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Laura Redpath, Senior Staff Reporter
The poor condition of local produce has driven food stores to favour imports to satisfy the tastes of Jamaicans, particularly the expatriate community, say some supermarket operators.
Significant importation of apples and grapes, mainly from North America, is also linked to serving the diet of returning residents who demand fruits they were accustomed to abroad.
Elsa Rowe, of Fresh Produce supermarket, argued that local ginger and Irish potatoes do not look as appealing as the imports do.
"The ginger and Irish tend to be muddy," she said, "not like the imports, which are clean."
Rowe, who works in the Purchasing Department, pointed out that imported produce tended to be cheaper than its Jamaican counterpart, mainly because of better economies of scale.
Handling costs of local goods is another downside.
"We prefer to go directly to the farmers because the prices aren't as high," she said.
However, this may not always be an option for grocery stores, as much of the produce is also handled by middlemen suppliers, resulting in spoilt or bruised fruits, vegetables and staples being delivered to supermarkets.
Repackaging woes
Icyline Lee, of Lee's Food Fair in St Andrew, said staff at her family-owned supermarket invest a lot of time in repackaging produce from local farmers.
Lee's supports the local market and facilitates Jamaican farmers who have been supplying the store for at least 15 years, as they try to sell their produce on a biweekly basis.
"By the time the goods get here, we have a lot of work to repackage," she said, as farmers discarded spotty or stale lettuce leaves which were quickly piling up on the ground next to a mango tree.
She shook her head despairingly.
"To me, it's a waste when produce like tomatoes have gone bad and we can't do any better," Lee told The Gleaner. "We just have to throw them out."
Lee, while bantering with her suppliers, suggested that transporting goods to supermarkets in air-conditioned vehicles, rather than in the back of a pickup truck, would help to maintain produce freshness.
Garth Phipps, supervisor at Loshusan Supermarket, which mainly sources produce from Clarendon, Manchester and the Breadbasket Parish, St Elizabeth, as well as St Thomas in the east, said the store was dissatisfied with the quality of local produce.
"Too much rain spoils the leafy vegetables and, when there is a drought, goods aren't readily available," he said.
Produce supervisor at Fresh Produce, Eli Solmon, said while supermarkets had issues with crop standards, the level of freshness was getting better.
"There has been an improvement," he said. "It's been consistent."
laura.redpath@gleanerjm.com
The poor condition of local produce has driven food stores to favour imports to satisfy the tastes of Jamaicans, particularly the expatriate community, say some supermarket operators.
Significant importation of apples and grapes, mainly from North America, is also linked to serving the diet of returning residents who demand fruits they were accustomed to abroad.
Elsa Rowe, of Fresh Produce supermarket, argued that local ginger and Irish potatoes do not look as appealing as the imports do.
"The ginger and Irish tend to be muddy," she said, "not like the imports, which are clean."
Rowe, who works in the Purchasing Department, pointed out that imported produce tended to be cheaper than its Jamaican counterpart, mainly because of better economies of scale.
Handling costs of local goods is another downside.
"We prefer to go directly to the farmers because the prices aren't as high," she said.
However, this may not always be an option for grocery stores, as much of the produce is also handled by middlemen suppliers, resulting in spoilt or bruised fruits, vegetables and staples being delivered to supermarkets.
Repackaging woes
Icyline Lee, of Lee's Food Fair in St Andrew, said staff at her family-owned supermarket invest a lot of time in repackaging produce from local farmers.
Lee's supports the local market and facilitates Jamaican farmers who have been supplying the store for at least 15 years, as they try to sell their produce on a biweekly basis.
"By the time the goods get here, we have a lot of work to repackage," she said, as farmers discarded spotty or stale lettuce leaves which were quickly piling up on the ground next to a mango tree.
She shook her head despairingly.
"To me, it's a waste when produce like tomatoes have gone bad and we can't do any better," Lee told The Gleaner. "We just have to throw them out."
Lee, while bantering with her suppliers, suggested that transporting goods to supermarkets in air-conditioned vehicles, rather than in the back of a pickup truck, would help to maintain produce freshness.
Garth Phipps, supervisor at Loshusan Supermarket, which mainly sources produce from Clarendon, Manchester and the Breadbasket Parish, St Elizabeth, as well as St Thomas in the east, said the store was dissatisfied with the quality of local produce.
"Too much rain spoils the leafy vegetables and, when there is a drought, goods aren't readily available," he said.
Produce supervisor at Fresh Produce, Eli Solmon, said while supermarkets had issues with crop standards, the level of freshness was getting better.
"There has been an improvement," he said. "It's been consistent."
laura.redpath@gleanerjm.com
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