By Aaron Humes: In a significant shift for Belize’s sugar market, Belize Sugar Industries (BSI) has announced the introduction of packaged sugar for the first time in the local market. This move could potentially reshape how Belizeans sweeten their daily coffee and tea, as wholesalers received their first shipment of the Domino brand, which is set to compete with the traditional tied bags familiar to many households.
Shawn Chavarria, BSI’s Director of Finance, explained during an unveiling on Tuesday that the company has historically sold sugar in large industrial bags, typically weighing fifty to a hundred pounds. These bags are then distributed to supermarkets and retailers, where the sugar is usually repackaged in clear plastic bags, often with prices handwritten in marker.
With a recent amendment to the law allowing a change, BSI says it is now able to offer a more refined and higher quality product that meets stringent food safety standards.
The packaged sugar will be priced approximately 15 cents per pound higher at the mill than under the previous distribution method. However, the final price at the supermarket will depend on distributors’ and retailers’ markups.
New controlled prices have been set for wholesale and retail sugar as described in the tables shown above. Notably, retail packaged sugar will no longer be under price control, allowing for more flexibility in pricing. Chavarria emphasized the role of supermarkets in determining how this product will be received by consumers: “If supermarkets or consumers decide they do not want to pay a little bit more for this packaged sugar, it will still be available to them in the old tied bags.”
The new packaged sugar will be offered in one, two and five-kilogram packages (one kilogram equals 2.2 pounds), with 65 percent of the revenue generated going directly back to the farmers, thereby supporting the local agricultural community.
The post Belize Sugar Industries launches packaged sugar, aiming to transform local market appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
By Aaron Humes: In a significant shift for Belize’s sugar market, Belize Sugar Industries (BSI) has announced the introduction of packaged sugar for the first time in the local market. This move could potentially reshape how Belizeans sweeten their daily coffee and tea, as wholesalers received their first shipment of the Domino brand, which is
The post Belize Sugar Industries launches packaged sugar, aiming to transform local market appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
