While food outlets that use flour as their primary ingredient are still contemplating price increases, one cook says doubles vendors can profit by selling at just $3.
Many vendors who sell doubles, aloo pie, pholourie, saheena and bhaganie in Debe were reluctant to share whether or not they would adjust prices following an increase in the cost of flour supplied by the National Flour Mills and Nutrimix.
However, Hosein Doubles said there will be no increases. Cook, Salome Manoo, said Hosein uses Country Pride Flour from Nutrimix, a cheaper brand. In the last year, some vendors raised the prices of their fried Indo-Trinidadian delicacies. She said some outlets already sell doubles between $6-8 dollars, and if the price increases to $10, their businesses may fail. She believes others can withstand the increase using various procurement and preparation methods.
She said those who raised their prices to $8 to $10 were greedy. She referenced Nic Nac in Penal, which still sells its delicacies for $2.
“We here, we are not going to raise. Even though flour raised, we still have our standard price of $5. There are ways you can use your flour, and you can still make a little profit,” Manoo said.
Meanwhile, Papa Smurf Bakery along Coffee Street, San Fernando, increased the cost of its pastries by $1 yesterday. Manager Javier Jaimungal said the prices of ingredients went up since last year, and the rise in flour cost was a backbreaker. Showing signs of the increases posted on the showcases, he said they had no choice. While Jaimungal is unsure whether the $1 increase would be enough, he hopes quick turnovers would mitigate any losses.
He admitted that some customers were upset by the increases, but many understand the adjustment. Sales were slower yesterday, but he said this was normal after the holidays.
The Puff n’ Stuff Bakery along Circular Road, San Fernando, has not yet raised the prices of their products, but owner Gregory Laing said he intends to adjust prices. However, he is unsure about the exact percentage increases. Laing’s suppliers held back on raising the raw material costs for most of 2021 but yielded in the last quarter. The cost of butter, shortening, milk, bread improver and bags all went up, leading Puff n’ Stuff to implement a seven per cent increase on its baked items in 2021. It was the bakery’s first increase in two years.
“But if flour goes up, it is a big ingredient in the bakery, and we will have to be in a position to do an incremental increase in the bread if nothing else. We will try to not raise on the other items which have flour but in smaller amounts. However, we are waiting to see what the increases are before adjusting our prices,” Laing said.
At Karamath Roti Shop, one of the owners said he was unsure if they could raise prices given the overall increasing cost of food. Apart from flour, he said other items such as split peas used to make dhalpourie had price increases as well.
