Some Christ Church coconut vendors say they will maintaining their current prices despite a proposal to increase the cost of coconut water, but others argue customers should pay even more.
Last week, the Barbados Association of Retailers, Vendors and Entrepreneurs (BARVEN), which represents coconut vendors, said it planned to raise the prices from $15 to $17 for half-gallon containers, and from $5 to between $6 and $7 for 500-millilitre bottles.
While the increase is already in effect by some vendors, some to whom the DAILY NATION spoke yesterday said it would not be fair to “jack up” the costs when people are already struggling.
“Fifteen dollars, yeah, it’s not bad, but when you hear $17 and $19, that’s ridiculous man,” said a vendor near the Top Rock roundabout.
“I can stay at $15 because I don’t believe in the price going higher. Everybody can’t afford a $15 bottle, and you have to be considerate,” he added.
The vendor, who declined to be named, said while the labour-intensive work could sometimes require up to two days to meet a quota of coconuts, that work will go down the drain if the customers cannot buy.
“You try to find a balance . . . . It can’t be all day working to have your products sticking up, so if you raise the price, that’s just what’s going to happen – people will just be passing and passing.”
Along the Kingsland section of the ABC Highway near Deighton Griffith Secondary School, another vendor, who only gave his name as “Hamilton”, said a price increase would not be profitable.
The solo operator, who declared he was keeping his water at $15 and $5, said the business was tough with inconsistent sales throughout.
“It’s hard out here, it’s hard with these nuts. I’m not charging people a big lot of money for one. I would even take a little $12 or $13 for mine. It would be hard but they will at least sell,” he said, adding that he had gone a few hours without a sale.
Executive director of the Barbados Consumer Empowerment Network, Maureen Holder has expressed dissatisfaction with BARVEN’s call for a price hike, and urged consumers to go back to the days where personal containers were provided to vendors for the popular drink.
“Barbadians should go back to taking their own containers or leave out the coconut water altogether. Stop buying expensive items if you cannot afford them. It’s high time Barbadians became resolute in their purchasing power,” she stated.
In response, BARVEN’s roving communications officer, Robert Maloney explained that the coconut water industry was also affected by increases in other markets. He added that payments to coconut tree climbers and carriers had also increased in recent times, and these would be passed on to consumers over time.
A group of vendors operating in Newton, along the Tom Adams section of the ABC Highway, said they believed the prices were far too low when taking into account the labour and risk of collecting the coconuts each day.
“Right now our prices are $16 and I feel that’s too low right now, because of the risks that coconut men got to go through, have to go in the gulleys and climb tall trees.
“When I come and pick a tree, right there we gotta walk far with that load on our backs. We may not be paying for some of them but we paying for them in labour,” one vendor stressed. (JRN)
