Merchants dissociate themselves from price increases in products

Santo Domingo – The Dominican Federation of Traders (FDC), through its president Iván García, informed that they are not responsible for the increase in the prices of mass-consumption products that have been taking place in the country in the last few days.

Garcia said he was “concerned about the prices of products such as onions which used to be at RD$40 and today are being sold at RD$80 in supermarkets, potatoes were between RD$30 and RD$35 and now are between RD$50 and RD$60 per pound and garlic which was at RD$100 is now between RD$200 and RD$225 per pound”.

Bananas from Azua and Barahona are marketed between RD$25 and RD$30 and bought from distributors at RD$21.Bananas of the FIA variety are marketed at RD$20 and bought at RD$15.

The price of canned products such as salsa, cachú, red and black beans, and coffee increased by 10%. Likewise, national oils, corn oil, and margarine costs increased.

Due to concerns about price behavior, García informed that they would hold weekly press conferences on topics of interest to consumers, such as Black Friday offers and the impact of Chinese trade on the national economy.

“We did a survey all over the country where we are going to throw very clear data on what is happening with the unfair competition that the Chinese have in the trade sector,” he said.

Garcia called on the President of the Republic, Luis Abinader, the Food Cabinet, and the National Commission of Agricultural Imports to review the market. He assured that “the data that we are offering are data that we always speak with evidence, and they only have to go out to the market to check these scandalous rises of these prices that we are reporting today.”

Egg shortage

“There is an egg shortage. We have a 50% decrease in supply”, were the statements made by Iván García, president of the Dominican Federation of Traders.

Egg units in the country’s grocery stores are at RD$10, while at the farm they are at RD$6 and the carton in supermarkets is at RD$250, García confirmed.

He explained that the shortage and rise in the same are due to the fact that the egg production process “is to leave the hen 80 days and then slaughter it; however, now it has to be slaughtered at 60 days”.

“The small producers had to kill the hen because the egg went to $3.80 and $4 pesos because of the competition among them. Then, the little ones went out and are in farm $5.80 and at $6”, he said. The president of the Federation made a call to the authorities of agriculture, authorities of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce (Mipymes) and to the direction of Proconsumidor to explain to the country according to the weekly inventory of prices that they make “what is happening with the increase of the prices”.

He told consumers not to be surprised “when they find a unit in the grocery stores at $10 pesos”.

Complaints During a tour of the different markets of Greater Santo Domingo, citizens and merchants complained about the increase in the price of basic foodstuffs despite the Christmas season.

In the markets of Villa Consuelo and Duarte Avenue, the prices of onions, garlic, canned goods, meat, and bananas significantly increased.

A citizen who was walking with a bag of garlic and onion in the Duarte Avenue market exclaimed, “Almost everything has gone up. Today, you buy at 5 and tomorrow at 10.”

A merchant at the Villa Consuelo market said that bananas from Barahona are currently bought at RD$18 and sold at RD$25.

Christmas 2024

On the occasion of Christmas, García informed that there will be no problems in the country with pork meat, since there is enough imported meat and rice due to the importation that was made.

The Creole pork leg in the Los Minas market (where 60% is sold) is between RD$110 and RD$120, and the imported one is between RD$90 and RD$100. He emphasized that Creole pork is at this price because it has a 30% saline solution.