Major supermarkets hike prices for sugar

Jul 09, 2022 News

– reports scarcity of packaged Demerara Gold

By Aaliyah Allicock

Kaieteur News – While the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GUYSUCO) announced on Wednesday that there is no shortage of sugar countrywide, a number of popular supermarkets are reporting that there is indeed a shortage and are uncertain when they would have in stock.

The shelves of the supermarkets Kaieteur News visited yesterday that did not have the Demerara Gold Sugar in stock.

Via a Facebook post, GUYSUCO said, it “wishes to advise the general public that there is no shortage of sugar for supermarkets, manufacturers and bakeries… The current price for our 50KG/110Lbs is $9,900.”

Following reports that shelves of supermarkets are out of the packaged Demerara Gold Sugar, Kaieteur News visited several major supermarkets around the city yesterday to check and see if the reports are indeed true.

When this publication arrived to one of Massy’s minimart, not a sight of the Demerara Gold Sugar was in store.

The supermarket had only on its shelf the ‘Eagle’ white sugar and the company’s own packaged loose sugar, which was being sold for $330 for two pounds (1kg).

When asked what happened to the Demerara Gold Sugar, a staffer told reporters that there is currently a countrywide shortage and that they have been out of that sugar for some days. The staffer also communicated that they are unsure when the store will have those sugars back in stock.

Kaieteur News then went to DSL, where only the loose sugars and white sugar was being sold. Representatives of the store which is selling its 2kg sugar for some $800, said too they are unsure as to when they will have the Demerara Gold packages.

One staffer said bluntly, “sugar is scarce right now” and the little that they had a few days ago, a customer had bought it all from the shelf.

Another supermarket in Georgetown, Bounty, when visited yesterday had only packaged and loose white sugar selling. A staff there was unable to relate when the store would have the brown sugar back in stock. While at that supermarket, a female customer related to this publication that when she went at Mattai’s, there was a notice at the sugar section that stated limited supplies.

Kaieteur News was told too that at another Bounty location, it did not have the Demerara Gold packages but was only selling the loose sugar.

Not only is the shortage being experienced in the City but some supermarkets in Region Two and at Vreed-en-Hoop are reporting the same shortages.

Though it is unclear the reason behind the shortages, the Bank of Guyana in its quarterly report stated that this year there were decreases in the production of sugar by 47.7 percent.

The decrease recorded this year the Bank was attributed to the halt in grinding at the Uitvlugt Sugar Estate, caused by mechanical issues, which impacted production, as this estate was responsible for twenty-five (25) percent of output.

As reported on, the Uitvlugt Estate was down since March due to mechanical issues of its #1Mill turbine gearbox.

The gearbox which had to be replaced from overseas with a new one has now been installed and should see the factory up back and running in a week’s time.

Not answering directly how much the absence of the Uitvlugt factory not being in operation would have contributed to the shortfall of sugar production in the country, the Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha had told this publication previously that now with the factory slated to be opened, “we will have more production and sugar be produced.”

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