No more yellow yam, dasheen ... !
Canada-based Jamaican grocer laments break in supply of ground provisions
ASLOWDOWN in the supply of Jamaican agriculture produce to some overseas markets is already hitting some foreign-based retailers hard.
Lloyd McDowell, proprietor of Gems Wholesale Meat & Fish Shop, Gems House of Jerk and Gems Grocery and Meat, in Brampton, Canada, says his businesses are suffering as he has not been able to top up his stock since his last shipment, which came in just before the Trudeau government announced a lockdown and encouraged citizens to stay at home.
“This whole thing is affecting us. I hear there is no more cargo planes, but I am not 100 per cent sure. So far, nothing has come in since the ending of March. No more yellow yam, dasheen, pumpkin, sweet potato, green bananas, coco, thyme, breadfruit, fruits such as mangoes; no scallion and a bammy shortage from the Easter weekend,” he says.
McDowell has already laid off five employees from his 18-member staff, and has cut his business hours of operations to 8 p.m. from a 10 p.m. closing time.
Elderly Jamaicans who would normally come out to shop, he says, are now afraid to do this, so as not to compromise their health.
His operations were not spared the recent Portmore, St Catherine lockdown as his farm there, which supplies his grocery store in Canada, is now in limbo.
He says more money is being demanded to work under the circumstances (coronavirus and curfew), and to even get produce in from the field.
McDowell says his business model depends a lot on how Jamaica handles this crisis.
He is hoping the virus is controlled there, as well as in Canada. A much further spread would prove crippling.
McDowell forecasts that produce will get more expensive in the future, even from the Canadian end, because the dollar value has dropped.
ADDITIONAL COSTS
“A box of scallion used to cost C$40 and is now quoted at C$75 to get it on a cargo plane. Yellow yam used to be C$50 per box and could be placed at about $90, depending on the season. These additional costs will invariably fall back on consumers, just to get goods from anywhere in the world right now.”
But it is for the restaurant side of his business he worries the most, and not just because he does not have the authentic cooking ingredients to sustain his kitchens, but because some streams have been affected.
Dining-in is no longer an option because of government orders to close seating areas, other businesses closed rules out lunch, and dinner takeout from workers has also declined, even delivery orders have dried up as people are cooking more at home.
Another area that he usually capitalises on – the Jamaican culture of ‘no cooking on a Friday’ – is now non-existent.
“My restaurant is suffering and sales are below 50 per cent, right now,” he says sighing.
“I still feel blessed, though, because I have both the cooked-food and the rawfood types of businesses. I would be hurting much more if I didn’t have the meat shop and the grocery store, therefore, not to depend wholly on the restaurant,” he adds, “because where one sales dip, another sustains.”