The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Super Value is “not getting our hopes too high” for Christmas sales that are typically up to 10 percent higher than “normal” shopping periods, its president has disclosed.

Debra Symonette told Tribune Business that the 13-store supermarket chain is adopting a realistic attitude towards one of the year’s busiest shopping periods given the cost of living and inflationary pressures still impacting consumer spending ahead of what is expected to be a “challenging” 2025.

While the prices for hams, turkeys and other Christmas staples “remain pretty stable” compared to last year, she warned that The Bahamas will be unable to completely avoid the disruption and price increases that will result if Donald Trump makes good on his threat to impose and hike tariffs on Chinese and other imports once he returns to the US presidency on January 20.

Asserting that “we have to be prepared” for the uncertainty and shocks that may result, Ms Symonette told this newspaper that while Super Value is “building” its non-US sourcing and supply chains these account for “no more than 10 percent” of its imported products. 

This highlights The Bahamas’ vulnerability, as an import-dependent nation that annually brings in more than $3bn of physical goods from the US, to the threatened Trump tariffs. Ms Symonette, though, said non-US suppliers are “reaching out” to Super Value constantly in an effort to build trade relationships and, providing shipping costs and other factors are “feasible”, it will explore these routes if goods are cheaper.

Tempering expectations for the upcoming Christmas holiday season, Ms Symonette told Tribune Business: “We’re trying to remain optimistic and hope we have good Christmas sales, but we are aware some people are trying are trying to recover from the tough economy. We’re not getting our hopes too high.

“We’re looking forward to getting as much as we can get. We do see a significant increase in sales at Christmas; I would say probably a 5-10 percent increase over the normal shopping days. We’re hoping they would at least be the same [as last year] even if there is no increase. 

“We’re just keeping our fingers crossed that sales do not decrease this Christmas time. We’ll be glad if they remain the same but are still optimistic that customers will be in the festive mood and buy more.” While acknowledging the continued pressure on household budgets and disposable income, even though the pace of inflation has eased, Ms Symonette said the cost of key Christmas foods remains in line with 2003.

“Hams and turkeys are pretty much the same,” she said. “I think one of the turkey brands went down slightly. They remain pretty stable. We’re also offering a half turkey. I think we did a bit of it last year. If customers want half a turkey they can also get those in the stores. We know a lot of people are on a budget, so we’re trying to accommodate them by offering things like that.

“I think consumers will be happy that there are no significant price increases. They’ll either see something the same or a little less, but I can’t think of anything higher than it would have been last year, so they can come on in and spend what they’ve got with us.”

However, pricing pressures may soon re-emerge and intensify with Mr Trump promising to make good on threats to impose tariffs as high as 60 percent on Chinese-made imports, many of which transit the US before coming to The Bahamas. As an import-dependent economy, which sources virtually all it consumes from overseas, this nation is especially vulnerable to so-called ‘trade wars’ and taxes that raise commodity prices.

“It will probably be a challenging year,” Ms Symonette told this newspaper of 2025. “We’re going through some changes in the US economy. We don’t know exactly what he’s [Trump] going to do, and how much that’s going to affect us. But, considering the volume we get out of the US, whatever he does will affect us in some way.

“I guess that’s where sourcing new supply avenues comes into play. Certainly we have to be prepared. We can only wait and see, but we are preparing in terms of looking at possible avenues we could look at it if it becomes necessary. We won’t be able to avoid it totally, but it would be good to have alternatives for certain items.

“It all hinges on the economy and what the new US president will do, what he will put in place and how it affects us. All we can do is wait and see, and adjust accordingly.” Ms Symonette said no more than 10 percent of Super Value’s current inventory is presently sourced from outside the US, but added that the Trump tariff proposals could increase this amount significantly depending on what is implemented and how.

“I must say that there are people reaching out to us all the time,” she added. “It’s just a matter of checking them out. It’s various markets; Brazil, China. We don’t just take on any product that come our way. We have to make sure we get quality, make sure they can ship to us, make sure that the shipping is going to be feasible as we don’t want to end up with ridiculous freight costs.

“As long as everything is feasible we would look into getting products from those sources if they turn out to be cheaper. It’s just a matter of reaching out to the shipping companies and making adjustments with the vendor to see who can work out the best prices for getting products here. Certain products it would not be sensible to ship from far, like the perishable products. It would be more like canned goods.

“We’re trying to reach out to some of those sources, and we have increased our supply from them. We’re picky, of course. We don’t just accept anything.” Asked how much product Super Value currently sources from non-US supply chains, Ms Symonette replied: “I wouldn’t say it’s that significant yet. We’re building it. I wouldn’t say it’s more than 10 percent, if that.

“But the more challenges we meet, the more we are encouraged to seek other avenues. The Chamber of Commerce pushes it as well, and has international groups here all the time who let us go and see what they can offer. As long as the information is readily available regarding the actual product, how we can get them and ship them and all that, it’s something that can probably work and be beneficial for us.”

Asserting that Super Value does its best to avoid, or at least delay, passing major supplier increases on to Bahamian consumers, Ms Symonette added: “If we see one supplier going up we’ll shop around and see if we can get a better price so we don’t have to pass any big increases on to consumers. We have to be competitive.

“Sometimes if we get an increase we don’t pass it on immediately; we wait and see if there are any changes. Only if there’s something drastic do we pass it on. We shop around, and sometimes even go outside the US. I wouldn’t say we do that a whole lot, but we also try to get other brands. We encourage customers not to stick to name brands: Test the others. Some of them are just as good and are a lot cheaper.”