Vendors at the Cheapside Public Market are gearing up for what they are hoping to be a busy weekend of sales as Barbadians complete their last minute Christmas shopping.
When Barbados TODAY visited the largest market on the island today, vendors shared mixed views on sales for the season.
Many of them said that while Barbadians questioned the prices of some of the items on their trays, they were looking forward to favourable sales in the coming days.
They explained that a shortage of locally grown food, including tomatoes and sweet peppers, resulted in them having to purchase imported produce at a higher cost which they said they eventually had to pass on to customers.
A Barbados TODAY team observed that tomatoes were selling at $8 a pound, sweet peppers at between $4 and $8 a pound, watermelon between $2 50 and $3 a pound, yam was going at $4 a pound and ginger and stringed beans at $7 a pound.
Veteran vendor Angela Greene said for the past two weeks she has been singing the chorus ‘thank God for Christmas’ as she benefitted from “great sales”.
“I am happy. Thank God for Christmas. Sales have been very good. If this is any indication of how it is going to be coming on to Christmas day, it is going to be very good. I expect a rush.
“Friday and Saturday will be very busy, and Monday and Tuesday people will only come back to town for a little thing like lettuce or thyme or anything so,” Greene said.
“Right now people buying chives and thyme and marjoram to season their meats. Coming on to the end now, they will buy the carrots and the hard food as people would like to say,” she added.
Greene said that Barbadians could expect to pay a little more for fruits and vegetables at this time because traditionally, “as Christmas come the prices go up”.
“So the farmers raised the prices. Things get scarce so the prices got to go up too. But it is Christmas, so you just buy,” Greene said.
Another vendor who did not give her name said sales have been so good that she believed she would have to purchase additional produce to be able to supply her customers over the weekend.
She explained that although people questioned why some of her produce was so costly, they still purchased them.
“My customers coming and buying what they need. They would ask why so and so selling at this price and when I explain they say they understand and they know the vendors not doing this on purpose and that we have to live too,” the vendor said.
Margaret Hercules also indicated that sales were going well. She said though most of the items on her tray were grown on her land, she understood why vendors who sold imported items had no choice but to pass on the price to consumers.
“They have to buy the things expensive. The tomatoes are $7 to $8 a pound. The sweet peppers are also very high. But otherwise people are still buying some.
“If you are accustomed to buying two pounds, you buy a pound or a pound and a half. But I really can’t say sales bad. I had my local bananas and all gone already because there are people who prefer to buy local,” Hercules said.
Meanwhile, Nadine Hemans was singing a different tune. Hemans said she noticed that while Barbadians were shopping for household items they were not buying food.
Hemans said she hoped that starting Friday when more vendors would be in the market, shoppers would show up in their numbers to get their fresh fruits and vegetables.
“We have to sell the things at this price because it is so expensive when you buy it. But you cannot get local produce because of the weather. People coming and saying things too expensive and just checking the prices and say them coming back. But we give thanks,” Hemans said.
anestahenry@barbadostoday.bb
