculture has been quite proactive in issuing permits for items that they know are in short supply. There seems to be a concerted effort to ease the pressure,” Azan told the Financial Gleaner. “They have been quite generous with the permits. I think they recognised that there was a general need in the market,” he said.

Azan said permits were issued for the importation of sweet peppers, green peppers, carrots, lettuce, cantaloupe and honeydew.

He said that with the price of the imports being higher than the local produce, the imports will be reduced once local farms get back into full swing.

Meanwhile, commenting on his own farming business, which supplies much of MegaMart’s produce, Azan said production was ramping up at the farm, based in St Catherine, but was not yet at capacity.

He said the replacement plastic sheeting for the greenhouses which were destroyed during Beryl should be in Jamaica this month.

“We had a three-week delay because of shipping, so (the sheeting) should be installed before the end of the month,” Azan said.

The high-tech facility, called Jamagro Tech Farms, suffered $35 million in damage during the hurricane.

Local produce prices in the municipal markets soared following the passage of Beryl, reaching as high as $1,200 for a pound of tomatoes, $400 for carrots, and $500 for Irish potatoes. Those prices have since trended downwards, with tomatoes now at $500, and carrots and Irish potatoes at $300.

Minister of Agriculture Fisheries & Mining, Floyd Green, said more import permits were allowed for vegetables to allow access to external markets to supplement the local supply of produce, but continued to monitor the situation as local produce returned to the market.

“We allowed a little time for farmers to salvage what they have and for us to get a true picture of the gap between the consumption numbers and production numbers,” he said.

The number of permits issued in Beryl’s wake was not ascertained.

luke.douglas@gleanerjm.com