Customers at some supermarkets said yesterday that they were surprised there had been a drop in the price of flour. In fact, some of them said they had grown so accustomed to increased prices that they never anticipated they would ever see a decline.
On May 10, Nutrimix revealed that the price of their flour would be reduced by five to 17 per cent. It said the reduction was due to a decrease in operating costs, a reduction in global costs of wheat and shipping costs.
In 2022, due to Russia’s war on Ukraine, Nutrimix had increased prices on its flour products by 10 to 33 per cent. It said then the hike was caused by an increase in the global price of wheat.
But now, the drop in prices has been passed on to customers, although some admitted they were caught unaware.
At Xtra Foods in Aranguez, customer Sherry-Ann Joseph, of Chaguanas, was grateful for the reduction. She lamented that the price may still be too much for most.
“No, I did not realise the bags of flour were reduced. Anything less is always better, but the price is high still. It is a good idea to drop it a little but at certain times we paid much less. Anything drop would be better for us,” Joseph said.
Xtra Foods marketing manager Daniel Austin said their customers have already adapted to the change in the price of flour, noting it had happened weeks ago and had only recently been published in the media.
The reduction of brands (Ibis, Hibiscus, Nutrimix, etc) has also made the customers of Better Deal Supermarket happy. Managing director Heeranand Maharaj said their customers are appreciating the drop in flour and said they will be purchasing more as a result.
Customer David Ramsamooj, of San Juan, said he shops at different groceries from time to time to find the best deals, was browsing the shelves. His eyes caught the price of a 10kg bag of Hibiscus flour he said would be used later on to make bread.
“It is a good thing the price dropped because people couldn’t afford to buy things to make things like bread and roti. I try to make bread, my roti doesn’t come out good,” Ramsamooj said.
But the 58-year-old said the high cost of flour had been affecting his pocket.
“The price now is affordable. The Hibiscus was one of the reasonable ones and you have the Nutrimix which ain’t bad...so the price drop is affecting the pocket but not in the way it did before. Instead of buying a two-pound bag of flour, you can buy a 25-pound for the month – that works better,” Ramsamooj said with a smile.
Assistant VP of Marketing and Communications at Massy Stores, Candace Ali, told Guardian Media the supermarket chain had reduced the flour prices across all stores.
