Prime Minister Mia Mottley is again urging large regional grocery chains to follow Barbados’ lead by limiting markups on essential goods, proposing that the island’s Price Compact be used as a regional model to help Caribbean countries weather global economic shocks. At Monday night’s reopening of the Massy Stores Worthing branch, which represents a $46m investment, Mottley said regional cooperation was needed to protect consumers as inflation and geopolitical uncertainty continue to drive up costs. She urged supermarkets to consider a 15 per cent markup on a basket of essential goods, while allowing higher margins on non-essential items. “The simple premise is not that you have no markup, but that you limit your markup to 15 per cent.” She argued that businesses could continue to make higher markups on goods that were optional, while ensuring that basic necessities remained within reach of ordinary households. “As a country of 166 square miles, where national security and national stability matter, and where we do not have the luxury of creating a space for the haves and the have-nots…this country must guarantee people the ability to eat, to remain clean, and to remain capable of cleaning their environment to avoid public health crises.” Earlier during the launch, Massy officials announced that before the end of the week, the conglomerate would reduce its markup on another 100 everyday items. The new items include tuna, corned beef, rice, feminine sanitary products and diapers, adding to the more than 200 products previously included under the Price Compact. Mottley welcomed the move, noting that more than half of the products covered by the framework of the previous compact remain cheaper than they were when it was introduced in July 2022. She pointed to Bajan Pride flour as one example, noting that a 2kg bag which sold for $6.99 in 2022 was now priced at $6.89 at Massy. She also noted tuna in oil, which she said had fallen from $3.45 to $2.99. “I am happy to say that even in spite of the passage of now four years and one month…more than half of them remain cheaper than they were in July 2022.” Mottley said the results should not be viewed solely as a Barbados success, but as an approach that could benefit the wider Caribbean. “It is not sufficient for us to have practised and done the Price Compact in Barbados and to have achieved the results that we have achieved in the last four years and believe that we should keep it to ourselves.” She pointed to continued uncertainty surrounding the war in the Middle East as an example of the volatility affecting global supply chains, saying such uncertainty makes it difficult for shippers and suppliers to plan and can result in higher costs being built into prices. Against that backdrop, Mottley called for a regional conversation, building on discussions held in July at the CARICOM summit in Saint Lucia. “If we can do that from where you stand as a regional multinational corporation that is delivering for people and where I stand as the lead prime minister for CARICOM Single Market and Economy…then I believe that the people of the region can benefit from the value which we add.” Mottley said the objective was to ensure Caribbean families could continue accessing food, water and sanitation essentials without being overwhelmed by rising prices. (SB)