The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Super Value’s principal yesterday said he is battling supply chain disruption “every minute of the day” while reassuring that possible 8-10 percent Christmas price rises will not be “across the board”.

Rupert Roberts told Tribune Business that the 13-strong supermarket chain was monitoring the worldwide situation very closely after being informed that corn beef prices from Brazil have “gone through the roof” and reached levels not seen for many years.

With developed countries becoming increasingly concerned that manufacturer backlogs, container shortages and shipping delays, and an insufficient supply of heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers will disrupt Christmas inventories and result in price hikes, Mr Roberts said: “We’re monitoring the situation every day....

“We’re watching it very carefully, and taking steps to ensure that that won’t happen to us. We’re trying to stay ahead of the supply chain. We’re trying every minute of the day. We’re trying to avoid that.

“The pressure on freight; every time you turn there’s an increase in the price of freight and slowdown in freight. What would take one month now takes two, and what took two months takes four. The price increases and delays on freight are affecting everything else.”

Mr Roberts showed this newspaper a message from his corn beef supplier, which revealed that Super Value’s “last booked container” of corn beef had left Brazil by ship en route for a mid-October arrival in Nassau.

“For your information, corned beef prices since we booked these loads have gone through the roof,” the supplier added, describing “the perfect storm” of increased raw material costs - with frozen beef exports from Brazil to China hitting record levels - and “huge rises in tinplate and packaging costs”.

“Then factor in these ridiculous freight rates that we are having to pay.. all have conspired to push prices up to levels that I haven’t seen for many years,” the supplier added.

Mr Roberts, meanwhile, said alarms were raised for Super Value at the weekend when reports emerged of a poor sugar crop in Brazil just ahead of what he described as the start of “the baking season” in The Bahamas ahead of the run-up to the Christmas holidays.

While the supermarket chain can source from other countries to ensure it has sufficient sugar and flour stocks, the Super Value principal also pointed to a shortage of plastic bottles able to carry the likes of apple and grape juices which will “create pressure on cans”.

Pointing to another example, Mr Roberts added: “We have five containers of corn on order. What is the status of trucking to get it from New York to Florida? We have 60 cases in stock, and we’re praying for five containers to hit the docks, but that’s not going to happen in 24 hours.

“In the pandemic, we’d pay for corn to be on the dock for the next morning, corn beef to be on the dock the next morning. We couldn’t get it to the warehouse; we’d have to distribute it from the dock and it looks like we will have to do it again. It’s leaving us breathless.”

The Super Value chief, though, said his forecast 8-10 percent price increases by Christmas will only impact “certain commodities. I don’t see how that will be across the board. We’re trying not to. We’re trying to do a job for the country, and we are trying to stay ahead of prices.

“I don’t anticipate any problems between now and Christmas. We have planned the time, and we should get it on time. We are more flexible than the agencies. We can juggle around. We can go to different Florida suppliers.

“I get involved because of my 60 years’ experience and, of course, in that timespan I’ve met most of the suppliers all over the world. We can go from one to the other, country to country, to get what we want.”

Mr Roberts had warned via Tribune Business in June that a combination of increased demand, as the Bahamian and global economies continue to reflate following COVID-19, combined with soaring freight and trucking costs and other supply chain bottlenecks, were all feeding into increased food prices.

“It looks like by Christmas it’s going to be at least 8 percent, and possibly a 10 percent, increase,” he disclosed. “It’s feeding in every day, and by the time we’re getting on to Christmas we’re going to have the full effect. Some grocery articles will be up in the vicinity of 8 percent, and meat and poultry probably by 10-12 percent. That’s a big pill....

“Freight and trucking costs are really playing hell with all of it. By October/November we’ll see things increasing up to 8-10 percent, which is beyond this country’s control. Just buy as you need and don’t over stock the pantry.”

Mr Roberts instructed Super Value’s buyers then to “lock in all you can, even at higher prices, if you suspect they’re going to go higher. I thought Christmas would catch us by 5-8 percent higher, but it now looks more like 10-12 percent higher as the country opens up and the US gets back to normal”.