Retailers reveal increases on some dairy products

Santo Domingo – Between February and March, dairy products such as milk and cheese rose from RD$5 to RD$10, which, according to several merchants in different sectors of the National District, has affected their businesses’ profits. A minority believes the opposite.

“There is no gain, one sells at RD$200 a pound of cheddar cheese and was buying it at RD$180 and RD$185, but before December, it was at RD$175,” indicated Manuel Rodríguez, a merchant in the Villas Agrícolas sector. Rodriguez emphasized that, unlike cheese, he continued buying milk for the same price for several months.

Some consumers affirmed that price change is notorious when obtaining these products and that it will depend on the quality and the place where the merchants choose to supply themselves, varying from suppliers to stores and, in the case of consumers, supermarkets to grocery stores.

“Here, things go up and up every day. You buy it today, and tomorrow it will be at a different price. I buy half a quart of cheese in the grocery store, and they charge me between RD$35 and RD$40. Here, the prices are not stable,” expressed Juan Pérez, a resident of Villa Consuelo.

Perez continued to complain, saying that prices should be frozen and avoided constant variation so that people have more money to spend on food.

MILK
Riqui Soto, another vendor, indicated that it had been about a month since the milk went up, clarifying that it was in January and February when he felt the increase specifically in this product.

“I used to buy milk at RD$64 and now at RD$71 to sell it at RD$100; cheddar cheese at RD$130 now at RD$160 to leave it at RD$200,” Soto explained. Butter and yogurt are some dairy products that have maintained stable prices, according to shopkeepers who offered statements this Thursday to the Listín Diario team.

Homel Lara, the employee of a grocery store in Miraflores, indicated that cheddar cheese was bought at RD$160 per pound between January and February; however, it is now at RD$180 (up RD$20 more), and for this reason, they sell the pound at RD$270.

Whole milk of one liter in the same period was sold at RD$90 and now at RD$100 (RD$10 more expensive), while evaporated milk was bought at RD$50 and now at RD$60. Lara affirmed to this newspaper that one of the items that has remained stable is yogurt, with a price that does not exceed RD$60. The same items with different prices, but with the common denominator that they reflect an increase, this is confirmed by merchants located in sectors such as Villa Consuelo, Villas Agrícolas, Villa Juana and Miraflores.

Other merchants, such as Báez, expressed that the products’ prices are “normal,” detailing that the large evaporated milk is RD$85, the medium goes up to RD$50, and a liter of the whole one only appears at RD$90.

“What happens is that there are merchants who are abusers,” concluded Baez.

PRICES IN SUPERMARKETS
According to a report issued by the Ministry of Agriculture, the average price of dairy products in Santo Domingo supermarkets up to the fourth week of March is RD$280 for white frying cheese, RD$268 for butter, RD$71.54 for liquid milk, RD$370.81 for powdered milk, and RD$138.59 for 32-ounce yogurt.