Curfew stalls grocery orders

The phone lines have been ringing off the hook for local companies offering online shopping and delivery services, as Barbadians are forced to stay home.

Several firms offering online grocery shopping have told Barbados TODAY that since the imposition of the 24-hour curfew and closure of supermarkets on April 3, they have seen a spike in the number of individuals seeking to stock up on supplies.

However, with the closure of supermarkets in effect, the majority of those companies have been forced to put a pause on orders, which are now backed up.

The Pantry Barbados announced on Friday that it had taken the decision to close temporarily.

Operations Manager Laurelle Clark told Barbados TODAY on Monday afternoon that the company was currently not doing any deliveries since they were awaiting word from Government on the mechanism to be used in light of the supermarkets’ closure.

“We stopped doing the delivery once the government announced the closure of supermarkets,” said Clark.

She said given the uptick in business prior to the closure her team was now trying to “catch up on paperwork”.

She explained that The Pantry, which is part of a property management firm and caters widely to commercial customers, had a “few” resident clients prior to COVID-19, but that base had increased dramatically since the pandemic.

Clark said she expected to get even more local residential business in the coming weeks as soon as they are able to access supermarkets again, adding that she was still receiving “a lot of calls”.

“I would hope that it would become a staple. I believe it will,” she added.

One Clifton Market representative told Barbados TODAY in a very brief interview that his team was working flat out to take orders.

“We are very busy,” he said, adding that he believed online grocery shopping would be “a norm for the future” in Barbados.

On its website, the company advised that it was awaiting direction on how it could proceed with orders and that it would contact customers “as soon as we are able to proceed”.

In light of an overwhelming response, Brighton Farmers’ Market has also put its pre-order service on pause.

Making the announcement on March 28, it said: “Regretfully, we will be closed until further notice. We operated our pre-order system for two weeks and were blown away by the huge response.”

Adding that it was trying to keep up with orders, Brighton said, “We cannot keep the necessary social distancing required and work at the frantic pace required to meet the demand.

“We will re-open either for pre-orders again or God willing, as our usual Brighton Farmers’ Market with all our usual vendors. We will let you know. In the meantime stay safe and we look forward to seeing everyone very, very soon!”

One company that is still able to fulfil wholesale orders is the St George-based Niven Distribution, which mainly targets hotels, restaurants and catering businesses.

Chief Executive Officer Harrison Niven told Barbados TODAY since the pandemic there has been an upsurge in business.

“During this period of the virus it has gotten very busy. We have taken a lot of orders and word has gone out that we do online ordering and deliveries,” he said of the year-old company.

“It is now a lot of private customers being directed towards the website and getting deliveries,” he said.

The company is about to add a retail section that would allow for even more orders and deliveries to individuals.

Niven Distribution has recently partnered with a brand in the UK to bring in a range of retail products targeting households.

“In the coming weeks we will have containers arriving with the retailing sizes,” said Niven.

He too believed online grocery shopping had a solid future in the local market, saying it was “a really good development that has been tried and tested for a long time, but will change after all this has settled down”.
marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb