Shelly-Ann Thompson, Staff Reporter

Price hikes have forced consumers to adopt creative strategies in trimming the food bill. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer

Housewives continue to utilise creative means of beating skyrocketing prices of food items.

Charmaine Henry, of Kingston, told The Gleaner that she networks with relatives and friends, who live in rural Jamaica to supply her with ground provisions.

Henry also buys ground provisions from a co-worker, who has a backyard garden at her home in St Thomas.

She said she sources produce such as yam, oranges and pumpkin at reasonable cost, some $2,000 cheaper than market rates.

"I save a lot too, as I don't have to go to the market on a Saturday morning," said Henry.

Staple prices up

The prices of Jamaica's favourite staples, chicken and rice, have increased 25 per cent and 150 per cent, respectively, the last 12 months.

Data from the Consumer Affairs Commission (CAC) show that a pound of chicken meat was retailed for about $96 last July. The average price for a pound of chicken currently sells for $120.

In the case of rice, a year ago, one pound of regular grade was sold for $18. Today, the staple goes for an average of $43 at supermarkets, the CAC reported.

Homemakers Barbara Powell and Anita Wright shop together at all-in-one grocery outlets, such as MegaMart and PriceSmart, which sell items in bulk.

"We pool and buy everything that takes long to perish - rice, sugar, tin food, tissue and toiletries," said Powell.

Wright, a mother of two, said they don't have to purchase basic food items and cereals for months.

"I have saved thousands of dollars by pooling with Barbara," she said.

The Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) reports that the inflation rate for the fiscal year 2007-08 was approximately 20 per cent.

This means that the average Jamaican spends about 20 per cent more for the same basket of goods they would have purchased a year ago.

"If your earning power had not increased by 20 per cent, you would be that worse off as you would be able to consume less and there would be an erosion in your standard of living," said a PIOJ official.

Rice price should decrease

Leading rice distributors are, however, noting that the price of the staple is expected to decrease in coming weeks.

There is a surplus of Guyanese rice in the marketplace, as the territory is in the middle of its crop. Therefore, local distributors are importing more of the commodity.

With supply outstripping demand, prices might fall. Musson Jamaica Limited, a local rice distributor, has lowered its prices by $250 per bag.

Michael Belnavis, sales manager at Musson, said distributors want to get rid of their stock, for various reasons, freeing up storage space. Accordingly, they have dropped prices.

"These prices should trickle down to the retail level," said Belnavis.

Chicken meat prices, however, will continue to increase.

Christopher Levy, senior vice-president at Jamaica Broilers, one of the island's leading suppliers of chicken meat, said the increasing cost of feedstock, such as corn and soya, on the world market, will continue to push up local prices.

shelly-ann.thompson@gleanerjm.com