Two major Barbadian supermarket chains said on Thursday their shelves were stocked with Barbadian sugar, pushing back against Minister of Agriculture Indar Weir’s claims that excessive imports are undermining the beleaguered sugar industry.
Massy Stores (Barbados) Ltd and Jordans Supermarket told Barbados TODAY the sugar on their shelves is domestically produced and packaged, reiterating their commitment to supporting the industry.
“We buy local sugar, so the brown sugar we have on our shelf right now are all from Barbados — Country Girl, Barbados Gold, Portvale Pride — so they’re all from Barbados,” said Senior Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of Massy Stores (Barbados) Ltd Jared Wright. “The branded sugar we represent on our shelf [is] all from Barbados. Different brands, different suppliers, but it’s all Barbados sugar. And this is throughout all the Massy branches.”
Massy said it prided itself on supporting Barbadian producers: “We’re part of the Barbadian fabric, so we do make an effort wherever possible to support local.”
Audley Jordan Jr, manager at Jordan’s Supermarket, echoed similar sentiments, insisting that his supermarket also stocks only locally produced sugar. “All the sugar that we retail is Barbadian sugar, which is packaged here in Barbados,” he said. “The Simply Sugar and the Mums Sugar, those are the two that we carry, and they are Barbadian sugar. We have been using those brands for a very long time.”
Jordan underscored the importance of maintaining support for the domestic industry: “I don’t think we have any need to import any sugar. Sugar stocks should be adequate.”
Neither supermarket chain disclosed the quantity of domestic sugar they purchase at any given time. When contacted, the Managing Director of A1 Supermarket, Andrew Bynoe, declined to comment saying only that “you will find local sugar on our shelves”.
Efforts to reach head of the Barbados Private Sector Association (BPSA) James Jimmy Clarke for comment were unsuccessful up to publication time.
Weir, speaking earlier this week during a tour of Mount Gay Estates in St Lucy, criticised merchants for importing what he described as “more sugar than we need”.
He reportedly suggested that domestic production should be prioritised to protect farmers and sustain the industry: “We have more imported sugar than we need to. We don’t need it for the supermarket shelves and certainly we don’t need it for manufacturing; we don’t need it for any reason other than people trying to beat the price.”
He added: “The real challenge is to get the private sector to invest in purchasing Barbados’ sugar, and how do we address sugar imported into Barbados, and how it competes with local production.” Weir further noted that his ministry was monitoring the situation closely.
The debate over the availability and quality of Barbadian sugar has been ongoing for months. In March, a viral social media video showing multiple bags of sugar stored outside the island’s lone sugar factory at Portvale sparked public concern about handling practices.
The Ministry of Agriculture dismissed the video as “misleading”, explaining that the sugar was awaiting remelting — a standard and controlled process in quality assurance. Officials clarified that remelting may occur if sugar contains higher moisture levels than acceptable due to residual molasses left after the centrifugal process.
In July, Weir disclosed that this year’s crop yielded 96 000 tonnes of cane, producing 3.8 million kilogrammes of sugar and 6.8 million kilogrammes of molasses. A year earlier, Weir only announced that 110 000 tonnes of cane was harvested and did not state how much sugar or molasses had been produced.
sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb
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