Blog

Several consumers chose to forego the traditional bun and cheese this Easter, stating that prices were out of their reach.

In downtown Kingston, noticeably absent this year were the traditional bun and cheese handcart vendors offering the sweet treats for sale along the busy streets.

Vendor Gary Matthews said each year, he would journey to National Bakery and Dairy Industries to buy his supply of bun and cheese. However, this year it was just not worth the investment.

“From mi hear how people did a talk seh dem nah buy none, mi know it neva mek sense,” said the vendor, who added that sales had always been good in the past.

“Is a good ting, tuh, ’cause nuh man neva deal wid it. Not one bun woulda sell,” he added.

“A tru ting,” said fellow vendor Maureen Thompson. “Every year you see the man dem up and down a sell, but this year mi nuh see one person a sell bun and cheese. Times really get serious.”

bun-and-cheese boycott

Up and down the streets of downtown, the sentiment was basically the same.

“Bun and cheese boycott this year. Bun too dear and people nuh have no money,” said Carmen Somers of Franklyn Town, Kingston 16.

Christine Smith from Greater Portmore said she usually buys the Easter commodity for her children, but she had to sacrifice it this year.

“Before me buy one bun fi $600 and $500 and odd, it cheaper mi give me kids a plate of food,” she said.

Keturah Cuirven said she invested the little she had in fish, selling at between $400 and $500 per pound, as opposed to “one little bun for $300-something”.

“Relatives carry bun and cheese for di pickney dem, so at least dem get,” said the east Kingston resident.

Vendor Karen Brown said also noticeably absent were the annual Easter treats in the capital city, as well as the good Samaritans handing out of bun and cheese to the homeless.

Uptown at MegaMart, Waterloo Road, the reactions were mixed. Consumers said they bought less than usual or none at all, while a few said they bought the same.

“I picked up one and a piece of cheese just to have it in the house,” Kathryn Ervin from Barbican stated.

“None for me this year. Have to conserve, plus, I am watching my carbs,” responded Cecile Ellis.

“The kids wouldn’t allow me to not buy the usual. As it buy, it finish. But what I would normally do is buy more when they finish it. I didn’t do that this year,” said Ann-Marie Walker.

“Honestly, I did not buy one bun nor even a slice of cheese this year,” said Andrea Goodham, mother of three from Hughenden, St Andrew.

better sales at megamart

Overall, the management at MegaMart said they recorded better sales than expected. However, they did stock up on less than usual, as they anticipated fewer sales because of the price increases.

Livingston Clarke, one of the store managers, said they got better sales from the in-house buns, mainly because of quality and the price being more economical.

“We did our best to contain the cost on the MegaMart buns, but there was nothing we could do for the other brands we sell,” he said.

The 35-ounce box Easter bun retailed for an average $460 this year, which Clarke said was approximately 20 per cent more than last year.

Suppliers such as National Bakery said it was early days yet to determine how sales went this Easter as the figures would not be coming in from the retail stores until later this week.

Consumers experienced a sharp increase in food prices earlier this year because of a dramatic increase on the world market of wheat, grain, soybean, corn, oil, and other crucial production commodities.

In March, the Jamaica Flour Mills had a significant increase in the price of baking and counter flour, which, in turn, caused the price of baked products to jump.

At the time, bakers suggested that one of the means they would seek to employ to assist consumers for Easter was baking smaller buns.

Source: The Jamaica Gleaner